Young Drivers' Car Insurance Discussion

My 18yo son passed his test on 30/12/16. We have been doing daily searches since then with prices ranging from £4K (without a black box) to £2K (with a black box) for a car that is actually little more powerful than a hairdryer.
Today a policy popped up for £1100. Its with Hastings Direct and includes a black box which means both my husband and myself will have to drive more carefully which isn't really a problem.

Have Autosaint fitted the black box yet? If so, this is why your charges are higher as they will have paid for the tech.

My son's first policy in 2015 with Hastings Direct was £969 - no black box; 1300 cc enging. He then passed the Pass Plus course and got a refund. Sadly, he then wrote the car off through no fault of his own when, on a dark road at night, he trampled over a strip of metal in the road (used by vehicles en-route to the skip). The metal (a spring) flipped up, hit the side panel where the curtain air bag sensor was, and blew the curtain air bags. The car had a slight chip on the outside but nothing else was wrong. well, it was because the repair would cost as much as the car was worth. Hastings were brilliant and within a day of an assessor viewing the car it was off to the breakers and my son had the full market value cheque in his hand. He then insured the replacement and, as it now had a 1500 cc engine, and he had written one car off we expected a jump in the insurance. It barely moved upwards. Also, bear in mind that once the learner passes, he/she has to tell the insurer and the price goes up as he/she is now on their own and the risk is greater. I recommend the Pass Plus course. Oh, just to be clear, I don't work for Hasting Direct or have anything to do with them. In my view, insurers sit alongside estate agents and solicitors in the money grabbing tables - but that has not been my experience with Hastings and, come renewal, my son will go through the exact process that MSE advocates to get a good deal. It has worked twice so far.

Well I give up - 18yo daughter has passed her test, has a little crappy car and wants to be able to drive around and get experience but can't get insurance under £2,000.

The insurance people say she will get a better rate when she has been passed for a year or more, as she is marked as an inexperienced driver right now, but how is she meant to get any experience when she cannot afford to insure a car?

I'm going round in circles - the telematics policies won't touch her car because it's over 15 years old, we cannot afford £250 per month for insurance, even putting her on my current policy with Hastings would push it up from £250 to £2,700 per annum!