Can I buy car insurance when I'm overseas?

Yes. If you're abroad, you can arrange car insurance online or if you'd like to speak with someone, phone + 441202955682 and we'll direct your call to the right place. Lines open: Mon to Fri 8am - 8pm Sat and Bank Holidays 9am - 5pm Sun 10am - 4pm Calls will be recorded. For Text Phone first dial 18001.

Can I renew my car insurance online?

Yes. If you've received your renewal documents by post and/or email and are happy everything's correct, you can save time by quickly renewing online . More about renewing your car insurance. If you can't find your LV= insurance documents: Just log in or register for an online account plus download the Alexa Skill to make fact-finding easier. If you need to make any changes to your policy you'll need to call us on 0330 678 5225 . 8am - 8pm Monday to Friday, 9am - 5pm Saturday and bank holidays and 10am - 4pm Sunday. For Text Phone first dial 18001. Calls will be recorded. Haven't found what you're looking for? No worries, you can read all of our FAQs here.

Car insurance

Car insurance could be cheaper than you think. Prices from just £349.

*10% of new customers paid £349 or less April - September 2024

Get a car quoteYour saved car quote

Get a car quote

What's covered?

From theft to write-offs and even lost keys, you'll be covered with us. Here's what you'll like about our comprehensive cover.

Windscreen repair and replacement
We’ll cover all the glass in your car under your windscreen cover. Plus, windscreen claims don't affect your no claim discount.
Earning No Claim Discount (NCD)
NCD is a discount on your car insurance as a reward for being claim free. You’ll earn a year of NCD for every year you don't make a claim. If you're in an accident that isn't your fault and we recover the cost from the liable driver's insurer, your NCD won't be affected.
Accidental damage cover
Scratched or dented your car? We pay for repairs so it's as good as it was before the accident.
Vandalism promise
If your car is vandalised and you have to claim, you'll keep your no claim discount – you'll just need to pay your excess. Find out what to do if your car has been vandalised.
New locks and keys
If your keys are lost or stolen. After all, accidents happen. Lost your car keys? Here's what to do.

Defaqto has given our car insurance a 5 Star rating for the 20th year in a row - it's the highest rating they give.

You're in good company. Cover your car with us and join over 1 million people like you we're already looking after.

Uninsured driver promise - If the other driver is not insured and the accident isn't your fault, you keep your no claim discount and there's no excess to pay as long as you have the details of the other vehicle and driver.
5% discount when you buy car insurance online (excludes add-ons)
Lifetime guarantee on repairs when using our recommended repairer service, for as long as you own the vehicle. Labour only, excludes parts.

A Which? Recommended Provider for 10 years running

Take a look at our LV= car insurance customer reviews

Thanks to all our customers who have rated us ‘Excellent’ on Trustpilot!

More about LV= car insurance

What's not covered?

Any drivers who aren't named on the policy
Damage to any car you're driving that's not the car you've insured with us
If the car's stolen when the keys were left in the car, the engine was running or it was left unlocked
Mechanical or electrical breakdown
Any vehicle that's already been classified as a Category A or Category B write-off

Read our most common examples of what's not covered in our claims considerations guide

Optional extras

Check out our range of optional extras

Motor legal expenses

£25.99 per year

For £25.99 per year, Motor legal expenses cove r protects you from the potential costs of legal action if you're involved in a car accident.

You might need legal help to take action against a road user - or defending against a motoring prosecution. This can be expensive so we’ll cover you for up to £100,000 in legal expenses.

You can use motor legal expenses cover to help you recover any uninsured losses, like personal injury compensation, loss of earnings or hire car costs while your vehicle is being fixed. Find out more about Motor Legal Expenses.

Guaranteed hire car if yours is off the road

£19.90 per year

Our guaranteed hire car cover promises you use of a hire car if your own car is being repaired by our recommended repairer service, or has been stolen or written off.

The cheapest hire car we offer is £19.90 per year and you're guaranteed a small 3 door hatchback hire car.

For £49.99 per year, you're guaranteed a medium family sized car with 5 doors or a 7-seater. Find out more about Guaranteed Hire Car.

