Average Cost of Car Insurance for Young Drivers (2024)

It's no surprise that young, teen drivers pay more for car insurance. A young driver's lack of experience and limited driving history is potentially risky for car insurance companies to insure, so they charge more to insure new drivers. But how much will a new driver pay? We've crunched the numbers to determine the cost of UK car insurance for an 18-year-old driver in England by major city, so you'll know what to expect to pay depending on where you live. Rates will be similar for 17 and 19 year olds.

• How much will a young driver pay for cheap car insurance by city?
• Methodology

Young Driver Insurance Cost

If price is your priority, you'll probably opt for one of the cheapest plans available to you. The NimbleFins team gathered over 400 young driver insurance quotes across 10 cities in England, and calculated that the average premium for cheap comprehensive cover for an 18-year-old driver was £1,752 per year. But rates varied significantly by area, with young drivers in Liverpool, Birmingham, Bradford and Manchester being quoted over £2,000 a year. Sheffield and Bristol young drivers paid the least in our study, just over £1,100 per year. That means young drivers in some areas pay nearly 2X as much as young drivers in other areas.

Here's How Much a Young Driver will pay for Cheap Car Insurance by City

Between the high cost of insurance and the average driver spending over £1,000 on driving lessons (at a cost of £34 per hour-long driving lesson), being a young driver is not cheap.

Methodology

In order to determine what a young driver will typically pay for comprehensive car insurance, we gathered quotes for a sample 18-year-old male driver with a Full UK Licence who drives a 2016 Ford Fiesta, the UK's most popular car. (For more information on how insurance costs vary by make and model of car, please see our article, What Does it Cost to Insure the UK's Most Popular Vehicles?) Altogether we collected over 400 quotes for a driver living in London, Birmingham, Leeds, Sheffield, Bradford, Manchester, Liverpool, Bristol, Newcastle and Sunderland, who drives under 5,000 miles per year. Quotes included cover for a courtesy car, breakdown, personal accident and legal cover. Quotes were gathered from plans from the following car insurance companies: