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If you’re new to the UK and need to insure a car, Marshmallow is likely for you. They offer typically lower prices for car insurance to those new to the UK by using your driving history from outside the UK. This could be a saving of £100s per month. The coverage is great too, with fully comprehensive as standard, and optional extras to customise your own plan.
Marshmallow is a car insurance company with a bit of a twist, it’s not for most people, it’s pretty much just for those people new to the UK. Why? Well, typically in the UK, car insurance providers (companies) will determine your policy and how much you pay (your premium) by looking at your driving experience in this country. That’s not ideal for those new to the UK who might have years of experience driving in another country - as these years won't count and your premium will likely be super high as you're seen as a new driver, making it potentially unaffordable.
Marshmallow looks at all of your driving history, and includes all countries across the world. So if you’ve been driving for decades in Africa for example, you’ll be able to use that history to get a lower premium with Marshmallow than a typical car insurance company.
On average Marshmallow claims to save *£392 per customer, and is the cheapest option for 83% of newcomers to the UK. And, it’s popular, with over 200,000 customers.
Marshmallow offers lower car insurance for those new to the UK by using overseas driving history, potentially saving £100s per month.
Sounds pretty fair right? And it’s not just driving experience, you’ll be able to use your no claims bonus from abroad too (if you have one) to bag yourself an even lower premium.
Note: a no claims bonus is a discount on your insurance that you earn for each year you don’t make a claim.
To help you reduce the cost further you'll build your own policy, so it can suit your budget, with a range of plans on offer and optional extra features.
Marshmallow itself is a great, modern car insurer, with great service. There’s live chat support (app and website) and a phone line for claims and accidents running 24/7.
You can also insure your van if you have one (e.g. for work), get car finance for buying a new car, and they also offer home insurance.
*UK newcomers save an average of £392: Based on internal data for 4304 policies sold via Confused.com from January 2025 to June 2025 to UK newcomers living in the UK less than 3 years. The average difference between Marshmallow's price and the second cheapest price was £392 - see Marshmallow website for further details.
Marshmallow offers lower car insurance for those new to the UK by using overseas driving history, potentially saving £100s per month.
First of all, everything is handled on the Marshmallow website and app, you don’t need to go to a car insurance comparison site to try and find it. You simply head over to the Marshmallow website¹ to get your free quote.
From there, fill out the form with details about your car by adding your car registration number, and then add your personal details, any details about other drivers you’d like to insure, information about your driving licence, driving history and estimated car usage.
You’ll then be able to put together the car insurance plan you’d like by picking from the basic cover and adding any extras you’d like (such as breakdown cover).
You might be asked to prove your previous driving history and driving licence, alongside things like your personal identity with a photo of yourself (a selfie).
Once you’re set up, you’ll be able to log into the mobile app whenever you like to check your cover, see your policy documents, make a claim, and update future policy changes (e.g. add windscreen cover).
All car insurance with Marshmallow is fully comprehensive, meaning it’s cover for you, and also other people and their cars. The alternative is third-party only, which is cover for just other people and their cars.
Note: you can pay your insurance monthly or in one go (annually).
The plans are:
This is the lowest cost plan with just the basics. It’s fully comprehensive with personal injury cover up to £2,000 and cover in Europe (up to 30 days).
This is a few more extra, such as personal injury cover up to £5,000, European cover up to 90 days, a courtesy car if yours is in for repairs and Marshmallow’s uninsured driver promise - where if an uninsured driver hits you and it’s not your fault, your no claims bonus is protected and your excess is refunded.
Note: excess is the amount you agree to pay towards a claim before your insurer covers the rest.
This contains all of the previous plan but also includes windscreen protection and help with onward travel after an incident.
This is the full package, and contains all of the previous plan but also cover if you’re driving someone else's car (third-party only), a courtesy car if yours is stolen or written off (totally destroyed), cover for legal fees and breakdown cover (provided by the AA).
That covers the basics of each plan, here’s a quick recap and the option extras you’d can then add on to suit you…
Marshmallow offers lower car insurance for those new to the UK by using overseas driving history, potentially saving £100s per month.
Marshmallow also offers van insurance, and it’s pretty great too. You can get set up in the same way, on the Marshmallow website¹.
It comes with cover for work tools and other work-related items when taking them to work, and a courtesy car or van if yours go in for repair.
