It is possible to get a quote and advice from insurance brokers about choosing from among a number of products to get one that suits your circumstances. They can shop around on your behalf to find the best quote available from the companies they deal with. Alternatively, you might want to do your own research and buy a product directly from the insurer over the phone, face to face or via the internet. Both direct providers and brokers can be easily found in the phone book or by searching the internet.

As insurance is priced according to how likely the driver is to make a claim, a lot of information can be asked for when applying for insurance. Commonly, this will include the vehicle details, what the vehicle will be used for, where the vehicle will be kept, the ages and occupations of the people who will be driving the vehicle, any penalty points on your license or convictions for driving offences, any no-claims bonus and how long you have been driving for, and any recent insurance claims. It is essential to answer all the questions honestly and in detail. Once all your details have been taken, you will be offered a quote and, if you accept the quote you will be sent insurance documents.

You will need to take a good look at your existing policy and decide if you are paying for items you don’t really need. You also need to do a bit of research about the discounts that are available to you. Anything that reduces your risk to insurance companies will lower your cost, so living in a safe place and taking a driving class helps. It also matters how often you actually drive the covered vehicle. They will not always tell you about these clauses, so always ask.

There are three key documents when you take out a policy of motor insurance, the certificate, the policy and the schedule. The certificate contains details of the vehicle insured, the driver named to use the vehicle, the use of the vehicle which is insured and the dates for which the policy is valid. This is the document that provides legal evidence of insurance cover and is required should an accident occur, when the vehicle needs to be taxed or if you are asked to produce it by the police. The policy sets out in full the terms and conditions of the insurance cover.


The schedule gives details specific to your policy such as excesses, no-claim discount and which parts of the policy apply in your case. You may be given an insurance cover note when you first take out an insurance policy. The cover note acts as a certificate and temporary policy while the full documents are produced. It is very important that you check the documents to see that the details are correct and to get them amended if you find anything wrong.

If you do not have a car at the moment, you may be able to defer the discount for up to two years, but you would need to check with your insurance company. If you passed your practical driving test more than a year ago, check that you will be eligible for the discount on offer from your insurance company before you take the course. You should check which company offers you the best discount.

You could save more money on your insurance than you actually paid for your Pass Plus course, effectively getting your training for nothing. When you contact the insurers, you need to check that a Pass Plus discount is available to you.

The following insurers offer motor insurance benefits to car drivers who have passed Pass Plus:

 4Counties Insurance
 AA Insurance
 Adrian Flux Insurance Services
 Aviva
 Churchill Insurance
 CIS
 Click4Gap (enter voucher code ‘PASSPLUS10GAP’)
 Direct Line
 Endsleigh
 i-Kube
 Privilege
 Provident Insurance
 Quinn Direct Insurance Ltd
 RAC Direct Insurance
 Royal and Sun Alliance
 Swinton Car Insurance
 Tesco Motor Insurers
 Young Marmalade
 Zurich Insurance

The card is not required by law to cross borders within the European Union and some other countries. This is because all EU countries and certain other countries comply with the first directive on motor insurance, which says that every insurance policy issued in the EU must provide the minimum insurance cover required by law in any other EU country.

The countries that do not need a Green Card are Andorra, Austria, Belgium, Bulgaria, Croatia, Cyprus, Czech Republic, Denmark, Estonia, Finland, France, Germany, Greece, Hungary, Iceland, Ireland, Italy, Latvia, Lithuania, Luxembourg, Malta, Netherlands, Norway, Poland, Portugal, Romania, Slovak Republic, Slovenia, Spain, Sweden, and Switzerland
On the other hand, the countries that that require a Green card are Albania, Belarus, Bosnia and Herzegovina, Former Yugoslav Republic of Macedonia (FYROM), Islamic Republic of Iran, Israel, Moldova, Morocco, Russia, Serbia and Montenegro, Tunisia, Turkey, and Ukraine.

You can get a Green Card from a number of insurers. However, they are not legally bound to do so. If they will not, you may wish to make enquiries with other insurers or ask about getting border insurance at the point of entry into the country. The Green Card document itself is only proof that the minimum third party liability cover required by law in the visited country is in force. You should check with your insurer to make sure that your UK policy cover is fully in force when you travel abroad whether or not a Green Card is issued.
Within the countries where frontier inspection is no longer required, the Green Card is still the insurance document most readily recognized and understood by national police forces. As you may need to produce evidence of insurance other than at a border, for example after an accident, you may consider it advisable to carry a Green Card to avoid any inconvenience.

