A guide to third party car insurance

Whether you’ve just passed your test or have been driving for decades, everyone has to have car insurance.

Not all insurance is created equal, however, and you have three options to choose from: comprehensive cover, third party cover or third party fire and theft cover. In this guide, we’ll be focusing on third party insurance, but it’s a good idea to get acquainted with comprehensive and third party fire and theft, too, before you make your mind up about which type of insurance is right for you.

What is third party cover?

With third party insurance, which is the minimum cover required by law, if you have an accident and it’s your fault, your insurer will pay to repair the damage caused to the other vehicle or property, and compensate anyone left injured, aside from yourself. They wouldn’t pay to repair your vehicle, as with third party insurance, this is your own responsibility.

If your car was vandalised, stolen or destroyed by fire, your insurer wouldn’t pay out, as this isn’t covered by third party insurance. Instead, it would be up to you to buy a replacement car or pay for repairs. If your car’s expensive, or you wouldn’t have the money available to buy a replacement or carry out the required repairs, you may want to opt for comprehensive car insurance, as this covers your car and yourself. 

If your car is a cheap run around, and you’d be able to buy a new car if you needed to, you may consider third party insurance adequate for your needs. If you’d like more cover, but don’t feel you need the level of protection offered by comprehensive insurance, third party fire and theft insurance might be for you. With this, you get the third party standard cover, plus your insurer would pay out if your car was damaged by fire, or stolen.

Get some quotes and compare before you buy

Traditionally, third party insurance was the cheapest kind of car insurance, as it offers the least amount of cover. However, as the likelihood of injury claims forms a major part of insurance premiums these days, if you shop around, you may actually be quoted a cheaper price for comprehensive insurance.

To get a quote for Rias comprehensive car insurance, click here >