You also get protection from uninsured drivers and vandalism, with your no claims bonus being protected and a refund on any excess paid when claiming.
Optional extra include breakdown cover (with the AA), cover for legal costs, cover for theft and if your van is written off, no claims discount protection (2 claims per year), and upgrade to fully comprehensive coverage in Europe.
Marshmallow also offers car finance, helping you to buy your car with a loan, even if you’ve only just moved to the UK. This can sometimes be complicated with traditional loan providers (such as banks) who typically assess your credit score to provide a loan. Marshmallow looks beyond this and asks you more personal questions to put a quote together, so you may not need any UK credit history at all. "Subject to status, residency and affordability checks."
Getting car finance can help you improve your credit score over time too as your monthly payments will be recorded.
The finance application is all handled online on the Marshmallow website¹, so there’s no paperwork to complete, and it’s quite a smooth process.
And technically speaking, it’s a hire purchase agreement. That means you get the loan, a set interest rate and a monthly payment amount, but Marshmallow will own the car until you repay the loan in full, so you can’t sell it or modify it.
Note: if you aren’t successful with your loan application, it won’t impact your credit score, there’s nothing to worry about there.
Marshmallow also offers home insurance, this is protection for your possessions inside your home (that includes things like furniture, laptop etc).
It’s still targeted at those new to the UK (rather than everyone), with simpler explanations and education around how insurance works in the UK.
There’s two types of home insurance. There’s contents insurance, and buildings and contents insurance…
Contents insurance is designed mostly for renters, and you’ll just cover the things inside your home. Whereas buildings and contents insurance covers the property itself, such as the walls, ceilings, floors, etc.
A good way to think of it is if you turn your home upside down, anything that falls out is contents and the rest is the building. Buildings insurance is for those who typically own their own home rather than rent (you will need building insurance to get a mortgage).
With Marshmallow, your building is covered up to £1 million and contents up to £100,000. There’s cover for fire and smoke, water damage, theft and vandalism, subsidence and landslips, legal costs cover and optional extras for high value items over £2,000, and for your items outside the home too.
To get a quote, head over to the Marshmallow website¹.
Making a claim is easy too. All you need to do is call the Marshmallow claims phone number (01908 302 323), which is open 24/7, and run through the accident or incident. They’ll take it from there. Or, if you prefer, use the phone app to start your claim.
This is the same for all the types of insurance, so car insurance, van insurance and home insurance.
Customer support is a separate department to making a claim, and this is just for help with your policy, or things like getting a quote.
To chat with customer support, open the app or website and chat to their friendly support team during working hours (9am to 7pm during the week, and 10am to 4pm on weekends and bank holidays).
Marshmallow offers lower car insurance for those new to the UK by using overseas driving history, potentially saving £100s per month.
Customers are very happy with Marshmallow overall, and they have a great rating of 4.2 out of 5 on Trustpilot (from over 40,000 reviews). Customers mention how good the app is to use, how easy it is to get a quote and great customer support when needed.
Here’s a quick recap and the pros and cons of Marshmallow:
We’re big fans of Marshmallow. If any service can bring down the cost of insurance, that’s a big win in our eyes. For those new to the UK, getting a quote with Marshmallow is a no-brainer, especially if you’ve got a lot of driving history in another country, and a no claims bonus.
It’s all digital too, which makes things easy to arrange in your own time, and online, perfect for those who might struggle to understand and communicate in English.
The car insurance is fully comprehensive, but with optional extras, which makes it very flexible and to suit pretty much any budget, while still getting essential cover. The optional extras are great too, such as excess protection and full cover in Europe.
Plus, they offer insurance for vans, and the home, and even offer car finance to help you buy a car.
The customer service is excellent, the mobile app is easy to use, and the claims telephone line runs 24/7 so no matter when you might need them, they’re there.
Overall, a great service, and as we say, well worth getting a quote. There’s no commitment until you decide. Get a quote on the Marshmallow website¹.
We’d love to hear from you, and it will help others too.
Edward Savage is a leading expert on money, with a background of 8 years working in financial services in London, has a business, accounting and finance degree, runs an investing community, and teaches people about money. He writes about all aspects of personal finance, including pensions, investing, mortgages and insurance.
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Marshmallow offers lower car insurance for those new to the UK by using overseas driving history, potentially saving £100s per month.