The Green Card system is administered in the UK by the Motor Insurers’ Bureau (MIB), at Linford Wood House, 6-12 Capital Drive, Linford Wood, Milton Keynes, MK14 6XT.Its telephone number and fax are 01908 830 001 and 01908 671 681 respectively.

Third Party Fire and Theft Cover provides the same cover as third party only and also insures you should your vehicle be damaged by fire or stolen. A Comprehensive Cover, on the other hand, provides the same cover as third party fire and theft. However, it also covers you should your vehicle be damaged in an accident.

Many additions to this level of cover are available from insurance companies including providing a courtesy car while your car is being repaired, legal expenses insurance to recover your uninsured losses such as your excess, roadside recovery schemes, and vehicle repairs in case of breakdown.

If you have an accident that causes damage or injury to any other person, vehicle, animal or property, you must give both your own and the vehicle owner’s name and address, along with the registration number of the vehicle, to anyone having reasonable grounds for requiring them. If you do not give your details then you should report the accident to the police as soon as possible within 24 hours. You must also report the accident to your insurer, even if you are not intending to make a claim.
Any accident with an uninsured driver should be reported to the police. You should also report any accident to your insurer, who will advise you further as regards any claim. Additionally, the Motor Insurers’ Bureau (MIB) ensures that compensation is available to the innocent victims of uninsured drivers or hit and run untraced drivers.

All UK policies provide the minimum cover required by law in other European Union (EU) countries or the minimum cover required by UK law if that is greater. This cover doesn’t automatically include theft or damage to your car. Most people want the same protection they have in the UK when traveling abroad, for example comprehensive or third party, fire and theft. This could, in addition to the legal minimum of third party liability cover, include accidental damage to, or theft of or from, your own vehicle, depending on the policy cover.

According to the seriousness of the offence, the level of the maximum fine can go upto 5,000 UK pounds, and the automatic endorsement of an offender’s license with six to eight penalty points. The courts can order the immediate disqualification of the offender. The police also have wide powers to stop vehicles and inspect certificates, and this leads to around 300,000 convictions for uninsured driving every year.

Driving without insurance can be punishable within the fixed penalty system. The fixed penalty of 200 UK pounds and six penalty points allows a more thorough enforcement of this offence.

The possibility of a fixed penalty gives the police an extra option for dealing with the offence concerned, but it does not prevent the police’s ability to prosecute in appropriate cases when they consider that to be the best course of action. The police have the power to seize, and in some cases, destroy the vehicle that is being driven uninsured.

Any vehicle seized under these powers will only be released on payment of the fixed penalty and must show a valid insurance certificate. The vehicle will only be released to the registered keeper of the vehicle or, if there is no registered keeper, to the person appearing to be the owner. The police can dispose of vehicles not claimed within a set time. The Road Safety Act 2006 makes provision for harsher sentences for those who kill or are involved in accidents while driving uninsured.
The UK Department for Transport has worked out an effective way to control uninsured driving. Provisions in the Serious Organized Crime and Police Act 2005 enable the police to use their access to the Motor Insurance Database in conjunction with their Automatic Number Plate Reading equipment.
There is also a plan to enforce a continuous insurance enforcement scheme provides a new fixed penalty for people who ignore official reminders that their insurance has expired. The scheme is expected to come into force during 2011. This will apply to vehicles that are not declared as being off the road through Statutory off Road Notification (SORN) and not insured. Continuing offenders will risk having their vehicle seized and destroyed.

However, if a motor vehicle is not used on a road or other public place, there is no requirement to purchase insurance cover for ‘on road risk’ as long as a SORN declaration has been made.

If you have a good credit rating a typical finance rate for used car finance over a five-year period should be around 8.99%, although clearly this is likely to be variable depending upon the general economic situation. However, loans are available for car purchase at anything up to 12.6%, generally for those with a poorer credit record. As usual, those that find it harder to pay are charged the most. Whilst this may only appear to be two or 3% difference, over the course of the five years this represents nearly 6,000 UK pounds more.
You also need to remember that when you buy a new car the interest charged may be either initially or entirely set at 0%. Imagine purchasing a car that is brand new and which costs 10,000 UK pounds. Whilst this may seem too expensive, opting to purchase a used car at around 8,000 UK pounds, even at the very low rate of interest of 7% you would actually still be paying more than the purchase of a brand new car.

If you maintain the payments in full and on time you will not be charged any penalty. However, in case you make late payments or fall behind with your payments, you are almost certain to incur late payment charges. Hence, it is also wise to be aware of the charges that would be incurred should you fall behind with your payments, and ensure that these are not too much.