First UK insurance

adb1987

Good afternoon everyone,

I am very very new to the website so apologies if my thread is in the wrong place...

I am French, 26 and have been living in the UK since 2009. I never had a car until now (although I was driving for my previous job and rented several times as well).

I am now looking at buying a first car and I have several questions.

What car would be the cheapest to insure? I am really looking at a very cheap car to use only during the weekends and for groceries, etc. I don't mind an old car.

I still have a motorbike insured in France with a high no claim discount, would it be transferable here?

Also, what insurance company would you advise to me?

Thanks for any answer

mad_rich

Welcome to Moneysavingexpert (and, belatedly, to the UK!).

I'm not sure about transferring your French No Claims Discount. It may be possible through a broker. I would recommend giving Adrian Flux a ring. They are good with 'difficult' insurance needs.

http://www.adrianflux.co.uk

(I didn't have a car for 4 years, so lost my entire 10 year no-claims history. They were able to find me an insurer who would take it into account, and issue me with a certificate after a year.)

Also, try one of the many price comparison websites. Confused.com, for example. If you haven't already, read the guide on this website:

http://www.moneysavingexpert.com/car-insurance/

As far as cars go, have a look here:

http://www.parkers.co.uk/cars/insurance/car-insurance-groups/?ig=1

There are a handful of cars in the cheapest group.

forgotmyname

No one cheapest car to insure.

Put the same details in for your address and the street around the corner may give 2 wildly different quotes.

Choose a different car and it could be reversed.

You just need to keep trying different cars in your price range. When you get a cheaper quote, Make sure you save the reference number.

adb1987

Thank you for your help guys,

I will try contacting this Adrian Flux and maybe pop in a branch of any insurer around to have a chat with them.

Any other answer would be welcome

EdGasket

The cheapest car to insure would be an insurance Group 1 car (very small). The Groups go up in number so in general the higher the car's insurance group, the more it will cost to insure with large, powerful, expensive cars being in the highest groups. You can find out which insurance group a car is in from many websites e.g. Wisebuyers: http://www.wisebuyers.co.uk/motoring/used-car-prices/

adb1987

What about a bigger car (type old saloon/estate), being old would make the insurance cheaper or not at all?

e.g. Would an old volvo v40 (around 2000) cost as much to insure as a modern one?

mad_rich

Quite often, the older cars can be cheaper, but it's difficult to say.

Best thing is to get lots of quotes on Confused.com for different cars. Get the registration number from photos in Autotrader.