The cheapest cars to insure 2025

Owning a car is expensive, and one big reason for this is the cost of insurance. The good news is that premiums have fallen each quarter this year, and are now £56 cheaper than they were a year ago. That means between July and September 2025 the average annual cost of comprehensive cover for a private motorist was £551, according to data from the Association of British Insurers (ABI), which tracks the cost of 28 million policies bought by drivers each year. 

Although prices have dropped, the rising cost of repairing cars and a continuing problem with car theft are costing insurers so much money that it’s stopping premiums from falling further. In fact, these factors have contributed to the insurance industry paying out £3 billion in claims from January to the end of September 2025.  

So is there such a thing as ‘cheap’ car insurance anymore? In the context of the current economic climate, there is, but first it's worth looking at what defines a vehicle's insurance premium. 

Every car is assigned an insurance group rating, which takes into account the vehicle’s price when new, the level of safety equipment fitted to it and the anti-theft features it has. The rating also considers how susceptible it is to crash damage, and how much, on average, it will cost to fix. A car is then placed into a price bracket between 1 (the lowest) and 50 (the highest), with the corresponding quotes based on this, plus a person’s profile. 

However, a lower insurance group doesn’t necessarily equate to the lowest premium, so if you’re considering a number of different models it’s worth getting quotes for them all. Prices can also vary significantly between trim and engine grades for one particular car, and other factors, such as a driver’s age and circumstances, will also alter the price quoted. 

One way to cut premiums that can be beneficial for new or younger drivers is a ‘black box’ policy. This involves having a small telematics device plugged into the car that measures a variety of metrics, including speed, braking and the time of day you’re driving. It uses the data to judge your driving performance, and it may reward sensible drivers with lower premiums. However, those who are deemed to be driving poorly can be penalised, and the other restrictions they place on drivers can also make them unpopular. 

So, for the purpose of this story, we’ve searched for non black box quotes. Our driver is a 23-year-old single male, who is a baker by profession and lives in Grays, Essex. He has a clean licence, five years’ no-claims bonus, on-street parking and covers 8000 miles per year. So, what are the 10 cheapest quotes he’d get? 

Note: Monthly PCP figures are based on a 48-month term, 10% deposit and 8,000-mile driving cap, unless stated otherwise in brackets.