Acorn Car Insurance Review

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Alexandre Desoutter updated on July 31, 2020

This is the ultimate review to guide you through Acorn car insurance.

You might already know that Acorn offers several car insurance policy options.
Some are great, others not so much.

So if you want to get:

  • Better value for money for your car insurance
  • Indicative quotes
  • Tips to lower your insurance premium, then you might love the following article.

Let’s dive right in.

Is Acorn the best car insurance provider?

Getting the best car insurance deal is not all about the price. Indeed, focusing on just getting the cheapest deal might be a bad calculation when it comes to getting a good payout if you ever have an accident.

We’ve studied in detail Acorn car policy terms and conditions and given our own ratings based on different criteria.

4 Safe overall rating for Acorn

Our ratingOur opinion
Customer service & satisfaction

Customer service accessible through live chat feature
High customer satisfaction rate on Trust Pilot and Reviews.uk
Friendly and skilled customer support according to reviews
Fast and effortless application process that can be done online
Fast claims process through their hotline available 24/7

Cover provided

Wide range of covers available
Offer fair covers to people who have previous convictions that may rejected by other insurance companies
Minimum level (Third Party) of cover when traveling abroad (EU countries and countries that meet certain criterias) for a period of up to 28 days
Offer black box insurance cover for young drivers
Lack of a wide range of optional extra covers such as Windscreen Cover, Car Accessories and Personal Injury Cover

Value for money

Fairly priced premiums
NCB discount available
High cancellation fee of £50 – £250
Charge renewal fees of £92.50

Financial strength for pay out

Acorn Insurance has been providing specialist insurance since 1982 and is underwritten by Haven Insurance, a highly experienced specialist insurance company based in Gibraltor and has been in the market since 2002. This shows proves that Acorn’s ability to pay out claims is pretty high.

Technology

User friendly website
Easily accessible online portal
Effortless process when it comes to applying online and uploading documents
Website has a live chat feature making it easier to speak to customer support
They offer black box insurance cover

Safe rating for Acorn

Expert and customer reviews on Acorn

We compiled expert and customer reviews from independent institutions, to give you an overall idea of Acorn's reputation.

Review organisationConsumer satisfaction rates for Acorn
Defaqto expert rating for Acorn
defaqto 1 star 1
TrustPilot
4/5 based on more than 200 opinions
Consumer satisfaction rates on reviews for Acorn

To check if Acorn is the right car insurance for you, you can use our free comparison tool and finally compare coverage features, optional extras, excess, admin fees and customer rating without having to give any personal information.

Finally, compare best car insurance in less than 20 secs without giving your email.
No spamming, promise.

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Our review on Acorn car insurance policy

Acorn is an all in one insurance company where you get a wide range of covers from car insurance to black box insurance to van insurance, to fleet insurance and so on.
They have excellent customer service which has been verified by the thousands of positive reviews left on Reviews.uk and their premiums are reasonably priced.
They have vast experience in offering special insurance packages to high risk drivers such as learners, young drivers and drivers who have had driving convition points on their licenses.

A downside to Acorn is that they don’t have a wide range of options when it comes to optional addition covers.

We recommend Acorn to anyone looking a good return for what they pay and a wide range of coverage and basic extra covers such as breakdown covers and keycare cover.

What does Acorn car insurance policy cover?

Are TPO, TPFT and Comprehensive covers available at Acorn?

Car insurance policyAvailable at AcornCoverage in a nutshell
Third-Party Only
  • Passengers and third party covered
  • Policyholder is not covered for any injuries or damages
Third-Party Fire and Theft
  • Replacement of your car if stolen
  • Damages caused due to theft or fire
Comprehensive
  • Cover third-party fire and theft
  • Covers injuries to you and damages to your car
Car insurance level of cover available at Acorn

Keep in mind that you can always add optional extras to your policy.

Main guarantees at Acorn explained in details

Let's find out what does Acorn covers in its car insurance policy.

