Getting a motor insurance quote

There are hundreds of UK insurance websites available. They either belong to the insurance providers (ie the big household names who actually insure you) or to insurance brokers (ie the middlemen who arrange your insurance with the providers on your behalf).

The problem with the insurance websites is they vary greatly in quality and price. To research them all could take you several hours.

To make it more confusing, you'd think that going direct to the providers would guarantee a cheaper deal than going via a broker. (Wrong. Brokers are often cheaper. Why?

Well the good news is we've done the research for you and can save you time and effort.

We've checked the web extensively and have chosen the ones we think offer you best value.

You can go through to our shortlist from the links below. Most of them have online quote engines which mean you can get a quote there and then.

Bear in mind that these firms will have "loss leaders" ie good deals as well as overpriced products that make them the most money - like any retail business. (See below about getting three quotes).

The quotes you'll get are for policies underwritten by all the usual household names. Read more at who insures you.

We strongly suggest you always get at least three quotes when buying any financial product. In other words don't just rely on the quotes you get via here. Make your own comparisons and go for the best one. Read more on How to get the cheapest quote

Have you checked the insurance buying tips yet?

So who insures you?

The type of policies you'll get quotes on are underwritten by the usual household name insurance providers: eg AXA, Royal Sun Alliance, Cornhill, Provident, MMA, Fortis, Legal and General, Lloyd's of London, NIG, Groupama, Norwich Union, Zurich etc

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Insurance providers

Insurance providers are the companies who actually provide the insurance. They're often the household names you've already heard of - thanks to their huge advertising budgets. The problem is someone's got to pay for all those TV ads. The providers thought long and hard about this one and came up with the mind boggling solution. The costs are passed on to you, the punter, in the form of increased premiums.

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Insurance brokers

Insurance brokers are middlemen between you and the providers. The reason they're useful to you is that they know who has the best policies at the best price. In other words going through a middle man (or woman!) for insurance can save you money.

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Why Going Direct to the big insurers is not always cheaper

You'd think that if you went to the big providers direct it would be cheaper - because you'd be cutting out the middle man.

Not so. If you go direct they usually charge you the full commission they'd normally pay the middle man and just keep it as profit.

In fact if you go to the insurer direct it could cost you even more than going through the broker.

This is because the websites we link you to sometimes "discount" a percentage of their commission. This reduces your premium further so you pay much less than if you get the same policy through a normal high street broker or direct from the insurer.

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