How long a quote is valid for is down to the insurance provider. Using our price comparison service you can save your searches, but there’s no guarantee the price will be the same when you purchase.

If you cancel your policy within the first 14 days, most insurance companies won’t charge a cancellation fee but check the small print because some will. If your policy has been active for longer, you’re likely to have to pay a cancellation fee plus the cost for the time you’ve been insured (pro-rata).

Excess payments refer to the cost of making a claim – compulsory excess is how much you’ll need to put towards the total cost before your insurer pays the rest. The voluntary excess is how much you choose to pay; the higher this figure, the lower your premium is likely to be.

A no-claims bonus – also known as a no-claims discount – can cut the cost of your car insurance. The longer you drive without claiming, the better your claims history and the bigger the discount you can earn when renewing your cover.

If you are in an accident, you may consider not claiming if the damage is minor and it would be more sensible to pay for the repairs yourself – for example, if the excess you’d need to pay is more than the overall repair costs. This way you’ll preserve your no-claims bonus as well as being better off financially.

Yes, you’re likely to pay less overall if you pay the annual fee upfront. This is because insurers add on a fee for monthly payments. While monthly payments can help to spread out the cost over 12 months, you will end up paying more overall. Insurers will carry out a credit check if you opt to pay monthly to see if you can afford it.

While advanced driving courses such as Pass Plus or IAM (Institute of Advanced Motorists) make you a better driver, they won’t always save you money on your car insurance. While the average person is unlikely to save with Pass Plus on their record, younger or inexperienced drivers might be able to save a few quid. However, any discounts will depend on the individual insurer, and the course itself may cost more than any savings on your insurance cover. You may well save more by shopping around and comparing deals from different providers.

The number of miles you drive on average per year is used to calculate your car insurance premiums. To calculate your expected mileage, you can:

Look at the number of miles you drove the year before on your annual MOT certificate

Check your car’s service record – mileage is noted in your logbook every time your car has its annual service

Calculate how many miles you drive each week and add them all up

In most cases, the value you declare on your insurance policy documents will be the price you initially paid for the vehicle.

Be mindful though, that if you make a claim and your car has been your insurance provider will pay out the current market value of your car, not the initial price you declared on your insurance documents. This is because vehicle devaluation is also considered.

You don’t need car insurance when your car is off the road, as long as you’ve made a Statutory Off-Road Notification (SORN).

This tells the Driver and Vehicle Licensing Agency (DVLA) your car is not in use and means you don’t need to pay vehicle tax or buy car insurance – as long as it’s kept off the road.

Any-driver insurance allows anyone to drive your car (with your permission). This is handy if you have lots of family and friends that want to borrow your car. The downside is that it can be expensive, as your insurance provider can’t be sure who’s driving the car at any given time.