Importantly, you must tell the insurer the cover is for a lease car when you take out the policy.
What’s included in fully comprehensive car insurance?
A comprehensive policy usually comes with breakdown cover, windscreen repair, a courtesy car while your car is being fixed, and legal cover to deal with any claims. It will also provide accidental damage protection to your car, such as if a tree branch falls on it.
Personal injury cover is another key part of comprehensive car insurance as it covers you and others if they are hurt in an accident.
Comprehensive cover is the best option, even if Third Party cover seems cheaper. This is a false economy as Third Party will only cover injury to the other driver and damage to their car – not yours. It may even be more costly than a comprehensive policy.
Lastly, and in the worst case scenario, comprehensive insurance will pay to replace your car if it’s damaged beyond repair – ‘written-off’ as an insurer would call it, stolen, or gutted by fire.
It’s also worth remembering that comprehensive cover is not an excuse to treat your car badly. If you damage it through negligence, bad driving, or taking it off-road, you won’t be covered. Nor will you be covered if you use it without a valid driving licence.
Can I get a car lease with insurance included?
While most insurers will cover a lease car, most lease deals do not come with insurance included. It’s always worth asking if it can be, though, as it means one less thing for you to think about and no searching for the best premium.
Finding a combined lease and insurance deal is harder, but it can help you plan your monthly outgoings more carefully. It also costs the same each month for the duration of the lease contract, so no insurance premium rises from one year to the next.
A less obvious benefit of combining your lease and insurance deals is the lease company may look after any repairs and claim for you in the event of an accident.
With a combined lease and insurance deal, you get all the same protections as any other comprehensive cover. This means you will enjoy breakdown cover, windscreen protection, legal cover, and GAP insurance to cover the difference in what your car is worth if it was brand new and the value given if it’s written off or stolen.
Just check that any lease-plus-insurance deal is actually more cost effective than just leasing the car and getting insurance yourself.
Frequently Asked Questions
Most car lease deals do not include insurance, so check this before signing on the line. This also means you don’t have the usual comprehensive insurance benefits of breakdown cover, windscreen protection, legal expenses, or personal injury cover.
A lease deal will probably not include GAP insurance either as standard, which pays the difference in value between the cost of a new replacement car and what your car is worth at the time it’s written off or stolen.
