The Driver and Vehicle Standards Agency recommends that learners should have aim for around 22 hours of supervised private practice. This comes on top of the average 45 hours of professional lessons.

Annual car insurance premiums continue to rise just as the ‘cost of living crisis’ bites. So, using  temporary car insurance could prove to be a good solution to help lessen the cost of learning to drive according to Uswitch research.

Uswitch set out to discover which region and local authority has the cheapest temporary cover for a provisional licence holder.

It used the average hourly rate for temporary car insurance in each region. Using the recommendation of 22 hours, they calculated the average cost for learners in each region.

Regions in Britain ranked

Region Average price per hour of temp insurance Average price for 22 hours of practice
Scotland £5.35 £117.64
Wales £5.35 £117.69
South West £5.35 £117.71
South East £5.72 £125.77
East of England £5.81 £127.93
North East £5.94 £130.74
East Midlands £6.04 £132.98
West Midlands £7.00 £154.10
Yorkshire and the Humber £7.46 £164.06
North West £7.96 £175.20
London £8.33 £183.26
Average £6.39 £140.64

Source: Uswitch.com

Spending practice

Learner drivers across Britain could spend on average £141 on temporary car insurance. This would meet the DVSA’s recommendation of 22 hours of supervised private practice.

Assuming a learner completes two hours of private practice a week, they would complete the recommended hours in 11 weeks.

In comparison, the RAC notes that three months of learner drivers’ insurance costs £158. That is  12% more expensive than temporary cover

For learner drivers, cover for 22 hours of practice costs 56% more in the most expensive region, London (£183.26), than in the cheapest, Scotland (£117.64).

Ten local authorities with the cheapest 22 hours

Local authority Region Average price per hour Average price for 22 hours of practice
Na h-Eileanan Siar Scotland £4.79 £105.42
Carmarthenshire Wales £4.80 £105.54
Isle of Anglesey Wales £4.86 £106.89
Pembrokeshire Wales £4.91 £108.12
Shetland Islands Scotland £4.93 £108.53
Ceredigion Wales £4.97 £109.40
Argyll and Bute Scotland £5.04 £110.92
Orkney Islands Scotland £5.07 £111.62
Gwynedd Wales £5.08 £111.69
Monmouthshire Wales £5.09 £112.09

Source: Uswitch.com

22 hours

Across the ten cheapest areas, £109 is the average price for 22 hours of temporary car insurance . For provisional licence holders, this is 23% (£32) cheaper than the national average of £141.

All local authorities in the top ten are at least £28 cheaper than the national average.

Scotland and Wales are home to all ten of the cheapest areas for learners to practise, four out of ten and six out of ten, respectively. Torridge, Devon, is the cheapest local authority in England, but fourteenth overall. An hour of temporary cover in there is £5.11, making it £112.52 for 22 hours’ worth of cover.

“As the cost of car insurance has risen by up to 20%, ” states Uswitch temporary car insurance expert, Leoni Moninska. “It’s clear from our study that temporary car insurance could be an excellent way to save money by enabling learners to get extra hours of private practice .

“However, these savings don’t just benefit those at the beginning of their driving experience. Temporary car insurance can be an affordable and practical solution in other areas of life”.