RAC Car Insurance

Who Underwrites RAC Car Insurance

The RAC do not underwrite car insurance themselves. Policies sold under the RAC name are arranged through a panel of insurers, with the RAC acting as the brand and distribution channel rather than the risk carrier. That is normal for motoring brands selling insurance, and it means the insurer behind an RAC policy may not be the same one behind another customer’s.

It matters for two reasons. The claims experience depends on the underwriting insurer rather than the RAC, and the panel changes over time, so a renewal quote may come from a different insurer than the original policy.

What Annual Car Insurance Covers

Annual policies are written at three levels. Third party only meets the legal minimum, covering injury to other people and damage to their property. Third party fire and theft adds cover for your own car against fire and theft. Comprehensive adds damage to your own car regardless of fault.

Comprehensive is not automatically the most expensive. Insurers price it against risk rather than cover level, and on some vehicles and driver profiles a comprehensive quote comes in below third party fire and theft. It is always worth pricing both.

Breakdown Cover and Car Insurance

The RAC’s core business is breakdown recovery, so it is worth being clear that breakdown cover and car insurance are separate products. Breakdown cover gets a vehicle moving again or recovered. Car insurance pays for damage and liability. Neither substitutes for the other.

Most insurers offer breakdown as an add on, and it is often cheaper bundled than bought separately. It is also worth checking whether existing cover already exists through a bank account, a manufacturer warranty or a credit card, since duplicate breakdown policies are common.

Two things to compare on any breakdown add on: whether it covers the vehicle or the person, and whether assistance at home is included. Personal cover follows the driver into any vehicle, vehicle cover follows the car whoever is driving. Vehicle cover is usually the more expensive of the two.

What Affects an Annual Premium

• Where the car is kept overnight, and whether that is a garage, a driveway or the street
• Annual mileage, which is frequently underestimated and can invalidate a claim if materially wrong
• Class of use, which must include commuting or business travel if the car is used that way
• Voluntary excess, which lowers the premium but has to be affordable at the point of a claim
• Named drivers, and whether the main driver is correctly identified
• Modifications, including alloys, remaps, tinted glass and towbars

Adding an experienced named driver can reduce a premium legitimately. Naming an experienced driver as the main policyholder when they are not is fronting, which is fraud and voids the policy.

No Claims Discount

No claims discount builds at one year for each claim free year, usually capping between five and nine years depending on the insurer. It sits with the individual rather than the vehicle, and most insurers will accept proof from a previous provider.

Protecting the discount costs extra and means one or two claims within a set period will not reduce it. It does not stop the premium rising after a claim, which is the part people are often surprised by.

Short Term Cover Is a Separate Product

The RAC also sell temporary car insurance from one hour up to 30 days, administered by Dayinsure. It is a standalone policy rather than an add on to an annual one, and a claim on it does not affect the vehicle owner’s no claims discount. It is bought directly from the RAC and is not quoted here.

Anyone who needs cover for days rather than a year should read the guide to temporary van insurance or the equivalent car guide, depending on the vehicle.

What to Check Before You Buy

• The excess, both compulsory and voluntary, and what the total would be on a claim
• Whether a courtesy car is included and for how long
• Windscreen cover and whether a claim affects the no claims discount
• Cover for driving other cars, which is far less common than it used to be
• European use, and how many days are included as standard
• Personal belongings and audio equipment limits

Comparing Annual Car Insurance

MultiQuoteTime is not affiliated with the RAC and their policies are not quoted here. Annual car insurance from a range of UK providers is compared below. Cover levels, excesses and add ons vary between insurers, and the cheapest quote is not always the one with the cover that suits.