On the road

Are you learning to drive or about to buy your first car or motorbike? You don't need to be told that this is an expensive time, but we can help you to save money.

These articles will help you to:

find an approved driving instructor, apply for a provisional licence and book a test
find your first car or motorbike
shop around for your insurance - as a driver under 25 your insurance policy will be more expensive than for an older driver, so it's important to look at more than one company and compare quotes
understand how your insurance premium is calculated - and help you make savings, for example by taking a 'Passplus' test or by adding an older driver to your policy

Learning to drive - the costs
You can either learn with a friend or relative over 21 with three years' driving experience, or book lessons using an approved driving instructor. These lessons can cost anything from £15 to £30 an hour. People who pass their driving test have had, on average, about 45 hours of professional training combined with 22 hours of private practice. If you are paying, for example, £20 a lesson, that's £900. Or you could opt for an intensive course lasting from one week to one month. As well as your lessons, you will also need to pay for:

a provisional licence
your practical and theory tests

These are not cheap, so they're an extra incentive to pass first time!

Buying a car/motorbike
If you're looking to borrow money, our loan calculator (below) will help you to work out your monthly repayments. Interest rates will vary from one bank to another, so it's worth shopping around to get the best deal. Internet comparison sites may help, but it's important to note that they don't always show the whole market. There's also no certainty that advertised loans will be available to you personally.

Insurance
All cars in the UK have to be insured. Until you build up your 'no-claims discount', as an under-25 driver your insurance will cost you more. No-claims discount means that for every year you don't make any claims, you get a reduction. How much you get will depend on the particular insurance policy.

You may find it helpful to look for insurance before you buy your car or bike, to avoid a nasty surprise. Sports and high-performance cars, for example, are more expensive to insure. And if you modify your car in any way, your insurance could rise by as much as 100%. There are ways you can make savings, so you should always shop around for the best policy.

The price of insurance also depends on your postcode; what you will use your car or bike for; and where you will keep it.

Find out more

We've put together a short list of resources you may find useful. This is a cross-section to start you off, but you may want to do some more research. Some of these resources are on other websites, so you need to be aware that the FSA is not responsible for content you find on these websites.

Users can rate articles with between one and five stars; this is not an FSA rating. But we have marked the articles 1-3, based on how detailed they are. If you are looking for a very quick introduction, look for level 1; if you are ready to find out more, go for a 3.

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