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Aviva isn’t just one of the biggest insurance providers in the UK – it’s one of the oldest, with over 320 years experience in the market.
And when it comes to car insurance in particular, only Admiral Group and Direct Line have more customers across the UK.
Aviva has been recognised by the The Good Shopping Guide Ethical Company Award and The Good Business Charter, and has a five-star rating for car insurance from Defaqto.
Read on below for our Aviva car insurance review, including which policies it offers, the standard of its customer service, and how it compares to its competitors. All of which can be incredibly useful information to bear in mind when you compare car insurance to find the best quote.
While Aviva offers numerous car insurance products, its four main policies are comprehensive, third party, fire and theft, specific electric car cover, and telematics insurance provided by General Accident.
The comprehensive insurance policy is the top level of cover Aviva offers, and includes the following:
However, it is important to note that the following isn’t covered by comprehensive Aviva car insurance:
With Aviva’s third party, fire and theft, you are covered for:
This means that, with Aviva’s third party, fire and theft insurance, you are not covered for, among other things:
Aviva offers specific electric car insurance, at both the comprehensive and third party, fire and theft level.
In addition to the standard level of coverage listed above, with Aviva’s comprehensive electric car insurance, you are also covered for:
With Aviva’s third party, fire and theft electric car insurance, you are also covered for:
You can also take out telematics insurance via General Accident, a company that is part of the Aviva family.
Depending on its make and model, you will either receive a self-install plugin device, or an engineer will install an alternative device in your car. This will then track your driving behaviour, giving each journey a score in the related app.
You need to aim for a score of 70 or above; anything under 50 will cause you to receive a warning. Three warnings within a 30-day period will cause your policy to be cancelled. A year’s worth of positive scores, on the other hand, can reduce your premium when it is up for renewal.
To be eligible for GA telematics cover, you need to be:
Aviva also offers the following products:
| Comprehensive | Third party, fire and theft | Electric car | G4 telematics | |
|---|---|---|---|---|
| Age range | All | All | All | 17-24 |
| Level of cover | Fully comprehensive | Third party, fire and theft | Fully comprehensive or third party, fire and theft | Fully comprehensive |
| Injuries to other people | Yes | Yes | Yes | Yes |
| Damage to other people’s property | Yes | Yes | Yes | Yes |
| Theft | Yes | Yes | Yes (including battery) | Yes |
| Fire damage | Yes | Yes | Yes (including battery) | Yes |
| Repairs to your own car | Yes | Yes (only arising from fire damage) | Yes (fully comprehensive only) | Yes |
| Legal costs | Yes | Yes | Yes | Yes |
| Your medical expenses | Yes | No | Yes (fully comprehensive only) | Yes |
| Driving other cars | Yes (provides third party cover only, must be 25 or over) | No | Yes (fully comprehensive policy, must be 25 or over, providers third party cover) | Yes (provides third party cover only, must be 25 or over) |
| Breakdown cover | Optional | Optional | Optional | Optional |
| Courtesy car cover | Optional | No | Optional (fully comprehensive only) | Optional |
| Hire car cover | Optional | No | Optional (fully comprehensive only) | Optional |
| Windscreen replacement | Yes | No | Yes (fully comprehensive only) | Yes |
| Personal belongings | Yes | No | Yes (fully comprehensive only) | Yes |
| Replacement locks and keys | Yes | No | Yes (fully comprehensive only) | Yes |
| Protected no claims bonus | Optional | Optional | Optional | Optional |
| Cancellation fee | £38 | £38 | £38 | £38 |
With most Aviva car insurance policies, there will be a number of optional extras you can include at extra cost.
If you take out comprehensive Aviva car insurance, you can add on:
With Aviva third party, fire and theft cover, your optional extras are more limited:
If you want to make a claim with your Aviva car insurance, once you have made sure you and any other parties are safe, you should complete the following steps:
If you want to cancel your Aviva car insurance, and you are still in the middle of your policy, you will need to fill out a form online.
Similarly, if you want to cancel your Aviva auto-renewal, then you will need to complete a different online form.
