A learner driver must have adequate insurance cover if he is learning to drive a car through some private driving lessons and not from some professional instructor or driving school. The minimum level of cover that you’re allowed legally is third party but car insurance for provisional drivers should be comprehensive because there are more risks involved and you can easily scratch or bump the car during lessons. Third party insurance will cost considerably less but you’ll be left liable for repairs if you bump the car.

It is not cheap to learn how driving a car. It could take around £1000 to learn driving with the help of some professional or a driving school. This high cost of learning pushes a lot of people to seek free lessons from other sources, which are usually provided by a family member or a friend.

This makes it all the more necessary to have learner insurance for those additional free lessons and the insurance should be on the car in which the lessons are being taken. However, some car owners already have the insurance cover for such driving lessons, which makes it unnecessary on the part of the provisional driver to have additional insurance coverage. But, such cases are very rare and only apply when provisional insurance has been taken (usually when the learner is named on the parents’ policy) and hence it becomes the responsibility of the learner to ensure that the car is adequately insured.

There are some learners and some parents who think it is an unnecessary burden to have any extra insurance cover. Their common perception is that a comprehensive car insurance policy is more than enough to cover all kinds of claims implicating a learner driver. This perception is entirely wrong, as a regular car insurance cover is not meant for covering the claims of a driver who has just got a provisional licence.

So, if you are thinking about doing your driving lessons with the help of a near and dear one and not from a professional, then you must collect the information from their car insurance company whether you could be added as a provisional driver on their policy. If they don’t add you on their car insurance policy for whichever reason, you must start looking for your very own insurance policy. In its absence, you could be breaking the law and be prosecuted.

If you are caught without a proper provisional driving insurance, police can confiscate the car itself. They also have the power to destroy the confiscated car. But the story doesn’t end here. Your driving licence will also be endorsed with penalty points that will hold up for as long as you don’t qualify for full driving license.

When you go searching for comprehensive provisional drivers insurance, you will find that a lot of insurance companies are not dealing with this kind of insurance. They may also refuse to add you up as a learner in the car policy of your parent. So, the best way to get yourself as well as your car insured is to apply for learner driver car insurance, in your name only. It is more flexible and available for short term periods as well.