Student Car Insurance - Are most young drivers actually insured?

Madsalty

Hi,

I'm at the end of my tether with insurance.

I'm 19, male and a Full Time Student at Durham University and I've had my driving license for 2 years, but I simply cannot afford to insure myself on a car.

In May my parents were kind enough to purchase a 99' Toyota Starlet for me, however since that date I have yet to achieve a quote under £1800 and quite frankly I believe that's a ridiculous amount to pay.

I had contemplated taking the Pass Plus, but at £150 and potential savings surmounting on average to only £100 so it's really not economical.

How are young drivers like myself supposed to gain driving experience?

I'm not a bad driver, infact I passed with 0 Minors, and I really don't care for speed. Yet why am I effectively classed as a boy racer?

It's lead me to consider how most of the young drivers I see and know to be driving around are actually insured? Are they all insurance fronting through their parents (which in my experience is more expensive when using many comparison sites), or are they simply not insured?

Anyway, rant over. If anybody has any suggestions on how to bring my insurance premiums would be gladly appreciated.

M

adamc260

Sadly thats how it is for younger drivers, the minority of 'bad drivers' ruin it for those that are good drivers as statistics show your in the bracket that is most likely to have an accident.. My first policy was over £1600 with pass plus almost 5 years ago.. on a 1.25 Fiesta =/

You could try those companies that install a box in your car, it basically monitors your driving and checks your not driving late at night etc, can slash your premiums by up to 50%

i-Kube, Insure the box and More Than are some of them
Also put your excess up higher (to an amount you can repay) and try putting your mileage lower, also add an older driver on as a named driver.

Lokolo

I'm surprised you can't get one under £1800.

Mine this year is £800 and I have a 1.6 Mazda3 with only 1 years NCD and an accident a year ago...

Had licence for 5 years though.

Alison_B

My son has had 2 insurance policies. We took the first out when he was 17 as his car (Fiat Punto 52 plate) was his birthday present and needed for it to be insured in his name. It cost £800 whilst he was learning and another £800 when he passed his test. That was with Quinn Direct and with both my DH and myself on his policy which was TPFT. When he was due to renew, he had passed his test 5 months previous but we went with Towergate and he got a policy for £1800 for Fully Comprehensive with my DH on the policy.

Good luck finding yourself a decent price. Have you tried Admiral? I did a dummy quote for my son recently and it wasn't too bad a quote.

Madsalty

Thanks for your replies.

@Adamc260: I've just asked for a quote from Insure the box and got £5990.43, but thankyou it's an option I hadn't explored before and I'll give i-kube a ring asap.

@Alison_B: Admiral are currently the cheapest quote

mikey72

Elephant have been said to be cheap (in context)

adamc260

mikey72 wrote: »

Elephant have been said to be cheap (in context)

Its EUI, same as admiral, their quotes tend to come out a few quid different (either up or down) but worth a check.

mcjordi

have you tried aviva (they were norwich union when i used them) for my first year driving was about 600 on a 1.4 escort.. the qoute was halved from 1200ish to 610 iirc with my pass plus cirtificate.. (as you've had your license 2 years its too late to do it)

also whats endsliegh qouting? they were fairly cheap when i got a qoute off them

mikey72

adamc260 wrote: »

Its EUI, same as admiral, their quotes tend to come out a few quid different (either up or down) but worth a check.

Thinking about it, so's Bell, but worth a try as well.

alja

I was a named driver whilst I was at uni, didn't earn me any no claims, but it sure did save me a lot of money! I think I was only insured/was supposed to only drive the car a few days a week (i.e. not every day) but this suited me as I didn't have to drive to uni every day...

I remember trying to see how much I would be on my 1.4 clio when I'd just passed at 18 they quoted me around a grand for me on my own for comprehensive

the best/cheapest insurers we've come across & been with are tesco, more than, diamond (as I'm a girlie), I think direct line was okay too..

newbie007_2

Madsalty wrote: »

How are young drivers like myself supposed to gain driving experience?

Gaining experience isn't a given, young drivers have to pay the high cost these days if they want to drive. It's all over this forum and the internet, read them.

You could try adding parents on the policy, this should reduce the premium a little. Do read through the threads on here for ways to reduce premium.