How Much Does Spanish Car Insurance Cost?

We occasionally get e-mails and phone calls from people asking us how much does car insurance in Spain cost.

Well we presume that these people are asking in a roundabout way whether car insurance in Spain is actually expensive or cheap relative to other countries.

The reason we say this is because car insurance varies in price depending not just on the car but on the personal circumstances of the vehicle’s owner.

Car insurance varies in cost depending on many different factors such as the age of the driver, the location the vehicle will be kept not just the actual town which could be a high crime area or low crime area, but also specifically whether the car will be kept on a driveway or in a garage overnight.

In our personal experience of living in Spain and running two cars we can say the insurance costs seem to be slightly higher than they would be in the United Kingdom where we are from.

The quotations and prices you will get on car insurance are not necessarily that much higher – we would probably estimate 20%. There are many different factors such as here in Spain - we find the roads quieter and less congested and therefore because of this there is less chance of an accident. But having said that we have had far more near misses on the roads in Spain than we ever had in the United Kingdom. The standard of driving in Spain does seem to be a lot lower with many people unfamiliar as to what to do at junctions and roundabouts, this includes Spanish people as well as tourists who are visiting the country and who can be excused for a lack of knowledge on driving regulations in Spain.

Petty crime does seem to be a little bit higher here, there are a number of break-ins specifically to steal car radios and stereos.

Generally we would probably suggest that premiums are slightly higher here in Spain due to the lack of competition. In the United Kingdom all sorts of major companies are involved in car insurance, not just the insurance companies themselves but major retailers such as Tesco’s and Sainsbury’s.

Then there are the huge amount of price comparison insurance websites which it seems on every advert break, no matter what program you are watching, you can’t seem to escape those annoying go compare adverts, the adorable Meerkats or our personal pet hate – Churchill!

In many respects living in Spain can be like living in the United Kingdom 10 years ago, many things are much further behind and not as advanced, certainly the Internet is one of those good examples. There is really a complete lack of decent price comparison websites for car insurance in Spain.

So until that time, typically you are best just getting on the phone to your local car insurance broker and getting them to do the shopping around for your Spain car insurance.