As the owner of a classic car you are no doubt aware that there are various levels of classic car insurance. These are laid up cover, third party, third party fire and theft and fully comprehensive classic car insurance.

However, the difficult decision is which one to chose when it comes to insuring your own vehicle. If, like many people here in the UK, your budget is rather tight then you could consider just third party cover but this will only provide cover for any damage caused to other vehicles, other people’s property and other people. It will not cover your own car.

The next cheapest is third party fire and theft which, in addition to what is covered under third party, your classic car would be covered if it were stolen or damaged in a fire.

Laid up cover is a specialist form of cover and provides cover whilst your car is being restored and has been declared SORN.

That leaves fully comprehensive cover and that is the most expensive. However, the reason that it is more expensive than the other types is that it covers everything that is covered under third party fire and theft but it also provides cover for your own classic car should it, for instance, be involved in an accident – even if the accident was deemed to be your fault.

So, you can see that fully comprehensive classic car insurance provides the highest level of cover but you may be put off by the cost. Well, think about this. If you were driving along in your £50,000 classic car and were unfortunate to be responsible for causing an accident resulting in your car being written off how would you pay for a replacement vehicle if you don’t have the liquid funds available?

If you had taken out fully comprehensive cover rather than one of the others you would not need to worry as you would have been covered. If, however, the vehicle had only been worth a few hundred pounds you may have second thoughts about having that level of cover as the premiums may be more than the car’s value.

Ultimately, the decision is yours.