adding teenagers to main insurance

soolin

I'm currently with Direct Line for my car insurance and have for the past couple of years added my eldest son (who has a full license) to my policy for the odd week when he needed the car. However I now have a second son eligible to drive and needed more scope to add other users for a temporary period and wonder if anyone has any suggestions as Direct Line are not teenage male friendly!

I have looked at adding them both permanently to my insurance but that increases my current quote of £263 to around the £1800-£1900 mark, just so they can use my car for the odd journey! I wouldn't mind staying with a company that allows me to add them when they need to be added, but where to start? Any suggestions please.

Mojisola

I'm surprised because Direct Line was the cheapest firm for my son's insurance. He has himself, his brother, his GF and me on his insurance and it isn't anywhere near as much as your quote.

poet123

I moved my insurance from the Co op to Endersleigh when I was in a similar situation,it reduced frim £700 to £295 for the exact same policy spec. They are student insurers so seem to be more geared to policies which include youngsters. Hope this helps.

soolin

Thanks everyone. I just went back to Endersleigh and they said that they are affiliated to some brokers that deal with young drivers and if I was happy to have my details passed across they would call me back.

I agreed and have had a call from the specialist brokers and their cheapest quote for me and my sons was £2885 which is the dearest yet.

I have tried Sheila's wheels and Admiral both of whom have said it isn't an area they feel they are competitive in and would prfer not to tie me up in details to give me a quote. Through the various money supermarket type places I tend to average out at around £1800-£2400 for all three of us on my car.

So, back to Direct Line who have now shaved the cost down to £1749 which is the cheapest . However it is still not a quote I can really afford so it looks like the boys will have to continue taking the bus and train.

I live in Greater London so I know my premiums are high, but I really can't see how anyone can insure teenage boys at all at those sort of prices. Eldest son has even got pass plus which we were assured would make a difference to the quotes, but no one seems to accept it.

Edit just to add that my own insurance never seems to vary from one place to another either, virtually every where I've tried have done the initial quote just for me at between £260-£280. That's for fully comp and a full no claims bonus. The one suggestion I had was to wait until my car is older as it is currently just coming up to its third birthday and apparently the insurance will be cheaper once it gets towards 4 years old.

TighterThanTwoCoatsOfPain

tbh that doesnt sound un reasonable to me at all....

I had a new (R reg at the time!! - jeez thats a long time ago!) and paid £1400 for that, bare in mind thats 10 years ago in a low risk area.

That was my and my dad... £1800 for 3 drivers, 2 of them high risk, AND in London doesnt sound too shabby...

TighterThanTwoCoatsOfPain

oh, and waiting until the car is 3 years old is unlikely to make a jot of difference unfortunately... it's your sons and what they're likely to crash into that'll drive the premium up...

dollywops

My 19 year old son's renewal came in for this year, at £850, using his Birmingham uni addy. On Monday, 30 June, I did a quote online as a new customer, using the home address, because at the moment that is where he is. £565 - result. More Than wanted around £680 on renewal at the home address. On Tuesday, 1 July I received an email from More Than headed '2 month's free insurance before 20 July'. At the moment, More Than are offering 1 month's free insurance, but the email said if I quoted on the link, although it said 1 month's free, it would actually be 2 month's free. I did another quote, using the link and it only came down by £20. I spoke to someone about this, and when she came back to me, she had been told that on 1 July there had been a price increase. I politely told her I thought this was a load of rubbish, and to please find someone who actually knew what they were talking about. Friday afternoon, she telephoned back to say there had been a mistake, and I would be charged £505. As this is about 50% cheaper than anywhere else, I paid up.

If anyone wants me to forward the email to them, please pm me your email address, and I will do so. Whatever saving is to be had is better than nothing.

tinkerbell84

dollywops wrote: »

My 19 year old son's renewal came in for this year, at £850, using his Birmingham uni addy. On Monday, 30 June, I did a quote online as a new customer, using the home address, because at the moment that is where he is. £565 - result. More Than wanted around £680 on renewal at the home address. On Tuesday, 1 July I received an email from More Than headed '2 month's free insurance before 20 July'. At the moment, More Than are offering 1 month's free insurance, but the email said if I quoted on the link, although it said 1 month's free, it would actually be 2 month's free. I did another quote, using the link and it only came down by £20. I spoke to someone about this, and when she came back to me, she had been told that on 1 July there had been a price increase. I politely told her I thought this was a load of rubbish, and to please find someone who actually knew what they were talking about. Friday afternoon, she telephoned back to say there had been a mistake, and I would be charged £505. As this is about 50% cheaper than anywhere else, I paid up.

If anyone wants me to forward the email to them, please pm me your email address, and I will do so. Whatever saving is to be had is better than nothing.

This happens EVERYWHERE! Tesco will put their prices up on items before starting BOGOF deals on them. You don't get anything for nothing - you want 2 months free, that will usually mean a higher priice to start with.

It's a gimmick :rolleyes: :rolleyes:

(Well done for getting them to honour it, but I fear they won't do that for the masses)

TighterThanTwoCoatsOfPain

dollywops wrote: »

My 19 year old son's renewal came in for this year, at £850, using his Birmingham uni addy. On Monday, 30 June, I did a quote online as a new customer, using the home address, because at the moment that is where he is.

I believe the insurance xo as you where the car will be the MAJORITY of the time.. would guess that is at Uni?

Would be wary of changing addresses to get a cheaper quote.. you might save now, but lose out horribly in the event of a claim...

dollywops

TighterThanTwoCoatsOfPain wrote: »

I believe the insurance xo as you where the car will be the MAJORITY of the time.. would guess that is at Uni?

Would be wary of changing addresses to get a cheaper quote.. you might save now, but lose out horribly in the event of a claim...

Last year, once DS had a date for starting uni, we changed his address to Birmingham, and then paid an additional premium. Currently, he is at home, and won't be back in Birmingham until the end of September, so there is no point in paying extra at the moment for the Birmingham address.

Technically, with 2 x 10 week terms and the last term, only 4 or 5 weeks at most, he does spend more time at home than in Birmingham, more so because he has been in the habit of coming home every other weekend.

Each company works differently. They base the premium on a % of where the car is most. Nearer the time, DS is due to return to uni, he will talk to More Than and see what they say.