Extended personal accident cover

£100,000 personal accident cover

If you, your partner or a named driver on the policy suffer a serious injury while travelling in, or getting in or out of your car... our comprehensive car insurance protects you with £10,000 personal accident cover.

For just £15 per year, you can increase your personal accident cover to £100,000 (per eligible person). You'll also benefit from an additional cash payment if you, your partner or a named driver are admitted to hospital as a result of an accident in the car. Find out more about Extended Personal Accident Cover.

Breakdown cover

From £26 per year

You can add breakdown cover to your car insurance from just £26 per year for each car.

LV= Britannia Rescue gives you access to over 4,000 breakdown professionals across the UK who will help to keep you moving. There are five levels of cover to choose from Roadside Assist to UK and European Assist. Find out more about Breakdown Cover.

Protected no claim discount (NCD)

You earn a year of no claim discount (or no claim bonus) for every year you don’t claim on your car insurance. The more years of NCD you’ve built up, the bigger the discount on your car insurance when you renew. With LV= you can earn up to a maximum of 9 years NCD.

If you have to make a claim on your policy, and we can't recover our costs from the person or people who are at fault, your NCD may be reduced.

If you’ve earned four or more years NCD, you can add this optional extra to protect your NCD for the life of your LV= policy. Find out more about Protected No Claims.

Policy documents

Take a look at all of our car insurance products...

Electric car insurance

Going green? Great! On top of the usual stuff, we’ll cover you for charging cables, wall boxes, batteries and adaptors. Plus, if you run out of juice, we’ll get you to the nearest UK charging point (no worries, this won’t affect your NCD).

Multi car insurance

Got a few cars on the drive? No problem, you can cover up to 6 cars and 12 drivers on one policy. One policy doesn’t mean one size fits all though, you can tailor the cover levels, extras and start dates for each of your cars. This is the cheapest way to cover multiple cars with us.

Cover Levels

What are the different car insurance cover levels?

There are three main levels of car insurance cover, summarised as follows:

Third party only

Third party cover is the minimum level required by law and normally the cheapest cover available. It only covers you for damaging someone else's car (or property) or injuring another person (a 'third party') in an accident. It won’t cover any injuries to you or damage to your car.

What does Third party only cover?

• Damage to other people's property
• Injury to others

Third party, fire and theft

As well as covering third party claims, this cover level protects your car from damage caused by fire, theft and attempted theft. It still doesn't cover you for an injury or damage to your car if you cause an accident.

What does Third party, fire and theft cover?

• Everything in third party only, plus...
• Damage to your car from fire, theft or attempted theft

Comprehensive

With comprehensive car insurance, you're covered for damage to your own car as well as the others involved in a claim, so you're not left with the full cost of repairing or replacing your car after an accident. It includes third party, fire and theft cover as well as a number of additional benefits.

What does Comprehensive car insurance cover?

• Everything in third party, fire and theft, plus...
• Repair or replacement of your car after an accident
• Repair or replacement after damage due to vandalism
• Windscreen damage
• Driving in Europe

Available as an optional extra:

• A hire car if yours is off the road due to vandalism or being in an accident

Find out more in our complete guide to comprehensive car insurance

Frequently Asked Questions

Do you offer Live Chat for your car insurance?

Yes, online live chat is available for car and home customers.

We are happy to help with any questions you have about the quote form, as well as any general queries about our products or cover. At the moment, we can’t help you finish getting a new quote over chat - or change the one you’re filling in online.

Talk to us about car insurance, or home insurance.

You can chat with us between the hours of (as long as an expert is available):

8am - 8pm Monday to Friday
9am - 5pm Saturday and Bank Holidays
10am - 4pm Sunday

Can I add someone to an existing car insurance policy?

Yes you can, as long as the car is insured by LV=. In many instances you may decide that adding a friend or relative permanently onto your policy is the best option. However, temporarily adding a driver or vehicle to your LV= car insurance policy may be a preferred option for the temporary use of your vehicle or for adding a driver onto your policy short term. Just so you know we charge a £15 admin fee each time you change your vehicle, add or remove a driver or remove a car from your Multi Car insurance.

