Young Driver Insurance

taffy1_2

My younger brother (17) who recently passed his test is planning to buy a car which has been slightly modified. Nothing excess its an 1.4 Astra with an Astra GSi bodykit, set of alloys, stainless steel exhaust just looks a bit nicer! (must be to do with street cred, i didn't care at that age i just wanted a car!)

He was hoping to get insured with Direct Line and link his and my dads policies together to take advantage of discounts etc but he discovered that they will not insure cars to under 25's with any modifications not even just a set of alloys.

My question was are all major insurers imposing such a clause? Anybody got any ideas as to which companies he could try?

Thanks in advance

LOST

try confused.com, elephant.co.uk or adrian flux

ftbworried

or admiral.co.uk

Insurance companies wont look favourably on a 17 year old male with a 'souped up' car - I'm not saying your bro is a bad driver but on face value it does set a few alarm bells ringing. He CAN get insured with those mods- but it'll cost him, it depends whether he wishes to pay for his perceived 'street cred' or not.

polajoo

I paid £1,200 for a 1 litre metro valued at £30. This was only five years ago.

Unfortunately you have to just bite the bullet for a few years and drive around in a banger, or pay through the nose to look good.

Now I'm 23, got five years NCD, and I'm still paying £900 for a 1.8 Passat. Daylight robbery is alive and well, people...

Much better to start with a 1 litre car. Try one of those cars where you get free insurance for the first year too, although some of them don't like young drivers.

Not much me saying "change your car" if you've already got that car though! However consider changing it back to factory spec to get the insurance price down, or pay for the style...

I use Cofton Insurance Brokers - 0121 453 1945 - they're honest and will haggle with the insurance providers for you to try and get the best price. If they ask, say Daniel from the Pine Shop gave you the number, but can't guarantee that name-dropping will get you a discount!

taffy1_2

Thanks for the replys.

He knows it won't be cheap to insure any car. Standard it would cost him only £1,100 with Direct Line which is pretty good for his age etc, but other companies are £2,000 standard.

I think what is really annoying him is that on my boyfriends policy he has declared uprated alloys, suspension and exhaust on his BMW and Direct Line only charge an extra £100 a year to cover them alll granted he is 25 but my brother just thinks it is unfair.

Meant to say the main reason he doesn't want a "banger" is he is going abroad to do a scholarship next year and as he may not be back on a permenant basis for a 4-5 years so he is not really worried about getting NC up and running like the rest of us would be. Hence why he wants a nicer looking car.

ftbworried

Meant to say the main reason he doesn't want a "banger" is he is going abroad to do a scholarship next year and as he may not be back on a permenant basis for a 4-5 years so he is not really worried about getting NC up and running like the rest of us would be. Hence why he wants a nicer looking car.

Is it just me or does this make no real sense?!!!? If he's only in the country for a year then surely its all the more reason to get a 'banger', i.e. it only has to last a year, theres no point in inesting in something that you have to get rid of 12 months later and why will his street cred matter so much to passers-by and strangers when they'll never see him again for 4-5 years!!!! Anyway, that's by the by....

I think the reason why direct line only charge £100 for your bf's mods is that a) obviously your bf is older and most 25 year olds grow out of the 'modded car scene' so there is less of them about to insure and therefore the insurance company carries less of a risk. Also your bf has upto 8 years driving experience so knows how the mods will make a difference to the drive of his car- something your newly passed bro has no idea about (in the eyes of the insurance company) and this could be dangerous
b) your bf's cars a BMW, therefore it's more suited to being driven fast (i.e it has better brakes to slow it down etc). If you bro gets a standard astra (with standard handling and standard brakes) then makes it look like a sports car (when its not one underneath) and thus drives it like one, then its much more dangerous than doing it in a car that IS actually more of a sports car.

