Depends a bit on whether you want the cheapest quote, or to be more certain of good service if you ever call on them. LV= seem very competitive and have a decent reputation. And don't forget some insurers aren't listed on the comparison sites - Direct Line is one.

And if you have just had a renewal quote you should be able to talk it down a bit if you phone them.

Quite right. Insurance firms' quality of service can only really be fully ascertained if you need to make a claim. Most people judge it by price and the service they get when renewing over the phone (especially if that includes a willingness to batter a re-quote down), which often bears little resemblence to that when claiming.

Many people advocate going for the NFU mutual if you want the best service all around. Unfortunately that doesn't come cheap - when I was with esure (up to 2020, quotes previously around the £250 - £275 mark), NFU Mutual were in the £650 range.

Of course, expensive doesn't always mean a good service, and nor does cheap mean the opposite every time. Despite all the online 'reviews' I now trust them far less for authenticity than I did 10-15 years ago - too make positive and negative fake reviews.

The best thing is to get as much real experiences - especially from people (friends, family, colleagues) you know to be honest and who have needed to make a claim and thus properly judge the quality of the service vs the cost / amount of cover provided.

I generally go on price, but avoid companies i've not heard of or appear to have bad reports.

LV were great when I had a claim over 10 years ago, no idea what they are like now as they have gone through changes.

Currently with GA (Aviva) for both cars, They make no charges for policy changes which was useful a couple of years ago when I had 4 changes in a year on two policies due to my wife's changing employment status and job role.

Which rates LV the best for car insurance and even beat NFU which are very expensive. But you need to take Watchdogs advice and get a new quote 30 days before the insurance runs out to beat the extra charges been introduced to pay for the new levelling up changes for existing policy holders.

im with LV for motor but recently changed to John Lewis for home insurance when the prices went up . I’m also with Boundless which gives special prices onLV and free legal aid.
LV is now owned by Allianz the German insurance group .

Anyone know which.co.uk ratings for car insurance? ie the top 5?

Direct Line come third recommended company after LV and NFU.
But one thing in common with these companies is that they are not available on comparison sites .