If you want to add another driver to your existing policy, you can call us:

0330 678 5111

To add a new driver, we need to know their:

Full name

Date of birth

Main occupation

Driving licence number or Licence type (Full, Provisional), the year they got it and whether it's a UK, EU or another type of licence

Motoring convictions in the last 5 years - conviction month and year, offence code, disqualification period

Accidents or claims in the last 5 years - month and year of claim, claim type i.e. fault, partial fault, non-fault etc

It is important to remember that we reserve the right to cancel your policy should too many alterations be made throughout the life of your policy.

You need to be clear with your insurer about who drives the car the most often. You cannot state that someone else is the main driver if you’re driving the car on more occasions than them, as this is called ‘fronting’. Whoever is driving the car the most often is the ‘main driver’, with any other drivers being ‘named drivers.’ If you’re not honest about this, it’s considered fraud. Want to know more? LV= explains it all.

Lines open:

8am - 8pm Monday to Friday
9am - 5pm Saturday and Bank Holidays
10am - 4pm Sunday

Calls will be recorded. For Text Phone: dial 18001 first.

I've sold my car and it's still insured by you. How do I cancel my car insurance policy?

To cancel your car insurance policy, give us a call:

0330 678 5111

If you have a multi car policy, call us and we can remove the car, without you having to cancel the whole policy.

If you've not made a claim, we'll refund any money you've paid, less a charge for the cover you've had, and a cancellation charge of £40. After the initial 14 day 'cooling off' period, If you've made a claim, you won't get a refund.

Lines are open:

8am - 8pm Monday to Friday
9am - 5pm Saturday and Bank Holidays
10am - 4pm Sunday

Calls will be recorded. For Text Phone: dial 18001 first.

Will I need a Green Card or any other documents to travel in the EU?

As of 2 August 2021, you no longer need a green card to drive your car in most EU countries. Only Albania, Morocco and Turkey now require them as standard.

If you're towing, you may still need to carry one for your caravan or trailer. Before you travel, check out our information on green cards and driving to the EU.

You may need to display a country of origin sticker on your car. You might also need an international driving permit (IDP) to drive in some EU countries and Norway if you have either:

• A paper driving licence

•A licence issued in Gibraltar, Guernsey, Jersey or the Isle of Man

Check online to see if you need an international driving permit (IDP) or ask at your local Post Office.

If you have European cover (shown as ‘Foreign Use’ on your policy schedule), you’re all set to go with cover for up to 180 days.

It’s a good idea to take your car insurance policy documents and your vehicle log book (V5C) with you if you travel to the EU. Having your Certificate of Insurance and other documents, including any lease documents if you lease your car may help if you experience any problems while driving abroad.

There are a few more things to do before visiting the EU, like checking your passport and any travel advice for the countries you’ll be driving in.

Bon voyage!

Can I insure two cars at the same time?

Yes, there are two ways to do this. You can either take out a multi car insurance policy, or you can take out two separate car insurance policies. If you choose our multi car insurance, we'll give you an extra discount and you can insure up to 6 vehicles on one policy.

If you need to add another vehicle to your policy temporarily, you'll need to call us for a quote on 0330 678 6545

Lines Open:

9am - 5pm Monday - Friday
Closed Saturday, Sunday and Bank Holidays

For TextPhone first dial 18001. Calls will be recorded.

Am I covered to drive other cars?

If it shows cover for Driving Other Cars on your policy documents, we'll cover you so you're legally allowed to drive someone else's privately owned car, even if you aren't named on their insurance. This type of cover is referred to as Third Party Only.

This means if you're involved in an accident that's your fault, our policy will cover any damage you may cause to a third party or their property, but we won't cover the car you're driving at all. The owner won't be able to claim for the damage you caused to their car under their own policy either, as you're not named on their insurance.

Whether you’re covered or not, by law the owner still needs to make sure they’ve insured the car to avoid any issues with the police.

As the cover is minimal it's only meant to be used on rare occasions or in emergencies, if you'll be driving someone else’s car on a regular basis, you should get yourself added to their insurance.

