Young Drivers' Car Insurance Discussion

HelsBels40_2

I'm following the order for quotes for my daughter of 20, doing really well until I got to Zurich, went through whole lot of details as usual, when clicked to get the quote they wouldn't. The reason? All insured persons need to be aged between 24 and 85. They need to be removed from the list of insurers to try on the MSE Young Drivers Insurance section. Thanks though Martin, I love your website and weekly email.

gemmia

Please be wary of insurance companies that give named drivers No Claim Discount. Pay particular attention to the T&C’s as they make the NCD earned, in my experience, virtually useless and unusable after the policy comes to an end.
To share my experience of insurance for young drivers. My daughter passed her test back in 2010, there was no way at 17 we could afford to have her insured on her own car so she became a named driver on my wife’s car with Direct Line. We chose Direct Line as named drivers earned their own NCD on the policy. This arrangement continued from 2010 to 2014, without problem or claim and each year the premium reduced from an original £1300.00 to £700.00 in 2014. At renewal in 2014 we found an alternative insurer, Hastings, who covered then both for £500.00 so we changed. Our assumption was that my daughters 3 years of NCD, was good for the usual minimum 2 years.
My daughter has now left university and purchased a car for herself. Given that the NCD was earned with Direct Line our first call was to them for the insurance, only to be told that the NCD earned as a named driver is only good for 90 days after a policy ends and that it’s very different from the policy holders NCD.
We specifically chose Direct Line because of the named driver NCD. Whilst I’m sure that these T&C’s were there, buried in the small print of the policy detail, my belief is that they should be highlighted before you accept the policy. Direct Line dispute this and give the usual rhetoric that it’s the policyholders responsibility to read all T&C’s before accepting the policy.
Direct Line were not the cheapest insurer back in 2010 but the earned NCD tipped the balance in their favour, that has turned out to be a false economy and my daughter is now at square one having to have black box installed to get insurance under £1500.

koru

Tried several comparison sites for son, aged 17, once he has passed. They were coming up with lowest quotes of around £1500. But when I tried Go Compare, it had one insurer with a premium of £890! This is with a Smart Wheels telematics policy from More Than.

This is for cover for my wife, who will be the main driver, me and our 17 yo son. (But it gives the same premium if I put the policy in his name and say he is the main driver.) Car is a 1 year old Mazda 2 1.3L. Oh, and this is with zero NCD on this car, as we haven't previously had two cars. Our postcode is probably a low risk one (affluent home counties town) and we have low risk occupations, so I'm sure this helps a lot, but perhaps Smart Wheels is worth a try?

Other factors that might have helped: This is with the highest excess, £650, and perhaps reflects that I declared our mileage won't exceed 5000 miles.

koru

Also check out Drive Xpert, which would be even cheaper to cover my wife's car with our son as an extra driver, once he has passed.

tonymc

As with most others on this thread, my daughter has just passed her test. Up until now, she has been driving my car using the Marmalade "supplementary" insurance, but now she will need to be insured in her own right.

The best quote I currently have (having used confused.com, go compare etc) for fully comp on a 59 plate Megane 1.6 doing 10k/year (she will be using it to commute to/from college) is £1,900 with a £195 excess with Admiral with a black box fitted.

I suspect that that looking through the various posts, that this will be around the lowest price, but just before I take the plunge, has anyone else managed to get a ridiculously good deal through other sites and/or brokers?

Many thanks.

Emmasatschool

Dear MSE,
Im feeling confused about the whole 'provisional to full license' insurance issue.
My daughter will be 17 next month, we have purchased a cheapish Toyota Aygo which will hopefully mean an affordable premium.
We will be collecting the car this week and so need to insure it if my husband and I want to use it before our daughters birthday.
Does this mean that we will need three policies in total over the next few months; The first under mine or my husbands name; the second for my daughter as a provisional driver; and the third for her as a full driver?
We'd like her to have her own insurance policy to build no claims. Im not sure who to register the car to, I understand that some policies are cheaper if the insured is also the registered keeper, but she is still under 17?
I would be really interested to hear of other peoples experiences, and any helpful hints.
Thank you!!

Debbie_Cave

My daughter passed her test yesterday (aged 18) and I thought it would be the easiest thing to add her to my insurance policy so she can drive my car. It is a very crappy, old Saab Estate but to my horror, because the engine size is 2 ltr, Admiral (my current insurer) won't even consider adding her to the policy, and the ones that would consider her were all quoting £6,000 - £8,000. This is just bonkers. We live in London and don't want nor need a second car, but it seems cheaper to buy a cheap run around and insure her on her own car than to add her to my policy. Hours on the phone, going through a robotic questionnaires and no one with any common sense to discuss the problem with. Surely there must be an insurance company out there who has identified this gap in the market place to insure on a parent's car. Anyone have any suggestions?

elle_may

When my daughter passed her test at 17, we put her on our insurance with more than. It was no problem and cost us £600 and excess of £600 which she kept in her bank just in case. The next year it was the same.

When she got her own car and we expected them to quote for a mini they said no and it was down to the car she was to drive. She then got quote's for £1000 plus £400 excess. This was with Direct Line and now she has her own 1yr NC,she will be 21 this year and this year's quote's are down to £800 plus £400 excess. Who knows how the insurance companies think and how they quote.

krr1

I thought it might be useful for people to be aware of my experience of insuring a 17yo provisional driver in her own car.

I have been driving for over 30 years and have a full no claims.

I renewed my insurance a few days ago, and paid just over £300 for it.

So far so good.

My daughter turned 17 yesterday, and we had bought her a new skoda Citigo, to learn to drive in, and the to have to get to and from college. With zero interest rates it was as cheap as buying one that was a few years old.

Tried to insure it yesterday, and bets price was £700ish. Didn't seem to bad, but I had a question about what happens when she passes her test, so I called the company. They explained it would rise to around 1450, which again didn't seem too bad. (Remember 17 yo, no experience, as the main driver and me as named)

However, the then asked about the other car, and I said I had just insured it but insurance doesn't begin until 1st may.

Quoted for multicar, even though my premium went up by 50' hers went down by 200' and then 400 once she passed.

Cancelled my new policy at no cost. Now looking at being close to £350 better off !

Also watch for excesses, as moving from £200 excess for her to 0 cost me £1.....

Poppy9

My DD is just turned 21. Had full licence since May 2013.

When she passed her test age 18 I added her to my car. LV was cheapest at £690 ish. 2014 down to £550, 2015 down to £500 (it was a bit inflated as OH had 3 points in April 2013) but he had to be named driver.

2016 LV quote for renewal £503 so as usual I used comparison sites. Churchill was £200, full comp, legal cover, NC protection etc. Next nearest was Admiral at £350. I fully checked all the details and bought Churchill.

Car is Ford Fiesta.