Provisional Car Insurance

You've just received your green provisional licence through the post and you're now excited to get behind the wheels for some driving lessons. The first thing you will need to do is find yourself someone to teach you how to drive. Okay, here are your options: contact the local driving schools in your area, go with a private driving instructor who has been recommended by somebody you know or learn with a family member or friend. But whichever option you choose, you will need to have provisional car insurance before you drive.

Lessons with driving schools cost around £22 and going with a private instructor is usually a couple of pounds cheaper. The Driving Standards Agency recommends that you have at least 42 hours of practice before taking your driving test, so that will cost you roughly £920 as a minimum. You will need more practice than that though to become a really confident driver and pass first time round. For that reason, many learner drivers choose to learn with a relative/friend as it is free and they consequently make huge savings on driving lessons which would have otherwise been charged by a driving instructor.

This is all good except for one thing - when you are learning in a driving instructor's car, be it with a driving school or a private instructor, there is a learner car insurance on the vehicle you're driving which protects you in the event of an accident. However this is not the case when you are driving your parent's or friend's car. Therefore you will need to purchase some kind of car insurance which covers provisional licence holders.

As a matter of fact, it is illegal to drive or learn to drive in the UK if you do not have proper insurance cover in place. Now you don't want to get a driving conviction before you even get hold of your full driving licence, do you? Therefore it is necessary for you to find a car insurance company which will be ready to insure you and believe me, there are just a few of them out there.

So which company does provisional insurance

There are some companies which offer provisional driver insurance but the quotes are really high. Why? Because they use the traditional methods of calculating insurance but give a heavier risk weight to your application because you're still a learner and this results in an expensive annual premium. However if you wanted something short term wise to help you with your driving, then you need to go with an insurance company which specialises in car insurance for learner drivers like the one listed below:

• Collingwood Learner Driver Insurance
• Provisional Marmalade

They offer car insurance for short periods to enable you to drive the car of your parents, friends or relatives and what is even better is that you can apply with just a provisional licence without risking the vehicle's owner no claims bonus. If you get put down on your dad's insurance as a provisional driver and hit a tree while learning, the claim to the insurer will mean that your dad will lose some of his NCB. With provisional insurance however, you become the policyholder and claims go on your name without affecting your parents no claims discount. Check it out for yourself!