If you've got a car, you'll need to have insurance by law. There are three types of insurance for private drivers:

• Comprehensive insurance
• Third party, fire and theft insurance
• Third party only insurance

Key pros and cons of comprehensive insurance

Pros

• Most comprehensive cover
• Great cover - as well as damage in accidents to both your car and any other car, it often covers windscreens, car stereos, personal belongings in the car, and pays out if you are injured or die in an accident, or if other people make claims against you following an accident
• Covers your car if it is stolen or damaged by a fire

Cons

• Most expensive option

Key pros and cons of third party, fire and theft insurance

Pros

• Some cover - as well as paying out if other people make a claim against you after an accident, it also pays out to repair or replace your car if it's stolen or damaged by fire
• Less expensive than comprehensive insurance

Cons

• If you damage your car in an accident and you can't claim from any other driver's policy, you'll have to pay the repair bill

Key pros and cons of third party insurance

Pros

• It's the cheapest option, and the minimum cover to make sure you're not breaking the law

Cons

• It's a very basic policy and only covers you against claims for injuries and damage that you, or any of your passengers, cause to another person or their property in an accident
• Not widely available
• If you damage your car in an accident and can't claim from any other driver's policy, you'll have to pay the repair bill yourself
• If your car is stolen or damaged in a fire, you won't be able to claim

Things to think about when taking out motor insurance:

• Will you get a courtesy car?
• Is your car covered abroad?
• What is the maximum limit for different types of claim?
• Are personal belongings left in the car covered?
• What's the excess you'll be charged for different types of claim?
• What's not covered?

What is a no-claims discount?
Most companies offer a discount for each year you don't make a claim (usually for up to four or five years). The maximum discount you can build up is around 65 per cent. Once you have built up your maximum no-claims bonus, you can normally insure against losing it by paying extra. You can usually transfer this no-claims discount to other insurers too.

Breakdown cover
For an extra charge you can often add breakdown cover to your motor insurance. There's lots of different levels available, from basic cover which just tows you to a garage, to policies which cover restarting your car if its parked outside your house, and the parts and labour costs of repairs. You can also take out separate breakdown cover as a stand-alone policy.

Making a claim
For information on making a claim visit our making a claim section.