Motor insurance deals can be a hot topic of conversation. You have probably been party to – or overheard – the type of talk that boasts about a particular cut-price deal that someone claims to have picked up. The question that too often goes unanswered, however, until the worst comes to the worst and a claim actually has to be made on that "unbeatable" deal, is how reliable is the insurance in fact and how readily is a payout made by the insurer on the claim. If there is a lesson here, therefore, it is to examine carefully and robustly motor insurance that offers an apparently good "deal".

That said, of course, there are a host of excellent motor insurance deals for the discerning buyer. That is just as well, of course, since motor insurance is one of the few types of insurance that the vast majority of people are legally required to hold if they are intending to drive a car. What this means, of course, is that there is a large enough market to make insurance providers extremely competitive and eager for your business by offering good deals. The good thing, too, is that this applies right across the range of different motor insurance types.

For younger drivers, who are more likely to be driving a cheaper range of second-hand car, there is a range of competitively priced third party, fire and theft options available. Of course, the driver's age means that there are unlikely to be cheap-priced deals available for comprehensive insurance. But limiting the cover to third party, fire and theft allows the younger driver to buy the legally required level of insurance and keep the costs down and within a reasonable proportion to the value of the car. In the event of an accident caused by another motorist's actions, then the cost of repairing or writing off the vehicle will be covered by that third party's insurance company. If the insured younger driver causes the accident, however, any repairs – or the cost of replacing the car – would need to be borne by the younger driver him or herself.

For more mature drivers, comprehensive insurance cover should be well within their means and will represent a particularly good deal if their car is of any reasonable value – worth more than £2,000, let's say. Securing the best deal then turns on such questions as the kind of driver you are (preferably one free of motoring convictions or a history of previous motor insurance claims); the kind of car you want to insure (all cars will fall into one of the insurer's categories of vehicle, ranked according to their value and performance); the number of miles you are likely to be driving each year; whether you will be parking the car in its own garage, on the driveway or on the street; and your post code (some parts of the country and some parts of some cities pose a greater threat in terms of the likelihood of theft or vandalism, for example).

In other words, the best motor insurance deals will be determined by the insurers' assessment of the risk in insuring the vehicle, taking into account the kind of driver to be insured, the type of car he or she will be driving and the part of the country in which the insured person lives.