If you can't find your LV= insurance documents:

Just log in or register for an online account plus download the Alexa Skill to make fact-finding easier.

I am pregnant or I've just had surgery/operation/caesarean - am I still covered to drive?

How do I request proof of my no claim discount (NCD)?

Am I covered if I put the wrong fuel in?

Yes, don't worry - with LV= comprehensive car insurance you're covered for putting the wrong fuel in your vehicle. We pay to drain and flush your fuel tank, as well as cover the damage to the car's engine* You may have to pay an Accidental Damage excess - we'll tell you how much that is when you phone to make a claim.

*If you accidentally use E10 rather than E5 there’s no need to drain the tank, just fill with E5 next time.

To make a claim for misfuelling, please call us on 0330 678 5550 - we'll be happy to help. Lines open 24/7 (Calls will be recorded). For Text Phone first dial 18001.

How can I get the maximum no claim discount?

Have another question?

What info do I need to get a car insurance quote?

For a quicker car insurance quote, make sure you've got all of this to hand:

Driver details – personal details like your date of birth address and occupation for you and any named drivers. Your driving licence information, such as licence number, type and details of any endorsements you have.
Claims history – details of any claims or accidents, including dates for you and any named drivers and the number of no claim discount (NCD) years you have.
Car details – information about your car such as the engine size, estimated mileage and where it’s kept overnight.
Eligibility – to make sure we can insure you, we’ll need to know if you are a UK resident and legally entitled to drive.

At LV=, we want to help you to find the right car insurance at the best price. Just because you may find it cheaper elsewhere, it may not necessarily provide you with everything you need.

For a complete list of what's needed and why, visit our guide to what you need to get a car insurance quote.

What factors can affect the price I pay for my car insurance?

Many factors can affect the price you pay for your car insurance. Remember, sometimes the cheapest car insurance may not offer the most comprehensive cover. Here’s what we take into account:

Your age and how much experience you have behind the wheel. Because the more experienced you are as a driver, the less likely you are to claim.
Any points you have on your licence from driving convictions will affect the price you pay. Be honest with your insurer from the start and you'll still be covered.
The car you're looking to insure. Usually, more powerful, expensive or exotic cars will cost more to cover.
Where you live. Areas with typically higher claims and crime rates will have a bearing on the cost of your car insurance.
When and how far you drive your car. Because the more you drive, the more likely you are to be involved in an accident.
Whether or not you've built up a no claim discount (NCD). The more NCD you have, the better your price is likely to be.
Changes in legislation or regulations. Some legislation means insurers now have to pay out bigger lump sums for personal injury claims.

The rising costs of parts and labour. This has a knock-on effect on the price of your insurance premium.
The rising cost of claims. More sophisticated cars are usually more expensive to repair.

We're all worried about the cost of living so make sure you're only paying for the cover you need. Read our top tips for buying cheaper car insurance.

Do you know about car insurance groups?

There are 50 car insurance groups with a ranking system to help insurers work out premiums. The less likely a car is to be damaged and the cheaper the cost of repair, the lower the insurance group it will be in, whilst fast accelerating, high performance cars are usually in the higher insurance groups. It’s not that simple though, so check out our article on car insurance groups and how we use them.

To find out more about these factors, read our guide to how we work out the cost of car insurance or watch our video.

What do our customers think of our car insurance?

See all car insurance reviews

We're always in top gear when it comes to car cover

Our awards and recognition

Given the prestigious Defaqto 5 Star Rating
A Which? Recommended Provider for 10 years running
LV= car insurance rated 4.7 out of 5 based on 4,028 customer reviews independently verified by Feefo
Correct as of 24 October 2024

Now sit back, relax and start your quote

Get a car quoteYour saved car quote

Looking for something else? Perhaps these links can help

LV= car insurance is rated 4.7 out of 5 based on 3669 customer reviews independently verified by Feefo

Car insurance

What's covered?

From theft to write-offs and even lost keys, you'll be covered with us. Here's what you'll like about our comprehensive cover.

You're in good company. Cover your car with us and join over 1 million people like you we're already looking after.