Car insurance help please! :(

Adlen

Hi everyone, I have a few questions regarding car insurance.

As an 18 year old, car insurance is VERY expensive and I'm pretty much restricted to 1L and 1.1L cars (£1,000 2.3L Audi would cost £10k per annum).

I've decided on a 2000/2001 VW Polo 1.0L but I'm still struggling to get my quotes under £4,000.

My questions...
When they ask how many other cars are in my household, what should I put? Why do they need to know this? There will be mine, my mum's, dad's and brother's but I will only be able to drive my own, should I put 4 total or just tell them there is mine?

My occupation. I kind of understand why they want to know what you do but what's high risk and what's low risk? I'm a student (my course is classed as full-time) but when I'm not learning, I'm an audio engineer. Should I say student, audio engineer or both?

Would it just be better for me to have my parents include the Polo on their policy and have me as a named driver? In that case, will I be insured only to drive my Polo or will I be paying a load because they think an 18 year old will be behind the wheel of their 1.8 and 2.0L cars?

They don't make it very easy for young drivers do they? They wonder why people drive without insurance :mad:

Thanks in advance

hartcjhart

have a look here for some tips

http://www.moneysavingexpert.com/insurance/compare-cheap-car-insurance

if your parents insure the car and name you as a driver,but it is you driving most of the time it is illegal(fronting)
probably the best is for you to insure the car with your mother as a 'named' 2nd driver

KillerWatt

Adlen wrote: »

When they ask how many other cars are in my household, what should I put? Why do they need to know this? There will be mine, my mum's, dad's and brother's but I will only be able to drive my own, should I put 4 total or just tell them there is mine?

The question about how many cars are in the household relates to how many cars you have access to.
If you are not driving any of the other cars, then you only have access to one vehicle (your own).

Adlen wrote: »

My occupation. I kind of understand why they want to know what you do but what's high risk and what's low risk? I'm a student (my course is classed as full-time) but when I'm not learning, I'm an audio engineer. Should I say student, audio engineer or both?

You can "tweak" your job description to reduce insurance costs (quite legally) if you pick the right words.

Now as you work in between term times, can we assume that your education is part of your current job?
If it is, then you could quite legally call yourself a student, audio engineer, or even "char wallah" if they get you making the tea when you are in work.

As an example of how much you can save by picking the right phrase, a "student" paying £500 per annum would save £82.70 per annum by describing their occupation as an "Acoustic Engineer" if that were indeed their chosen trade.

Try for yourself at http://www.moneysavingexpert.com/insurance/car-insurance-job-picker/


PS

It's not just your job that has a bearing on what you pay, there are a multitude of factors including age, sex, length of time driving, area you live, type of car, even the colour of the car can affect the price.

dacouch

KillerWatt wrote: »

The question about how many cars are in the household relates to how many cars you have access to.
If you are not driving any of the other cars, then you only have access to one vehicle (your own).


You can "tweak" your job description to reduce insurance costs (quite legally) if you pick the right words.

As an example of how much you can save by picking the right phrase, a "student" paying £500 per annum would save £82.70 per annum by describing their occupation as an "Acoustic Engineer" if that were indeed their chosen trade.

/QUOTE]

The question about how many cars in the household is actually asking how many cars do your family at your home have, if it specifically asks how many cars you have access to then it is asking about you only.

If you put yourself down as an Acoustic Engineer when you are a student you could end up finding your policy is invalidated.

There is a big difference between a full time student and someone who is an employee but is studying as part of their job

KillerWatt

dacouch wrote: »

The question about how many cars in the household is actually asking how many cars do your family at your home have, if it specifically asks how many cars you have access to then it is asking about you only.

Every single time I have been asked the question about other vehicles (and that is every year), it has always been "Are there any other vehicles in the household that you have access to".

Even if the OP is only asked about the total and not whether he has access (although that is highly unlikely), there is nothing to stop him making it clear he only drives his own.

dacouch wrote: »

If you put yourself down as an Acoustic Engineer when you are a student you could end up finding your policy is invalidated.

There is a big difference between a full time student and someone who is an employee but is studying as part of their job

I'm pretty sure I covered that quite clearly.

Adlen

Thanks for the help so far.

My education and my job are totally seperate things, it's not like an apprenticeship (sorry if I worded it wrong in my original post). Half the time the work I do is freelance but if I put that I use the car for business I know it will go up a lot, I only use it to transport a case of gear and a laptop between my home and the venue.

So being a student who does audio engineering as pat of my course, I couldn't put down "sound engineer" but as a student who does audio engineering as a seperate job, I could put "sound engineer", correct?

Quentin

You need to declare both occupations (ie both your full time and your part time jobs).

If you do use the car for business, then you need business cover (not having it means big trouble if you have an incident whilst on a business journey).

Adlen

Quentin wrote: »

If you do use the car for business, then you need business cover (not having it means big trouble if you have an incident whilst on a business journey).

How will they know though?

Quentin

Insurers don't spend too much on verifying whether or not you tell the whole truth on your application. They are happy to have your money.

But should you ever need to claim, that's when you will get thoroughly investigated. (You wouldn't be the first student to think they won't find out, lie on your proposal, then get a shock when they refuse a claim because the policy has been breached (eg being used on a journey that is non insured use)

Adlen

Quentin wrote: »

But should you ever need to claim, that's when you will get thoroughly investigated.

I understand this much but surely it wouldn't be too hard for me to not say: "I had the stuff in my car because I had to take it to a gig" and instead say "I had the stuff in my car because I was taking it to a friend's house" - and get away with it?

Quentin

That's what they all say! You sound as if you will be able to pull the wool over their eyes, cos they won't have come across anyone like you before (will they?)

Business use is not just when you are carrying goods in the car. It's any journey you do for a business.