Breakdown cover at Acorn

Acorn Insurance offers 2 levels of Breakdown covers:

National Breakdown Cover: this covers the following:

  • Up to 6 call-outs during the period of insurance
  • Up to 1 hour of breakdown assistance at your home or on the roadside in case of a breakdown
  • Transportation of the vehicle, driver and passengers to the nearest repairer, your home or the destination of your choice
  • If repair of the car is not possible within 24 hours and you’re stranded in the middle of the road, you will be entitled to up to £100 replacement vehicle hire or overnight accommodation
  • 2 telephone messages to your family, friends or business associates to advise on the unforeseen breakdown

UK & Europe Breakdown Cover: in addition to the benefits covered by the National Breakdown Cover, this covers the following while you’re in Europe:

  • If your car breaks down 7 days prior to your departure back to the UK, you’ll be offered up to £750 to proceed with your original travel plans
  • Roadside assistance as well as transport of the vehicle, driver and passengers to the nearest repairer valued at a maximum of £250
  • Up to £450 in total to cover for second-class return rail ticket, or a hire vehicle as well as storage of your car for the duration you’ll be on the trip
  • Up to £600 to cover for delivery of vehicle parts that are not available locally
  • Emergency repairs to a maximum of £175 in case of a break in
  • Alternative driver in case you’re not medically fit to drive and need to be home as soon as possible
  • Return of your vehicle back to the UK in case it’s rendered unroadworthy
  • Custom formalities in case your vehicle in unroadworthy and needs to be disposed off

Keycare cover at Acorn

£1,500 for replacements of keys and locks in the event of loss or theft (annual cover limit).

Windscreen cover at Acorn

  • Windscreen and Windows Cover is included as a standard in the comprehensive level and is subject to excess and limit based on your schedule.
  • This covers repairs and replacement of windscreen and windows.
  • Claims on broken windscreen and windows will not affect your NCB.

Motor legal protection at Acorn

Up to £50,000 of legal costs and expenses for claims arising in one accident (standard across all levels of cover).

Personal policy injury available at Acorn

Coverage abroad at Acorn

Provided that you let them know of your travel plans in advance, Acorn offers a minimum coverage (Third Party Only) as a standard when travelling abroad. This cover is valid as long as you’re visiting the following countries:

  • EU countries
  • Countries that have satisfied the EC Directive 2009/103/EC. These countries are: Monaco, San Marino, Vatican City, Norway, Switzerland, Andorra, Iceland,Serbia, Gibraltar and Liechtenstein.

The cover is for a maximum of 28 days.

No-Claim Bonus (NCB) at Acorn

For every year you drive without having any claims, you get a No Claims Bonus on your premium. The NCB at Acorn can get as high as 65% of your initial premium.

The following is the breakdown of the NCB at Acorn:
One year NCB – 30%
Two years NCB – 40%
Three years NCB – 50%
Four years NCB – 60%
Five years or more NCB – 65%

At an additional charge, you can choose to protect your NCB by taking out an NCB protection cover.

If the incident caused was not your fault and Acorn Insurance was able to recover all costs from the responsible party, your NCB will not be affected. However, if they’re not able to recover the costs of the incident, your NCB will be affected.

Claims on Windscreen and windows repair or replacement will not affect your NCB.

At Acorn, you can apply for the NCB protection. The NCB protection allows you to make a certain number of claims within a period without losing your No-Claim bonus.

NCB protection claims (number per year) : 1 claims in 1 year

Good to know

A No-Claim bonus is a reward that you get from driving during a long time (at least one year) without making any claim. The more years you drive without claims, the higher your NCB rate gets hence the higher the discount on your insurance premium.

Acorn car insurance terms and conditions

How much does Acorn car insurance cost?

