Owning a car is an onerous expense for many households, due to the rising cost of living. On average, a UK driver now forks out over £3,500 annually, to run and maintain their car, according to NimbleFins1.
With fuel hitting record highs this year, it’s the biggest expense that comes with running a car, averaging around £1,435 a year. Other costs include things like a car’s depreciation, insurance, servicing and repairs, MOT and road tax, parking permits and fines.
With many people still working from home, or adapting to a more hybrid work schedule, many Brits are paying more to own a car, yet are driving less frequently.
Flexible car insurance provider, Cuvva crunched the numbers which show infrequent drivers are paying far more than they have to, to get around. According to Cuvva, if you use your car once a week, it costs over £68 per trip, if you factor in all the running costs. Which is roughly the same price as a weekly travel card in Zones 1-6 in London.
Darryl Bowman from Cuvva said: “Owning a car is becoming a luxury for some, as Brits tighten their purse strings to balance rising costs. The cost of owning a car is going up, yet we’re seeing more cars sitting idle on the driveway.
“The way people get around is changing. You don’t have to own a car to drive one. People are choosing to borrow cars from family, mates, and neighbours instead of owning one outright. It makes way more sense financially.”
Daniel, a 27 year old from Hertfordshire decided to get rid of his car when he moved in with his girlfriend and found he was rarely using it.
“I was commuting into London for work during the week and we would use my girlfriend’s car on the weekend. My car became an added expense that we didn’t need and it was taking up valuable parking space. Plus bills and living expenses were forever increasing and we could have made better use with the extra money,” said Daniel.
Daniel now adds a temporary car insurance policy onto his girlfriend’s car when he wants to drive it.
“Before I lived with my girlfriend, I used to borrow her car regularly when she wanted me to run errands. I always found it super quick and handy to get insured on demand for a couple of hours or days, here and there with Cuvva,” said Daniel.
In addition to using temporary insurance to run errands, Daniel shares longer drives with his girlfriend when they head out of town on the weekend, or to and from Glastonbury Festival.
Daniel said: “Through the Cuvva app, I can drive my girlfriend’s car for two hours and it costs £7.32 and £34.83 for two day’s cover, if I need to run a bunch of errands. It works out a lot cheaper than hiring a car or getting a taxi.”
Like many others who are borrowing cars instead, Daniel has eased the financial burden of owning a car. He now saves over £300 per month from not leasing a car and other running expenses, which equates to over £5,000 per year if you factor in insurance, MOT and road tax. Gaining more financial freedom, Daniel is able to put the savings towards his first property.
While he admits he was initially concerned about the drawbacks of not owning a car of his own, he realised that he can access multiple cars with temporary car insurance, when he needs one.
Daniel often uses his mum’s or a friend’s car if he gets stuck.
“Surprisingly, not having a car actually gives me more freedom because I can now drive anyones car whenever I need to get somewhere, and I get to save loads of the expenses that come with owning a car like leasing fees,” said Daniel.
