Get ready for an avalanche of ‘new style’ car insurance policies to hit the market. One of the first insurers to enter the fray is Tesco, with the announcement of its new ‘no frills’ policy. Where Tesco leads, others will swiftly follow in their search for new customers.

The AA doesn’t seem too impressed with Tesco’s offering, saying that the excess is really high and if you look around you could buy the usual fully comprehensive for the same price. Taking the opposite stance is Norwich Union who believes that other insurers will compete with simple, non-gimmicky, cover. Getting ahead of the competition, they have been watching the patterns of 5000 motorists over a two year period and they are starting to offer new policies based on their research.

Both of these insurers will aim to keep at the top of the ‘Best Buy’ tables and the resulting competition between insurers to keep the premiums low and gain the business will be interesting to observe.

What is it that’s so different about these new policies?

First of all there’s Tesco’s new ‘Value’ car insurance. This is a type of ‘hybrid’, coming higher in the scale of cover than basic third party but stopping short of the more usual fully comprehensive. For example, if your car is off the road, you won’t get a courtesy car, it doesn’t cover young drivers and at