There may be a fee attached to cancelling your policy. Aviva’s cancellation fees can be found below:
| Cancellation period | Fee |
|---|---|
| If you want to cancel within the 14-day cooling off period, and your cover hasn’t started. | Free |
| If you want to cancel within the 14-day cooling off period, and your cover has started. | £38 |
| If you want to cancel at any point after the 14-day cooling off period. | £38 |
Aside from making a claim, or cancelling your car insurance, you can contact Aviva at the following:
Aviva has a ‘Great’ Trustpilot rating of four out of five stars, based on over 30,700 reviews (as of 6 November 2023).
It is important to note, however, that these reviews cover the Aviva brand as a whole, and not just its car insurance products.
Of those that are related to car insurance, many of the brand’s five star reviews mention Aviva’s competitive pricing when switching, and the ease of the sign-up process. These five star reviews represent 73 per cent of Aviva’s rating.
However, of the 16 per cent of reviews rated one or two stars, a repeated complaint is the customer service, and difficulties when making a claim.
“For Aviva’s premium policy, very competitively priced considering many other top rated insurers were quoting me several hundred pounds more for their standard cover. Very simple set up, all aspects of policy clearly explained and set up through MyAviva means access to all policy documents held within easy reach in one place. Very pleased.”
“I recently purchased car insurance with this company and beginning to wonder if I made the right choice. All I want to do is change the registration to a private plate. Took me five minutes to complete with DVLA online, but trying to inform Aviva is a complete nightmare! Can’t get to talk to anyone, I’ve filled out online forms, contacted them via social media and not one reply. So until they contact me I guess I can’t use my car. Never have I experienced this with a company.”
“Everything is a complete hassle and they don’t care. Insured my old car then sold it and switched the [licence plate] number. Not difficult to process, you would think, but they make it so. Nobody to speak to so I have a car that I can’t use because they can’t confirm it’s insured under the new number when it was insured under the old one. Pathetic service.”
| Provider name | Trustpilot score | Defaqto score |
|---|---|---|
| Aviva | 4.0 stars | 5 stars (3 stars for Third party, fire and theft) |
| Admiral Insurance | 4.4 stars | 5 stars (4 stars for Telematics, 3 stars for Essential) |
| Direct Line | 3.7 stars | 5 stars (3 stars for Third party, fire and theft and Essentials) |
| Hastings Direct | 4.1 stars | 5 stars (4 stars for Third party, fire and theft, 3 stars for Telematics, 2 stars for Essential) |
| AXA | 4.3 stars | 4 stars (5 stars for Plus) |
| LV= | 4.5 stars | 5 stars (3 stars for Third party, fire and theft) |
| esure | 3.3 stars | 5 stars (4 stars for Third party, fire and theft) |
| Ageas | 4.1 stars | 5 stars (3 stars for Essentials, and Telematics) |
| NFU Mutual | 4.4 stars | 5 stars |
All scores are correct as of 6 November 2023.
With a range of policies on offer, from fully comprehensive car insurance to specific electric car insurance, Aviva may have the right cover for your needs.
Limited optional extras, and a three star rating from Defaqto, makes Aviva’s third party, fire and theft policy less appealing than its comprehensive cover. However, you should always draw up a list of what exactly you are looking for from your policy as to avoid overinsuring yourself.
Trustpilot reviews frequently mention the competitive nature of Aviva’s quotes – although always make sure to compare a wide range of providers before signing the dotted line – but with customer service a potential area of concern.
With four out of five stars on Trustpilot, and a five-star rating for many of its policies on Defaqto, there is evidence that Aviva is a reliable car insurance provider. In addition to this fact, it is the third biggest car insurer in the country. However, online complaints about customer service are something to keep in mind when considering an Aviva policy.
Across the board, car insurance has become much more expensive in the last year or so, with inflation and rising labour costs partially to blame. For example, the Association of British Insurers (ABI) reported in September 2023 that vehicle repair costs had risen 46 per cent year-on-year. This makes the cost of your claim more expensive for your insurance provider, an increased expense that is then passed onto new or renewing customers down the line.
You can make payments, and manage your policies, online using the MyAviva portal, as long as your car insurance policy was purchased directly from Aviva.
