LEARNER DRIVER COSTS

First provisional driving licence for a car - £50.00 (there's no cost for exchanging it for a full licence when you've passed your test).

Theory Test - standard fee for car and motorcycle £31.00

Practical Test - car weekday £62.00 - weekday evening and weekend £75.00

Lessons - according to the DSA (Driving Standards Agency) most people pass their practical driving test, on average, after about 47 hours of professional tuition plus 20 hours of private tuition.

Lesson prices vary but most driving schools charge from £20 to £25 per hour - let's say £22.50. So 47 hours will cost about £1000 but probably less for block bookings.

Insurance - as a learner you should automatically be insured to drive your professional instructor's car. When taking private lessons the owner of the car must make sure they are insured for you to drive it. Alternatively, you, or the owner of the car, can buy cheap short term (monthly) learner driver insurance from specialist insurance companies such as Collingwood Learners or Provisional Marmalade or a price comparison site such as Go Compare's Learner Driver Insurance

When you've passed your practical driving test and bought your own car you'll need to take out your own insurance.

The cost of this depends on many factors such as your age, your type of car, the area where you live, where your car is kept overnight.

The types of cover available are

	Third-party insurance - this is often the cheapest form of insurance and is the minimum cover required by law. It covers anyone you might injure or whose property you might damage. It does not cover damage to your own motor vehicle or injury to yourself
	Third-party, Fire and Theft insurance - similar to third-party, but also covers you against your motor vehicle being stolen or damaged by fire
	Comprehensive insurance - this is the most expensive but the best insurance. Apart from covering other persons and property against injury or damage, it also covers damage to your own motor vehicle, up to the market value of that vehicle, and personal injury to yourself

Costs vary dramatically between insurance companies so it's best to shop around. The easiest way to do this is by using a price comparison site such as Go Compare