You'll find below indicative car insurance quotes at Acorn:

Drivers'ageMonthly premium
18 years old
£113,96
40 years old
£47,00
60 years old
£34,65
Quotes above are for a comprehensive car insurance - eco car, clean record driver, Liverpool

Costs of Acorn insurance car policies vary widely based on different factors such as:

  • The driver’s age
  • The date on which they received their driving licence
  • The type of car
  • Expected repair costs if the car is damaged
  • The performance, safety and security of the car
  • The driver’s address and how busy the streets in the neighbourhood are
  • Who drives the car (any additional driver on the policy)
  • The driver's record of accidents and claims (number of injuries, No Claim Bonus etc.)
  • Insurance taxes.

Good to know

The higher risk you represent, the more expensive your policy will be.

Is there any promo codes or discounts available at Acorn?

There is no specific discount apart from the No-Claim Bonus available at Acorn Insurance.

If you want to get a cheaper car insurance policy, another good way to do so is to never auto renew and always compare car insurance quotes.

Save more on your car insurance checking out our 13 tops tips to cut your insurance premiums!

Acorn car insurance policy summarized

Guarantees

At Acorn
NCB benefit
Yes
Uninsured driver NCB benefit
no
Loss or theft of keys
Not available as standard
Personal belongings
£100
Audio equipment

Not included as standard

Medical expenses

Excess- Not Stated
Limit- £100

Liability limit for property damage
£20,000,000
Legal expense
£2,000
Courtesy car benefit

As standard

Courtesy car cover

Duration of repair of your car.

Coverage abroad

28 days

Guarantees at Acorn

Excess

At Acorn
Fire excess
Excess- Not stated
Limit- £100
Theft excess
Excess- Not stated
Limit- £100
Accidental damage excess
Excess- Not stated
Limit- £250 for accessories damaged
Windscreen replacement excess
Not Stated
Young driver excess

Not Stated

Excess at Acorn

Admin fees

At Acorn
Interest charged by payment installments

Not Stated

Renewal fees

£92.50

Cancellation fees

Cancellation fee within 14 days after purchase of policy (Cooling off Period): £0
Cancellation fee between 15 to 30 days after cooling off period: £50
Cancellation fee 30 days after cooling off period: £100
Cancellation fee of Annual Telematics Policy: £250

Modification fees

Mid-Term Adjustment fee: £25

Admin fees at Acorn

Other car insurance policies available at Acorn

Acorn multi-car insurance

Unfortunately, Acorn does not offer multi car insurance for private vehicles. They do however offer fleet insurance for vehicles used for businesses such as vans and taxis.

Acorn offers Motor Fleet insurance. This covers the vehicles and sometimes the contents of the vehicles that belong to businesses such as taxis or hauliage companies. The Motor Fleet cover is available for a minimum of 3 vehicles and more. The following are the benefits that come with taking out this cover:

  • Professional support team that is experienced in fleet insurance
  • Flexible cover levels ie Comprehensive, Fire, Theft & Third Party or Third Party Only
  • Mixed vehicle policy
  • Additional optional covers such as Breakdown, Windscreen, Keycare, etc.

Acorn black-box insurance

Aside from regular insurance covers, Acorn also offers Black Box Insurance for whoever would like to have it. The Black Box uses a telematics system that records speed, acceleration, braking and cornering and creates a report of each of them.

Your policy premium will be tailored according to your Black Box report. If you have good driving skills, your premium will be lowered.

Acorn learner driver car insurance

Acorn Insurance offers Learner Driver Insurance to people looking to practice how to drive before taking their practical driving test.

They offer fairly priced premiums tailored according to the age, make and model of the vehicle the learner is going to use.

The vehicle being practised with should not be worth more than £15,000.

Acorn business car insurance

Acorn covers your vehicle for business use (using your vehicle for work purpose ie, driving to and from work) provided that it has been stated in your policy schedule.

Provided that your Certificate of Motor Insurance shows that you have the appropriate business use cover, Acorn will cover any cost or expenses your employer or business partner is legally liable for.

Acorn van insurance

Acorn offers Commercial Van Insurance such as:

Business Vans Insurance: Apart from the van, you can also opt to have your business equipements insured with this cover. Competitive premium prices are offered at Acorn. Some of the factors that are considered when Acorn comes up with your premium are, mileage, size of the van, type of usage, excess and availability of a No Claims Bonus from a previous insurer.

