What is learner driver insurance?
Learner driver insurance, or provisional driver insurance, provides temporary insurance for new drivers. As a learner driver, you'll be covered for both private lessons and practicing with a family member or friend before you take your driving test.
With the RAC, you can take out provisional insurance for 1 day, or for as long as 5 months, depending on how long it takes you to pass. If you do find yourself needing to top-up your learner driver insurance, then don’t worry, as you can do this online at any time1.
If you’re driving your own car, you’ll be able to drive the vehicle at whatever time suits you, unlike some telematics policies that impose a curfew.
Importantly, this insurance helps protect the car owner’s No Claims Bonus.* If you were added to their policy and had an accident, it could impact their bonus.
We’ve teamed up with Dayinsure to offer learner drivers flexible, comprehensive insurance. So, you can focus on learning to drive without the worry.
Setting up your provisional driving insurance
Select your duration
First, choose the length of your provisional insurance. We offer any duration from 1 day up to 5 months fully comprehensive!
Enter your details
Fill out some details about yourself and the vehicle you’ll be driving to get your quote.
Get practicing
Once you’ve paid for your insurance, you’ll be able to start driving in as little as 15 minutes!
Pass your test
Next, pass your theory and practical test. Once you’ve done this, you can easily upgrade your insurance while keeping your no claims.
Do all learners need this insurance?
In the UK, anyone driving on public roads, including those with a provisional licence, must legally have valid car insurance. Most driving schools include insurance in their lesson fees. This means learners are covered during lessons with an instructor. However, if you want to practise driving outside of lessons in your own car, you’ll need to get separate learner driver insurance. If you learn in someone else’s car, make sure their insurance policy covers you as a learner driver. This could be by adding you as a named driver on their car.
If you’re using your own car for lessons with an instructor, make sure your learner insurance covers it. Not all policies do. Driving without insurance can lead to a £300 fine and 6 penalty points. More serious penalties may apply if it goes to court.
If you take out an annual learner driver insurance policy, you’ll be eligible to start earning a No Claims Discount. This could help you to reduce your premium when you pass your test.
Am I eligible?
As the driver, you must:
hold a current provisional GB driving licence
currently reside at a permanent UK address, as stated throughout your application and shown on your Schedule of Insurance. If you make a claim, you will be asked to provide proof of residence at that address.
have had no more than one non-fault claim, zero fault claims, and have had no incidents likely to give rise to a claim
have no penalty points on your licence
have had no motoring offences or convictions
have not been convicted of any offence relating to fraud, robbery, theft, or handling stolen goods including any pending prosecution or police enquiry
Your vehicle must:
be registered in the UK
have a current market value of less than £40,000
have no more than 7 seats (including the driver's)
not have been modified
not be a hire or rental vehicle
not be a seized vehicle or in a police compound
not be used for the carriage of goods or passengers for hire or reward
not be used to carry hazardous goods
not be used or driven at any hazardous location
Read our full learner driver insurance policy requirements.
Important note: once you’ve passed your test, you’ll no longer be covered by Dayinsure’s provisional learner insurance to drive home from the test centre. New drivers can save on their insurance with black box car Insurance.
How much does learner insurance cost?
The cost of learner insurance will vary depending on your situation and vehicle.
Prices from:^
Daily learner insurance
Weekly learner insurance
Monthly learner insurance
^10% of customers purchasing an RAC Learner Car Insurance policy direct from dayinsure.com between 01/01/26 and 30/06/26, paid the above prices for the corresponding durations. This is based on new customer's base premium when buying cover and excludes optional extras. Prices for these policies will vary based on an individual’s risk information, therefore, actual savings may vary.
What’s covered?
RAC Learner Driver Insurance is fully comprehensive. You’re also covered with learner insurance when sitting the driving test, providing that you use the same vehicle. However, the cover stops when you pass your test, so you’ll need to plan alternative arrangements when getting the car back from the test centre. You can also add optional extras to your learner driver insurance, for example short term breakdown cover.
Here’s what’s included as standard with our learner insurance:
Cover if your car is damaged or stolen
We’ll cover your car if it’s written off, and for accidental damage, fire, theft or attempted theft.
Legal liability
Legal liability if another person is injured or dies, or their property is damaged (up to £5 million per claim).
Medical expenses
We’ll provide medical expenses if you or any person in the vehicle is injured because of the car being involved in an accident.
Sitting the driving test
Your insurance stays active while you take your driving test. This means you’re covered if something happens. If you pass, you need a new policy before driving.
Vehicle recovery
We’ll provide vehicle recovery to a single address within the territorial limits if the insured driver becomes seriously ill and needs treatment.
Personal belongings
Up to £150 towards personal belongings if they’re stolen or damaged in a fire.
Ignition keys
If your ignition keys are damaged or stolen, we’ll replace them if the cost doesn’t exceed your car’s market value.
Read our full learner driver insurance policy requirements.
Why choose RAC Learner Driver Insurance?
