15 Feb 2024

Co-op car insurance review

Read Which?'s expert review of Co-op Insurance's car insurance. Find out how we rate its car insurance policy against 27 other providers

Dean SobersSenior researcher & writer

In this article

What does Co-op Insurance offer?

Co-op Insurance is part of the well-known Co-op Group, which is owned by millions of members. It sells various kinds of insurance, including car, home, travel, pet insurance and breakdown cover.

Its car insurance is underwritten by West Bay Insurance.

Find out more: how to find cheap car insurance

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Does Co-op Insurance offer the best car insurance?

Here’s how Co-op Insurance scored in our latest survey:

65% customer score, placing it joint 7th out of 27 insurers
72% policy score on its standard policy, which is joint 6th out of 28 insurers we compared – it's a Best Buy
66% claims score means it ranks joint 9th out of 25 insurers

See how this compares with the best car insurance.

We review a lot of policies - and our 'Best Buy' badge recognises the individual products that stood out as being the most comprehensive in our analysis. It doesn't reflect customer service. However, we won't give a provider a Best Buy badge where there's evidence - either from our surveys or from Financial Conduct Authority data - of poor service or a poorer-than-average record of paying claims.

Policies named as Best Buys must have a minimum policy score of 65%

Additionally, we look at how consistently good the cover is in policies. To make the cut, a policy needs to have scored at least three out of five points in two thirds of the areas we've rated.

Find out more: how we rate policies.

Lastly, all Best Buy policies must provide - either as standard or as an option - the following levels of cover as a minimum:

'Comprehensive' cover (meaning it covers third party claims, fire, theft and accidental damage to your car), a temporary courtesy car if yours is under repair or if it has been stolen or written off, a repairs guarantee period of at least 3 years, cover for damage to your windows or windscreen, legal expenses cover, liability cover of £20m or more and personal accident cover.

We analyse and rate 78 key elements of car insurance policies to come up with the overall policy score.

Initially, we score all of the product elements out of five, reflecting how competitive each provider is in this area compared with other insurers. We assess how important different policy elements are to drivers when choosing and using a car insurance, and weight different areas of cover accordingly to enhance/reduce their impact in the overall product score.

How good is Co-op Insurance's policy?

With a policy score of 72%, Co-op Insurance’s car insurance was one of the top-scoring policies among the 61 we reviewed – it's a Best Buy.

Impressively, the policy guarantees the repairs it organises for the lifetime of the car. It also lays on £500 for ‘onward travel’ – to get you to your destination if an accident disrupts your trip.

On the flipside, we noticed the policy had a comparatively low level of cover for damage caused by misfuelling (putting the wrong fuel into your car) – £250. Usually there isn’t a cover limit.

And while it offers £100,000 motor legal expenses cover, this can’t be used to pursue costs from uninsured drivers.

Named driver NCD

Named drivers on Co-op policies can earn their own no-claims discount. With most other insurers' policies, named drivers can't build up a discount reflective of their time covered on your policy.

There’s a catch, though – the discount earned can only be applied to future Co-op policies and isn’t transferable to other insurers.

Key cover areas rated


Fire excess	£150
Theft excess	£150
Accidental damage excess	£150
Windscreen replacement excess	£100
Is the policy holder's NCD affected if car is hit while parked	Yes - but can be reinstated
Windscreen damage - limit per claim	Unlimited / £150
Window damage - limit per claim	Unlimited / £150

Tables last updated February 2024. Next update January 2025. We recommend checking policies before buying.

How did customers rate Co-op Insurance's car insurance?

We asked Co-op Insurance customers who’ve recently made a claim how they felt about their car insurance.

Co-op insurance received a customer score of 65%, which placed it seventh out of 27 insurers rated – and just a smidge above the average of 64%.

Customers were also asked to rate their most recent claim. Co-op received a score of 66% – joint ninth out of 25 providers and, again, above average.

Here’s how customers rated Co-op Insurance in key areas of service.

Select a table:

Customer satisfaction


Application process	-
Clarity of policy
Dealing with queries
Ease of managing your policy online
Fair treatment of longstanding customers	-
Dealing with complaints
Value for money

Tables last updated February 2024. Next update January 2025. A dash '-' means we had an insufficient sample size (fewer than 30 responses) to generate a star rating.

How can you save money on Co-op Car Insurance?

Co-op car insurance is only available directly – not through comparison websites.

Nor does it offer any of the following types of discount: multi-car, joint car and home, or dash cam. However, Co-op members may get a discount.

You're best off using comparison sites to find quotes from other car insurers before getting in touch with Co-op Insurance. You could then mention what you've been quoted and use it to haggle the premium down.

Above information correct as of December 2023.