Understanding the cost of driving instructor insurance

Car insurance is essential for all drivers, it’s also one of the biggest expenses in car ownership. If you’re a driving instructor, your policy should give you peace of mind and reflect the risks you face helping learners gain confidence behind the wheel, but how much does that assurance cost?

Here, we look at what affects the cost of driving instructor insurance and what you can do to keep premiums as low as possible.

• What is driving instructor insurance?
• What does driving instructor insurance cover?
• How much does driving instructor insurance cost?
• How can I lower the cost of driving instructor insurance?
• Driving instructor insurance from Alan Boswell Group

What is driving instructor insurance?

Driving instructor insurance is a specialist policy which covers you to teach learners how to drive and reflects the specific risks you face.

Policies usually cover both ADIs (approved driving instructors) and PDIs (potential driving instructors or trainee driving instructors).

What does driving instructor insurance cover?

What’s covered under driving instructor insurance will depend on the terms of your policy. As well as covering you to use the car to teach in, policies can include:

• social, domestic, and pleasure use
• any driver cover, including cover for examiners
• legal protection and cover for uninsured losses
• public liability
• dual-control courtesy car
• Advanced training, post-test tuition, driver awareness courses, and trailer training
• under-age driving tuition for learners 14+ (private land only)
• cover for higher-risk learners, including convicted drivers and previously banned drivers

Remember that not all insurers offer all features as standard, so it’s worth double-checking what’s included.

How much does driving instructor insurance cost?

Much like standard car insurance costs, premiums for driving instructor insurance are affected by a range of factors, including the type of cover you choose and any extra cover you add on.

What affects the cost of driving instructor insurance?

To calculate your premium, insurers will consider:

• Whether you’re a PDI or ADI – policies tend to be more expensive for PDIs compared to ADIs. This is simply because ADIs are fully-qualified, which lowers the risk from an insurance point of view.
• Your location – busy, congested areas or areas with high car crime rates usually push premiums up.
• Your no claims bonus – the bigger your no claims bonus, the greater the discount on your premium.
• Previous claims – recent claims (normally within the last five years) increase insurance costs.
• Driving convictions – if you’ve got any penalty points, this will be reflected in the cost of your insurance.
• How many hours you work – more hours behind the wheel may increase the chances of an accident and claim, increasing premiums as a result.

How can I lower the cost of driving instructor insurance?

Any policy you choose should be fit for purpose, reflecting your needs, who uses your car, and what it’s used for. If it doesn’t, your policy could be voided and any claims rejected.

That said, there are ways to keep the cost of driving instructor insurance down while still getting the protection you need:

• Increase your voluntary excess – increasing this can lower your overall premium, but it still needs to be affordable because a claim can’t go ahead until you pay it.
• Protect your NCB – if you’ve earned several years’ worth of NCB, you may want to protect it. However, bear in mind that doing this could push up your premium by 10-15%.
• The car you choose – cars that are expensive to repair or replace generally cost more to insure (including hybrids and electric cars). The age of your car can also affect premiums, as some insurers may consider your car a ‘classic’ over a certain age.
• Increase car security – reducing the risk of theft or damage can help lower premiums, so investing in an immobiliser can be a good move if you can’t keep your car in a locked garage or private driveway. Having a dashcam could also affect the cost of your insurance.

Driving instructor insurance from Alan Boswell Group

Cost will always be an important factor in helping you choose driving instructor insurance. But don’t forget that any policy you choose should also cover how you use your car. If not, you could be fined and given penalty points – impacting insurance costs and potentially jeopardising your career.

With that in mind, check that you’re covered for any specific services you offer and the types of drivers you teach.

At Alan Boswell Group, we tailor our policies so you can be confident you’ve got the protection you need. To find out more about how we can help, speak to a member of our team on 01603 301770.