Quick and easy
Buy online 24/7 and your cover's active within 15 minutes.
Flexible
Only get the cover you need from 1 day to 5 months.2
No NCD impact
There's no impact on the main driver's no claims discounts.
Fully comprehensive
All learner insurance with the RAC is fully comprehensive as standard.
Rated 'Excellent' on Trustpilot
What our expert says
Insurance Expert
Learner driver insurance is a smart way to protect both the learner and the car owner. It means learners can practice in a friend or family member’s car without affecting their insurance or no-claims bonus. And it gives learners the freedom to build their experience safely and legally, while giving everyone peace of mind that they’re covered.
Learner driver insurance explained FAQs
If the learner driver is practicing with you in their own car, they can take out learner driver insurance and you'll be covered to supervise them. If they're driving your car, you'll need to have them named on your car insurance policy. Find out more about learner driver rules and supervising a learner driver.
Provisional driving insurance is another term for learner driver insurance. They do the same thing: cover you for any driving practice you have before you pass your test. If you’re practicing in your own car, you’ll need provisional or learner driving insurance. If you’re using a friend or family member's car, you need to make sure their insurance policy covers you as a learner driver. If not, you’ll need to take out your own separate learner insurance. This can be done alongside their existing car insurance. With an RAC Learner Driver Insurance policy, the no claims discount of the car owner won’t be affected if you need to make a claim.* Learn more about our learner policy.
Only if you are driving your own car. If you are using someone else’s car, an existing annual insurance policy must be in place for that vehicle for the duration of your RAC Learner Driver Insurance policy.
This can vary from provider to provider so check before you purchase. Please note that earning no claims discount as a learner driver is only possible on annual policies, not temporary learner cover.
This can vary from policy to policy so check before you buy. Fully comprehensive insurance on a standard car policy doesn’t usually cover learners. You might need a separate insurance for learner drivers.
All RAC Learner Driver Insurance policies are comprehensive.
Provisional insurance allows you to get valuable practice behind the wheel before your test, under supervision from someone over 25. RAC Learner Driver Insurance can be taken out for as little as a day up to 5 months, so you only have to pay for exactly what you need. Please see our eligibility criteria.
Car insurance for learner driver insurance is different to a standard car insurance policy in a number of ways. For example, learner insurance is specifically for drivers who have not yet passed their test, and so must learn with a qualified driver present in the car. There are also restrictions for the driver, vehicle type and usage.
RAC Learner Driver Insurance isn’t an annual policy, it can be taken out from a day up to 5 months, as required. If it’s taken out on someone else’s car and you make a claim, the no claims discount of the owner won’t be affected.
Yes, having a black box on the car shouldn’t affect your learner insurance. But you may need to check with the black box insurer that your driving practice won’t affect their driver score.
Anyone who has held a full GB driving licence for over three years and is aged between 25-75 can supervise you if you've taken out provisional driver insurance. This could be a parent, family member, or friend. When supervising a learner driver, there are several important things to be aware of. Your supervisor must be qualified to drive the type of vehicle you want to learn in – a manual car, for example. They must not use their mobile phone while you’re driving, and they can’t be under the influence of alcohol or drugs.
Typically, yes – most new drivers see their premium increase once they pass their test. This is because you’ll be driving independently without the supervision of an experienced driver, which insurers tend to view as higher risk.
However, if you’ve had an annual learner driver policy, you may have already started building a No Claims Discount (NCD). An NCD can help lower your premium – but it’s only one of the things insurers consider. Your age, postcode, and other factors can all influence what you pay.
Yes, you can take your driving test in your own car. However, it must meet certain specifications. You can find the full list of requirements on the government’s driving test website.
It’s important to note that your learner insurance policy becomes invalid the moment you pass your test. So, if you want to drive your vehicle straight after passing your exam, you will need to immediately update your policy, arrange temporary insurance, or have a qualified driver take you home.
Learner Driver insurance policy FAQs
No, as long as they are between the age of 25-75 and have held a full GB driving licence for at least 3 years. If you aren’t using your own car, you must have permission from the owner.
Yes, but each learner driver will need to have a separate learner insurance policy.
Yes, it will. The vehicle doesn’t have to be insured annually, and there’s also no curfew, so you can drive at whatever time of day you like.
Please note that if your vehicle isn’t already insured annually, cover starts from 1 month.
Yes, but you will need to buy a separate RAC Learner Driver policy for each car you wish to drive.
You’re entitled to cancel your policy at any time. If you cancel the policy before cover has started you’ll be entitled to a full refund of your premium. If you cancel the policy after cover has started, you may be entitled to a partial refund of premium. Refunds are subject to no claims made on the policy, or incidents likely to lead to a claim.
We guarantee to update the Motor Insurance Database (MID) every 7 days and in some cases more often, but we recommend always having a copy of your Insurance Certificate with you during the period of cover. You can drive the vehicle legally between the dates and times shown on the insurance certificate issued to you.
Driving Guides
Page reviewed by: David Buxton
Last updated 19/08/26