Insurance for 21 yo girl.

chickflick1066

Hello!

For my 21st, my parents agreed to either pay my insurance or for the car itself. I can only drive automatics so this makes my inital outlay for the car a bit greater but I'm struggling with the insurance side of things.

I've been driving since November 2006 but I didn't have my own policy, I was a named driver on my dad's policy as I only drove his car in holidays. I qualify from uni this year and will be needing my own car if/when I get a job.

I've not got a car but I was using my dad's car to get a quote online (a K reg, 1992, 1.2l auto Nissan Micra - 5 door) and I'm getting £3000 quotes!! Because I don't have my own no-claims (although I never claimed on m dad's policy).

The car is only worth £350, and I would be getting a car under £1000 so I don't really want to spend over the cars value - but I'm really struggling to find a not so-rip off policy.

Dad wants me to go fully-comp and being in central/south Manchester puts a premium on things but £3k is a little rediculous.

Can anybody advise? Or does anyone have a nice little automatic hatchback going for cheap as poss?

Mark_Hewitt

This is where someone bursts in and starts singing (very badly)
GO COMPARE!

jaydeeuk1

Had you tried to see if there is any difference in prices between 3rd party f&t and fully comp? Tbh, unless the price difference is negliable, its pointless going full comp on a £350 car at your age. Anything more than a chipped windscreen and it will be written off anyway!

i assume you've tried the usual, like bell, admiral, sheilas directly and also comparison sites?

chickflick1066

It's Go Compare which quoted me £3k!!

The £350 car is full on dead now and cheapest I can find is £595 +, is it still not worth it to go FC?

Thanks.

rev_henry

That does most certainly seem very steep to me. Are you sure you put in that you have had a licence 3 years? No point having fully comp as has been said. I'm assuming you've checked all the price comparison sites? Quinn direct (amongst others) will give you a discount for your 3 years driving experience as a named driver, although their customer service is patchy.

You shouldn't have to spend much more at all to get a small auto. They tend to be a bit of an oddity so no one wants them. Check auto trader, you can specify autos only.

chickflick1066

Thank you Will check out Quinn Direct.

I love AutoTrader too, there's some corker 80s vehicles on there

rev_henry

And no its not worth going fully comp. E.g. car worth £500, policy costs an extra £500 for fully comp, £350 excess. So you may as well save the £500 extra cost and buy yourself a spare car each year. And even if you did have it and claimed, you'd get a payout of £150, AND your insurance would go up the next year. So no its not worth it. Hope that made sense?

chickflick1066

Yep, thanks You're very helpful

Quentin

rev_henry wrote: »

And no its not worth going fully comp.....

Sometimes this comprehensive insurance wheeze comes out cheaper than third party (though you should look at it as third party insurance in that you won't be able to claim for damage to your own car):

Agree to take a massive excess on a comprehensive policy (eg. swiftcover will let you take a £1000 excess), and see if that works out cheaper. (You don't pay any excess in the event of a third party making a claim against you).

If it's a better deal, then you would get the benefit of the windscreen/glass cover which isn't included with third party cover. (And has a separate excess, usually around £75).

liam8282

Some companies allow you to build up your no claims bonus even when you are a named driver. I think Directline is one of them, so if your parents had their insurance with them, they will let you have some no claims discount.

There a few ways you could go about reducing your insurance costs, but imho the best way is to start of with 3rd party f&t and build up your no claims.

Most policies do not let you protect your no claims until you have at least 3 years no claims, so before you go fully comp I would wait until you have a good no claims discount or a car worth a fair bit more than your insurance!

One option could be, if you are still living at home with your parents, get the car insured with one of your parents as the named driver and you as a named driver, but you pay the premium and they get you a car.

rev_henry

Ah yes I forgot about that quentin. OP, since you mentioned 80s cars, if you get one (and lets face it you should, if not older, newer cars are so boring ) then consider a classic car policy. As you're 21 you'll be eligible. Specialist classic car companies don't tend to be on the comparison sites so its a case of ringing round, but they're often much cheaper than regular companies if you drive anything a bit special. Footman James and Adrian Flux spring to mind. Flux is always good to try even if you don't have a classic car.