17 year old son needs car insurance

viktory

TechnoBadger wrote: »

A very good driver and more mature than you!

Don't be ridiculous. How can you possibly know that?

Emmzi

best thing to do is get a low value group one car. Yes, it won't be flash etc. My folks got me a car to last 2/3 years specifically for purposes of having something it didn't matter if I scraped against walls etc... and I did a couple of times.

My non driving mates took the mick only until they realised they weren't getting lifts if they did. So that lasted all of a week...

devildog

thefreedeal- I don't know if you are strictly correct. I was paying for dd's insurance(under 18) but because she was under 18 she was not old enough to enter contract to pay monthly, even though I was the one actually paying for it!!

daveyjp-Can I ask how you found driving after you had waited so long after passing your test? This is the route we are taking with ds(he totally agrees with it) but I am concerned that he will have forgotten everything in three years time. I guess it will be a refresher course for him when the time comes but I would still be interested to hear how you found it.

gregg1

katiepops wrote: »

Pass Plus isn't worth the paper it's written on, frankly. Most insurers will not give a discount because it's no proof of driving ability, just a piece of paper that says that you've done xx amount of driving with an instructor. He would be far better off going to the Institute of Advanced Motorists and doing their Momentum assessment (http://www.iam.org.uk/momentum.html), followed by the full IAM membership route - which does attract insurance discounts. The IAM are apparently very keen to get younger drivers on board.

To be honest, unless you or your son is rolling in cash, you're going to find getting insurance difficult. The quotes we were getting for our son were ridiculous - anything from £5000-£35000, and that was both for his own car, or putting him on my car insurance. Luckily for us we know someone who works in car insurance, and she managed to find a 'good' deal for us (I say good, it's still cost around £4000).

It's not fair really, insurance companies have youngsters over a barrel these days.

That's not true actually - we got a 10% discount for my daughter with the pass plus certificate.

OP - try a company called Marmalade - friend mentioned it as I think they specialise in young drivers. You could also agree to him having one of those box things in the car which some insurance companies offer. It monitors his speed and also means he is restricted to the times in the day he can drive (it may be after 11pm) but it is something you could check out and I think means a reduced premium.

I would very much advise not putting his car in your name as insurance companies are really clamping down on this if an accident occurs and I think in some cases refusing to pay out. Unless you already own the car which is different. My wife and daughter share a car, wife already owned the car and just added daughter which is perfectly legitimate. As long as you are completely honest with the insurers you should be OK. Oh and we went with Admiral who came out cheaper by far and they are pretty good at ideas for getting the premium down if you speak to them.

prowla

viktory is trolling.

SAHD_Jim

How many 17 year olds actually need to drive a car? If it is essential then I guess that is bad luck, but paying 1000s per year to insure something worth less than a half decent flat screen TV from Tescos doesn't sound like good money saving to me.

It is a luxury most people of my generation lived without until we could afford it for ourselves.

gregg1

SAHD_Jim wrote: »

How many 17 year olds actually need to drive a car? If it is essential then I guess that is bad luck, but paying 1000s per year to insure something worth less than a half decent flat screen TV from Tescos doesn't sound like good money saving to me.

It is a luxury most people of my generation lived without until we could afford it for ourselves.

In my kids case it is essential as there is only one bus every hour and only for about 5 or 6 hours a day, no trains or anything else where we live so we had to fork out unfortunately.

alphawoo

viktory wrote: »

I don't think they are mature enough.

I'm mature enough to work hard 45 hours a week, and pay tax.

If it weren't for older employees being able to afford insurance I wouldn't have a job at all.
Feel fortunate you can afford the luxuries in life rather then wishing bad on others.

Savvy_Sue

devildog wrote: »

daveyjp-Can I ask how you found driving after you had waited so long after passing your test? This is the route we are taking with ds(he totally agrees with it) but I am concerned that he will have forgotten everything in three years time. I guess it will be a refresher course for him when the time comes but I would still be interested to hear how you found it.

I didn't drive regularly after passing my test - I passed while away at Uni, where I didn't have a car. And only one of my lads has driven at all since passing his test - and that was for the summer after he passed, because I was 'off the road' so it was useful to add him to our insurance.

My feeling was that learning to drive wasn't going to get any easier as they got older, and while they were still at school made sense because they had plenty of free time.

I was also very conscious that their dad didn't pass until he was 24 or so, it took forever, and he didn't get a job he went for because he didn't have a licence.

Mine don't NEED to drive: we have good transport links and they all ride bikes now. But if they ever apply for a job which requires them to be able to drive, they can flash that vital bit of paper and plastic.

It is a bit like riding a bike, you don't completely forget.

I have had two spells of not being allowed to drive for several months, and after each one I have booked a refresher lesson with an instructor. It's given me peace of mind, and when my 3 come to drive I'll probably pay for them to have a refresher lesson for MY peace of mind!

gregg1 wrote: »

I would very much advise not putting his car in your name as insurance companies are really clamping down on this if an accident occurs and I think in some cases refusing to pay out. Unless you already own the car which is different. My wife and daughter share a car, wife already owned the car and just added daughter which is perfectly legitimate. As long as you are completely honest with the insurers you should be OK.

The key questions are "who is the main driver?" and "where is the car kept?" A student taking a 'family' car off to University or a son / daughter using a 'family' car to get to work every day is asking for trouble if the insurers aren't made aware of this.

puddy

what would happen to the boy if he hadnt have passed? what was happening before he turned 17? presumably he was making his way around ok without a car?

so the car is a want rather than a need, thats ok, but there is a cheaper way to do transport for someone of that age, i would suggest a moped thing, that way you keep your road skills fresh, insurance and tax etc is v v cheap, you have the transport you need (ok you might need a lift in really bad weather) and then a few years time you have the money, maturity and no claims hopefully built up on the bike for car insurance

whats wrong with that?