Yahoo Finance Royal cars and how much they cost to insure
The British royal family is known for its prestigious car collection, but how much do its Rolls Royces (RR.L), Jaguars and Range Rovers cost to insure?
Rivervale Leasing compared over 900 quotes using imagined profiles of seven members of the British monarchy.
Prince Philip is the most expensive royal to insure, with insurance quotes for his Land Rover Freelander going up to an incredible £9,900 ($13,000) per year.
This is the priciest policy in our royal roundup, although not unexpected when you consider the Duke’s age and expensive choice of car.
Although Prince Philip gave up his driving licence after a car crash in 2019, he was photographed driving near Windsor Castle a few months later.
While the 99-year-old is probably permanently off the roads now, he wouldn’t be refused cover completely, as 2% of providers would still offer him a policy, the research found.
As part of the “royal prerogative”, the Queen is the only person in the UK who doesn’t need a driving licence. But that doesn’t mean to say the monarch doesn't have insurance.
The Queen would have the second-most expensive policy in the Royal Family, with prices going up to £9,500.
What’s more, only 2% of providers would cover the 94-year-old monarch and her Jaguar Daimler V8 Super LWB – one of her favourite personal cars.
In third place is Prince William with his Range Rover SDV8 Autobiography, which would cost a huge £8,100 per year.
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It’s not as if the Duke of Cambridge can shop around much either, as just 6% of providers would offer him a policy, the research found.
Many royals love a Land Rover, and Kate Middleton is no different with the Land Rover Discovery, for which she could have to pay an eye-watering £7,900 to insure.
At least the Duchess of Cambridge has more options than previous royals, with 12% of providers offering cover – although that still doesn’t leave much choice.
As an advocate for climate change, it’s no surprise that Prince Harry recently purchased the Audi e-tron 55. However, while switching to electric might reduce congestion charges, it won’t help his insurance price.
The Duke of Sussex's policy would cost £5,300 – but he would have a few more options to choose from, as 36% providers would offer cover.
Meghan Markle proves the cheapest royal to insure at £4,300 annually – still £3,815 more than the UK average, but a lot less than other members of her regal family.
The Duchess of Sussex, who was recently spotted driving a Cadillac Escalade in Beverly Hills, may not have chosen the most environmentally-friendly choice, but it would be cheaper for her to insure.
What's more, with a quarter of insurers providing cover, at least she has a few more options than her in-laws.
Prince Charles might not find insurance through standard providers, instead needing a specialist provider for his vintage Aston Martin DB6, the research found.
When comparing quotes for over 100 providers, no insurer could provide the Prince of Wales with a policy.
“The technical answer to this centres around insurers’ need for data,” explained Shaun Lenton, car insurance expert and director of One Broker.
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“Many cars are given an ABI code which is an industry recognised code identifying make and model, etc. and allows insurers to gather information.
The majority of vintage cars are not allocated ABI codes, which makes them more difficult, if not impossible, to easily recognise.
He added: “Cars also typically need specific policy features, such as “agreed value' which really needs human interface to transact.”
Although you can be exempt from car insurance by keeping a £500,000 deposit with the Accountant General of the Supreme Court, that's a large sum, even for a royal – so it’s likely more cost-effective for them to take out a policy.
However, the royal family isn’t likely to be able to cut their premiums by much, according to Lenton.
“Many insurers have lists of occupations that they will simply decline to quote for, which will include celebrities, professional sports people and other ‘well-known’ personalities.
“A limited number, who will often describe themselves as 'specialist brokers or insurers’ will provide a quotation for people in this category, but clearly with such a limited market, higher premiums are inevitable.”
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