In its most simple terms, multi car insurance is a single car insurance policy which provides cover for more than one vehicle. You may be aware of these policies after some substantial television advertising has been used to promote their value to the customer.
What are the benefits of multi car insurance?
The attractiveness, to the customer, of the multi car insurance policy stems from two main angles – reduced cost and hassle. By combining two cars into one policy you’re essentially buying in bulk. So you should expect a discount when buying multi car insurance as opposed to two separate policies.
Then there’s the element of hassle. Nobody enjoys buying insurance, remembering renewal dates and searching the market for quotes. Combining this process into one easy-to-manage policy can help to reduce the admin.
From the insurance company’s point of view, their marketing spending is bringing in two policies where it would normally have resulted in one. So they can afford to offer a cheaper quote than two separate policies. They’ll also benefit from reduced admin and benefit from the single policy per household approach.
Things to look out for with multi car insurance
When buying multi car insurance, there are a few things to look out for. Firstly, your existing car insurance policies are unlikely to end on the same date. So check that the multi car insurance policy can pick up the second car at the appropriate time. Even better, make sure this is done without an additional cost e.g. charging you for cover on the additional car only for the time it is included on the policy, not the full term.
Secondly, check the small print for who’s allowed to drive the cars and who’s earning the no claims bonus. Some insurers assign joint policyholders who each continue to earn their separate no claims bonus (and suffer individually when they make a claim). If the multi car insurance company assigns the no claims bonus to both policyholders as a single entity, you could stand to lose out when your no claims bonus is wiped out by a claim and your premium shoots up the following year – for an incident you may not have been involved.
Admiral Insurance have advertised their multi car insurance product heavily on television but Direct Line, Churchill Insurance and Prudential also offer multi car insurance, amongst others.
