How your estimate is prepared

Step one: the vehicle lookup

You enter a registration. We look it up against UK vehicle data and read back the make, model, fuel type, engine size, first registration date and vehicle type approval class. You confirm the vehicle shown is the right one.

The type approval class is what tells us whether the vehicle is a car or a van. M1 is a passenger car; N1 and N2 are goods vehicles. That single field changes the questions you are asked next, because the questions insurers need answered about a van are not the same as for a car.

Step two: the questions

We ask for your licence details, address, occupation, date of birth, claims and convictions history, the reason you need cover, and when the cover should start and end. These are the fields short-term insurers rate on. Nothing is asked that is not used.

Answers are validated as you go — licence number format, postcode against a lookup, dates against the acceptance window — so that a request that cannot succeed is stopped before you reach a payment screen rather than after.

Step three: the indicative estimate

The figure shown is produced by our own model from the answers you have given. It exists so you have a realistic idea of the order of magnitude before deciding whether to proceed. It is not a price any insurer has agreed to.

• Duration and the duration band it falls in
• Driver age and licence held for
• Vehicle value, engine size and age
• Vehicle class — car, van or other goods vehicle
• Postcode area
• Claims history within the relevant period
• Convictions history within the relevant period
• Occupation category
• Reason for cover
• Cover start proximity
• Any add-ons selected

Step four: what we forward

When you submit, your prepared details are forwarded to insurers. They decide. An insurer may accept, decline, or accept at a price different from the estimate you were shown — the estimate places no obligation on any insurer and none of them are bound by it.

If an insurer accepts, it issues the certificate of motor insurance and the policy schedule directly to you in its own name, and it registers the policy on the Motor Insurance Database. You are insured at the point you hold those documents and not before.

What we never do

We do not underwrite risk, hold insurance permissions, issue certificates, register policies on the MID, handle claims, or make any acceptance decision. Any specimen document you see from us is a template with placeholder content and carries no cover.

We charge a service fee for preparing and forwarding your details. That fee is for our work and is separate from any premium an insurer may charge.