Yoga car insurance review

There’s no messing around with Yoga car insurance. It only offers comprehensive cover, which includes the following:

• Injuries to other people: if you injure someone in an accident, your Yoga car insurance will help cover the costs
• Damage to other people’s property: if you damage someone’s property, including their car, in an accident, Yoga will cover costs up to £20 million
• Fire damage: if your car is damaged in a fire, or by lightning or an explosion, you can claim up to the market value of your vehicle 
• Theft: if your car is stolen, or damaged in an attempted theft, you can claim up to its market value
• Accidental damage to your car: if you’re in an accident and your vehicle is damaged, you can claim up to its market value at the time of the accident
• New car replacement: if your car is less than 12 months old, and you are the first registered keeper, you can get a like-for-like replacement if it is stolen and not recovered, or if it is damaged and the cost of repairs is more than 50 per cent of its current UK list price
• Windscreen repair: you can claim for your windows and windscreens to be replaced or repaired if needed
• Manufacturer-fitted in-car equipment: you can claim an unlimited amount if any in-car equipment installed when your car was made are damaged or stolen
• Aftermarket in-car entertainment equipment: you can claim up to £300 for any in-car equipment fitted after your car was made that are damaged or stolen
• Child safety seat: if you have a child car seat, and your vehicle is in an insured event, you can claim for a replacement car seat worth up to £300
• Replacement of locks and keys: if your ignition device is lost or stolen, you can claim up to £1,000 for the cost of replacing your locks and keys. However, you’ll be unable to claim if your keys were left in or on your car while unattended
• Personal belongings: you can claim up to £200 if your personal belongings are stolen or damaged due to an insured event
• Personal accident cover: you or your partner can claim up to a maximum of £2,500 per person (and £10,000 for one accident), in the event of death (£2,000), total and permanent loss of sight in one eye (£1,500), and total and permanent loss of one hand or one foot (£1,500)
• Courtesy car: if your car needs repairs, and you take it to an approved garage, you can get a temporary replacement vehicle. This will usually be a small hatchback under 1,200cc
• Onward travel: if you can’t continue your journey as a result of an insured event, you can claim £100 per person (to a maximum of £500) for travel expenses or one-night of hotel accommodation
• Driving abroad: you can drive in anywhere in the European Union (EU), alongside select other European countries, using your cover for up to 90 days
• Uninsured driver promise: if you make a claim for an accident that was not your fault and the other driver doesn’t have insurance, you won’t have to pay your excess and your no-claims bonus won’t be affected
• Vandalism promise: if you make a claim because your car has been vandalised, your no-claims discount won’t be affected as long as you report it to the police and send Yoga the crime reference number

Other Yoga car insurance policies

Through Yoga Safely Secured, you can get a comprehensive temporary car insurance policy lasting between one and 84 days.

Learner drivers aged between 17 and 30, meanwhile, can get cover to practise in someone else’s car for one to 140 days. 

On top of Yoga’s comprehensive car insurance, you can add the following optional extras:

• Breakdown cover: provided by One Insurance, you can choose between Basic breakdown cover, Gold Breakdown, and Gold Breakdown Plus
• Motor injury protection plus: includes physiotherapy costs for you, your partner and any named drivers after a car accident
• Hire car cover: you can upgrade your courtesy car cover to guaranteed hire cover (where you’ll receive a temporary replacement vehicle up to 2,000cc for up to 28 days), and guaranteed hire car plus (a vehicle up to 2,000cc for up to 90 days)
• Protected no-claims discount: if eligible, you can protect your no-claims bonus, meaning that it won’t be effected in the event you make a claim

If you need to make a car insurance claim through Yoga, you will need to do so through its claims management company, One Call Claims. You should complete the following steps:

• Make sure everyone is safe: following a motor incident, you should make sure everyone involved is okay, included yourself, your passengers, and any third parties involved
• Exchange details: if a third party is involved in the incident, you’ll need to exchange details, including your name, address, car registration, and insurance policy number
• Take notes: you should make a note of any relevant details, such as the location of the incident, the time of day, and the weather. You may also want to take photos or videos of any damage
• Contact your provider as soon as possible: you should contact One Call Claims on 0203 738 7386. Depending on the claim, you may then be referred to the insurer that appears on your certificate of motor insurance 
• One Call Claims will help with the next steps: whether it’s referring your to your named insurer, or arranging for repairs, One Call Claims will help you with what happens

If you want to cancel your Yoga car insurance policy, you’ll need to do so by visiting the customer portal. 

When cancelling, you’ll receive a refund for the time you have left on your policy (as long as you haven’t made a claim), minus the following fees:

Yoga is a self-service, online-only insurance broker. This means that you won’t be able to talk to someone over the phone. Instead, you’ll make any changes yourself through Yoga’s customer portal. 

However, you can talk to an agent using the broker’s live chat function. This is open from 9am to 2pm Monday to Friday, and 9am to 2pm on Saturdays.

There is also a chat bot, called Yogi, for queries outside of those live chat hours.

Yoga has an ‘Excellent’ Trustpilot score of 4.5 out of five, based on more than 5,700 reviews. 

It is important to note, however, that these reviews are for Yoga as a whole, and not just its car insurance services.

Of its five-star reviews that mention car insurance, Yoga is praised for the quality of its live chat customer service, and the manner in which One Call Claims deals with claims. 

However, despite the quality of the live chat service, it can still lead to frustrations. If you appreciate being able to get hold of someone over the phone, Yoga might not be for you.

“I’m totally impressed with Yoga and One Claims who handled my repairs and hire due to my car being damaged by a third party. The whole process was seamless from start to finish. All the colleagues involved, drivers/call handlers/repairs team were faultless. Please pass on my thanks. ZT3 was great in sorting my delivery back.”

• Maxine Hutton, via Trustpilot

“Changed over car policy to new car on the live chat facility, so easy and five stars for Dennis who answered all my queries and did it all seamlessly, thanks!!!!”

• Maggie, via Trustpilot

“A problem arose as my payment went through twice by mistake. I then received an email telling me that my insurance was being cancelled. I had a panic but rang the company and Dennis assured me that only one policy had been cancelled, my insurance was OK and the excess amount would be returned to me in three to five working days. However, being old and not very computer literate, I do find speaking to some ‘chat’ person not easy and I do wish we could pick up a phone and speak to a live person.”

• Chris, via Trustpilot

What Defaqto rating does Yoga car insurance have?

As well as an ‘Excellent’ score on Trustpilot, Yoga also has a five-star rating on Defaqto for its comprehensive car insurance policy.

All scores are correct as of 11 December 2023.

With a better Trustpilot rating than many larger brokers and providers, and a five-star rating from Defaqto, there is plenty to recommend with Yoga car insurance. 

However, what may be appealing to some is going to be the exact reason to look elsewhere for others.

For example, the simplicity of only offering comprehensive car insurance, with a few optional extras, means it is easy to know what you’re getting with Yoga. Yet this lack of range or flexibility might not be for everyone.

Similarly, while Trustpilot is full of praise for Yoga’s live chat service, if you feel more comfortable talking to someone on the phone, it isn’t the right insurer for your needs. 

And the fact it is an intermediary means certain elements, such as making a claim, will require you to contact an outside agency.