The key here is combining mods with his age- its just a bad combination. I'll admit ,I put stupidly large wheel on my tame 1.1 Saxo when I first passed my test - it must be a 17 year old thing. I look back at myself 5 years on in embarrasement. When you drive a car that EVERYONE knows is NOT sports car and you make it look like one, it doesnt look good- it looks RUBBISH! It actually makes people laugh as you drive past! It's like dyeing a poodle to look like a rottweiller- it just looks odd! Now I'm of the opinion that standard cars actually look nicer (and not as tacky) as 'modded' ones, my fiance and I have a lovely new Saab 93 Sport and wouldnt change an inch on it (and if we did it'd make it look cheap and cr@ppy). Your bro might regret spending that £2000 on insurance to cover the mods when he grows up!

stephen_dunbar

i also searched recently for my son and the best quote from confused .com for fully comp on a peugot 206 was £1800 but a friend told me to try tescos and they did it for £1200!!!

taffy1_2

ftbworried wrote:

Is it just me or does this make no real sense?!!!? If he's only in the country for a year then surely its all the more reason to get a 'banger', i.e. it only has to last a year, theres no point in inesting in something that you have to get rid of 12 months later and why will his street cred matter so much to passers-by and strangers when they'll never see him again for 4-5 years!!!! Anyway, that's by the by....

I think the reason why direct line only charge £100 for your bf's mods is that a) obviously your bf is older and most 25 year olds grow out of the 'modded car scene' so there is less of them about to insure and therefore the insurance company carries less of a risk. Also your bf has upto 8 years driving experience so knows how the mods will make a difference to the drive of his car- something your newly passed bro has no idea about (in the eyes of the insurance company) and this could be dangerous
b) your bf's cars a BMW, therefore it's more suited to being driven fast (i.e it has better brakes to slow it down etc). If you bro gets a standard astra (with standard handling and standard brakes) then makes it look like a sports car (when its not one underneath) and thus drives it like one, then its much more dangerous than doing it in a car that IS actually more of a sports car.

The key here is combining mods with his age- its just a bad combination. I'll admit ,I put stupidly large wheel on my tame 1.1 Saxo when I first passed my test - it must be a 17 year old thing. I look back at myself 5 years on in embarrasement. When you drive a car that EVERYONE knows is NOT sports car and you make it look like one, it doesnt look good- it looks RUBBISH! It actually makes people laugh as you drive past! It's like dyeing a poodle to look like a rottweiller- it just looks odd! Now I'm of the opinion that standard cars actually look nicer (and not as tacky) as 'modded' ones, my fiance and I have a lovely new Saab 93 Sport and wouldnt change an inch on it (and if we did it'd make it look cheap and cr@ppy). Your bro might regret spending that £2000 on insurance to cover the mods when he grows up!

Price of insurance is not really the issue as he knows young lads pay more, he is just a bit annoyed that Direct Line won't insure young drivers with modifications as he loses his discoubnt entitlements. Basically the car he has now bought is a GSi look a like no engine mods just body coloured bumpers, alloys and an exhaust, it actually looks v. nice compared to some of the cars you see young people driving.

With regards to him leaving the country he reckons as he is going to be away for 4 - 5 years he may as well get a semi decent car as opposed to a banger because building up no claims won't matter and quotes he has obtained for different cars (fiesta 1.1, corsa 1.2 and a couple other smaller cars) were all roughly the same as a standard 1.4 astra give or take a £100 - £150.

No matter what I say his heart is set and we all no what we were like at that age! I was just hoping to get some ideas for insurance companies who insured modified cars to help him get the best deal.

Thanks again for all the replies.

malky39

Normally modification will be charged at a percentage of the premium say 10-20% depending on the nature of the modification. This is therefore whey your boyfriend only pays £100 extra as his premium is lower in the first place

Astaroth

The "problem" is that young people who tend to modify their cars tend to be your chav boy racer types and whilst the mods will often reduce the value of the car rather than increase it they do have a strong suggestion on what sort of driver they are going to be and therefore expect a much higher claims frequency/ cost. This is not to say your brother is like this but all insurance works on trends (aka statistics) and the more general the brand the broader brushstrokes it applies (but also the cheaper it will often be if you fit within their target audience)

sexymouse

I am a 23 year old female, and still classified as a young driver. I've been with churchills for the past 2 years, and they were by far the cheapest. Alarm bells rang for me, when I saw he wants to get an Astra - this model alone, will make the price of his insurance sky-rocket! Have a look in What Car magazine - think they have a website too, and it will show you that it is in quite a high insurance bracket. He should look for one in a lower insurance bracket, especially if it has modifications!