By clicking a retailer link you consent to third party cookies that track your onward journey. If you make a purchase, Which? will receive an affiliate commission which supports our mission to be the UK's consumer champion.

01 Mar 2024

Privilege car insurance review

Name: Privilege Car Insurance Review
Item: Privilege Car Insurance Review
Rating: 63
Author: Dean Sobers

Read Which?'s expert review of Privilege's car insurance. Find out how we rate its car insurance policies against 27 other providers

Dean SobersSenior researcher & writer

In this article

What does Privilege car insurance offer?
Does Privilege offer the best car insurance?
How good are Privilege's car insurance policies?
How can you save money on Privilege car insurance?
Privilege: How can I claim?
Find out how Privilege rates for other products

What does Privilege car insurance offer?

Privilege is a brand owned by Direct Line Group ‒ one of the largest UK insurers ‒ along with Direct Line and Churchill.

You have a choice of two policies ‒ Comprehensive and Comprehensive Plus. We've rated both here, but haven't received feedback from enough of its customers to rate its levels of service.

Its car insurance is underwritten by UK Insurance. Privilege also offers home insurance policies.

Find out more: how to find cheap car insurance

Compare car insurance deals

Check Which? insurance ratings and compare deals using the service provided by Confused.com

Get a quote

Does Privilege offer the best car insurance?

Here's how Privilege scored in our latest survey:

63% policy score on its standard policy, placing it 17th out of 28 standard policies reviewed

See how this compares with the best car insurance.

We review a lot of policies - and our 'Best Buy' badge recognises the individual products that stood out as being the most comprehensive in our analysis. It doesn't reflect customer service. However, we won't give a provider a Best Buy badge where there's evidence - either from our surveys or from Financial Conduct Authority data - of poor service or a poorer-than-average record of paying claims.

Policies named as Best Buys must have a minimum policy score of 65%

Additionally, we look at how consistently good the cover is in policies. To make the cut, a policy needs to have scored at least three out of five points in two thirds of the areas we've rated.

Find out more: how we rate policies.

Lastly, all Best Buy policies must provide - either as standard or as an option - the following levels of cover as a minimum:

'Comprehensive' cover (meaning it covers third party claims, fire, theft and accidental damage to your car), a temporary courtesy car if yours is under repair or if it has been stolen or written off, a repairs guarantee period of at least 3 years, cover for damage to your windows or windscreen, legal expenses cover, liability cover of £20m or more and personal accident cover.

We analyse and rate 78 key elements of car insurance policies to come up with the overall policy score.

Initially, we score all of the product elements out of five, reflecting how competitive each provider is in this area compared with other insurers. We assess how important different policy elements are to drivers when choosing and using a car insurance, and weight different areas of cover accordingly to enhance/reduce their impact in the overall product score.

How good are Privilege's car insurance policies?

Privilege's Comprehensive cover achieved an average score in our analysis, but its Comprehensive Plus policy was a Best Buy.

Its Comprehensive policy scored 63% ‒ just below the 64% average. Highlights include £5,000 personal accident cover as standard (which pays out a cash sum if you are killed or suffer a life-changing injury), which isn't subject to age eligibility restrictions, unlike some other policies. It also has a comparatively low excess (£115) for windscreen replacement claims. Some providers will make you pay nearly twice this amount.

Unlike policies from its sister brand Direct Line ‒ which has a 'fair claims commitment' ‒ your no-claims discount will be reduced if you claim following various incidents where you weren't at fault, including vandalism or your car being hit while parked.

No payment default fee

Just over half the policies we examined don't charge default fees for customers who fail to make a monthly payment, including both Privilege's policies. Where charged, these fees can be as much as £26.

Comprehensive Plus

Privilege's Comprehensive Plus policy has higher levels of cover and a few additional standard features, such as 90 days cover for driving overseas. It achieved a score of 69% in our analysis (in the top 40% of policies rated), and received our Best Buy accolade.

Privilege: key cover areas rated

Select a table:

Comprehensive


Fire excess	Varies
Theft excess	Varies
Accidental damage excess	Varies
Windscreen replacement excess	£115
Is the policy holder's NCD affected if car is hit while parked	Yes
Windscreen damage - limit per claim	Market value / £125
Window damage - limit per claim	Market value / £125

Tables last updated February 2024. Next update January 2025. We recommend checking policies before buying.

How can you save money on Privilege car insurance?

Privilege policies are generally cheaper bought through comparison websites. They're available on the following websites:

Compare the Market
Go Compare
Confused
MoneySuperMarket

Privilege offers discounts for those insuring more than one vehicle with it, though the amount varies. It also provides a discount if you take out both your car and home insurance with it.

Above information correct as of December 2023.

Get a car insurance quote with Confused.com

Privilege: How can I claim?

If you need to make a claim with Privilege car insurance, call 0800 051 6990 or start your claim online.

Find out more: is it worth claiming on your car insurance?

Find out how Privilege rates for other products

Privilege home insurance review

Privilege car insurance review