Courier Vans Insurance: Apart from the van, this policy covers the goods in transit that your business is delivering. Legal expenses cover comes as a standard with this policy. Additional optional covers such as Employee Liability and Public Liability are available.

Small Vans Insurance: This cover is suitable for small businesses or sole business owners who may have vans that they use for business use. In case you have 3 or more vans, you can be eligible to take out a fleet insurance where you insurer all of your vans under one policy.

Transit Van Insurance: This cover is mainly used by businesses who need to use vans to transport their goods, raw materials or stock. It covers the van as well as the goods it carries. Acorn offers reasonably priced premiums that are tailored according to factors such as mileage, usage, security (availability of trackers or immobilsers, size, voluntary excess amount and your No Claims Bonus.

You can also add some optional extras to your van insurance package such as Keycare Policy or a Breakdown Cover.

How to contact Acorn auto insurance?

Acorn phone numbers

You will find all important phone numbers to contact Acorn car insurance:

Contact numberOpening hours

General Enquiries

01704 339 000

Monday to Friday: 9am-7pm
Saturday: 9am-5:30pm

Claims

0330 107 0540

Available 24/7

Breakdown

0330 331 0194

Not Stated

Van Insurance

01704 339 926

Monday to Friday: 9am-9pm
Saturday: 9am-5:30pm

Taxi Insurance

01704 339 922

Monday to Friday: 9am-7pm
Saturday: 9am-5:30pm

Motor Trade Insurance

01704 339 928

Monday to Friday: 9am-5:30pm
Saturday: 9am-12:30pm

Contact numbers at Acorn

Acorn other contact details

You'll find below Acorn main contact details:

Contact details of Acorn
Email address

[email protected]

Customer account with Acorn login

My account

Social media
Facebook, Twitter and Instagram
Chatbot
No
Contact details at Acorn

You can also contact them by mail by writing to Acorn car insurance:

Acorn Insurance Services Limited,
The Lighthouse, 98 Liverpool Road,
Formby, Liverpool, Merseyside,
L37 6BS

How to cancel your car insurance at Acorn?

You can always cancel your car insurance policy at any time. However, some fees may apply especially if you cancel it after the 14 cooling-off period after your contract's anniversary date.

Since car insurance is a legal requirement, Acorn as well as other insurers will renew your policy automatically at the end of the policy period without any notification from your side. However, Acorn has the obligation to send you a renewal notice within 7 to 21 days before your contract comes to an end. You will therefore have 14 days - the cooling off period - to cancel your policy at reduced cancellation fees.

For the same reason, if you cancel your car insurance policy, you must sign up to a new one immediately. Find out more on car insurance legal requirement.

You would need to have various documents ready such as:

  • your policy number (right hand corner of your documents);
  • your bank details; and
  • your payment method in case there are cancellation fees.

Watch out!

Acorn could also refuse to cover your car any longer if you don't pay for your premiums within the time allocated, or if they find out that you omitted important information that was required by the company such as your driving experience or you if have committed a fraud of any kind. This act is known as ‘fronting’.

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Alexandre Desoutter
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Alexandre Desoutter has been working as editor-in-chief and head of press relations at HelloSafe since June 2020. A graduate of Sciences Po Grenoble, he worked as a journalist for several years in French media, and continues to collaborate as a as a contributor to several publications.

In this sense, his role leads him to carry out steering and support work with all HelloSafe editors and contributors so that the editorial line defined by the company is fully respected. and declined through the texts published daily on our platforms.

As such, Alexandre is responsible for implementing and maintaining the strictest journalistic standards within the HelloSafe editorial staff, in order to guarantee the most accurate, up-to-date information on our platforms. and expert as possible. Alexandre has in particular undertaken for two years now the implementation of a system of systematic double-checking of all the articles published within the HelloSafe ecosystem, able to guarantee the highest quality of information.