Car Insurance for Young Driver

dtoughill

Can anyone give me any tips on car insurance for a young driver? My son passed his test last month, (18 years old), but because of the high car insurance quotes I am getting, I'm putting off buying him a car. Some quotes are coming in from £4500 upwards. I would be grateful for any tips regarding should I insurance him as the only driver, or will putting me on the insurance make it any cheaper. I am sure I am not the only parent experiencing this problem. Putting our kids through driving lessons only to find out they can't start driving, because of the ridiculous high insurance.

HKitten

My parents had two cars so when we passed our tests, they put me and my sisters on the smaller car as secondary drivers.


I can't remember who they went with, but some companies let you build up no claims this way, even though you're not the primary driver.

bankhater_1965

dtoughill wrote: »

Can anyone give me any tips on car insurance for a young driver? My son passed his test last month, (18 years old), but because of the high car insurance quotes I am getting, I'm putting off buying him a car. Some quotes are coming in from £4500 upwards. I would be grateful for any tips regarding should I insurance him as the only driver, or will putting me on the insurance make it any cheaper. I am sure I am not the only parent experiencing this problem. Putting our kids through driving lessons only to find out they can't start driving, because of the ridiculous high insurance.

theres nothing ridiculous about it only some young driver are very carefull and insurance companies tie them all to the same brush , young drivers are a far greater risk as we all no , why should my premiums go up to cover it , they are a very high risk so they have to financaily pay for it, and thats what insurance companies have done and i welcome that
it wasnt to long ago the older motorist was moaning about paying for this , now the insurance companies have done it some are still moaning !! you carnt have the best of both worlds

forgotmyname

Sometimes its cheaper to add an adult onto the policy and sometimes it wont be.

All you can do is see if its the postcode or the car making it worse than it needs to be.

Get quotes on a 15 year old corsa and the price could be dearer than insuring a sporty turbo car. Sometimes a newer car can be cheaper to insure.

Comprehensive is usually cheaper then 3rd party these days. So if your thinking 3rd party you will never claim yourself then go for full comp with the highest excess you can. £1000+

You need to play with the options, Sometimes it doesnt make sense.

BUT.. I like my BUTS...

Keep tinkering with quotes with the real details and the premium may start to increase. DO quotes on one provider only to test what works and dont use real names or house numbers.

anniecave

HKitten wrote: »

My parents had two cars so when we passed our tests, they put me and my sisters on the smaller car as secondary drivers.

This can be a good idea, as long as the parents are driving the car more than the children. If the son or daughter is just driving the car occasionally, then it's fine, if they are commuting to school/college/work, or taking the car away to university with them, then that would be "fronting", which would be dishonest.

It's a good way for the son or daughter to use the car though, and to build up driving experience, and to be able to drive themselves around as opposed to being taxi'd around by mum and dad. And as long as it's a small car, it should be a lot cheaper than the son or daughter having their own car in addition to the parents' cars and and having the policy in their own name.

bankhater_1965

at that age the make of car really can be irelavant , the insurance companies base it on what damage they are likely to cause to others rather than there own , which is why a little ford ka may cost the same premium as a slighty better powerfull car , alot of insurance companies do not insure such young people on parents insurances as they are aware that the policy holder is not the main driver

SkyMan

Im only in my third year of driving, and for the first year I went as a named driver on my parents policy which cost about £1700 ( only for occasional use). However I wouldn't recommend this, as your son will never get any NCB for himself.

If possible, shop around for the cheapest quote, put the policy in your sons name and put yourself or another experienced driver on as a named driver to bring the price down as much as possible.

It is probably better (if you can afford it) to just bite the bullet and pay the high price for the first year, and as long as he doesn't crash or get any points on his license it should drop down dramatically each year for the next few years as he builds up some NCB.

I've been driving for 3 years, got 2 years NCB, 6 penalty points ( ) and my insurance for an 11 plate corsa is £1081, with both my parents on as named drivers. Very reasonable price for my age (20) and with the points.

Some insurers will give you a major discount if you agree to a GPS tracker being installed in the car, and it mustn't be driven between 11pm and 7am, and they will monitor speed and quality of driving. Very restrictive but it's not bad for your first year or 2 until you can accrue some NCB.

Hope this helps.

mikey72

bankhater_1965 wrote: »

theres nothing ridiculous about it only some young driver are very carefull and insurance companies tie them all to the same brush , young drivers are a far greater risk as we all no , why should my premiums go up to cover it , they are a very high risk so they have to financaily pay for it, and thats what insurance companies have done and i welcome that
it wasnt to long ago the older motorist was moaning about paying for this , now the insurance companies have done it some are still moaning !! you carnt have the best of both worlds

It's already rolling out to older drivers, so expect your premium to rise as well soon, now as insurers realise everyone is ok so long as it's not them, and there's a good reason everyone is happy to keep repeating regardless.

bouncydog1

Have a read of the young drivers thread. However ultimately factors that will affect your son personally are his postcode and occupation.

If he is driving the same vehicle as somebody in a low risk post code (think rural Devon) with a similar occupation, and he lives in central Manchester then he will be quoted a lot more in premium.

Tips: Get quotes on a really not fanciable vehicle for youngsters - volvo, skoda, Chevrolet matiz etc.

Put an older, experienced driver or two on the policy - both must have clean licences, and no accidents, with several years experience.

Try going through a motor broker (not Swintons) and also try insurers that don't advertise on the aggregator sites - Co-op, NFU, Aviva.

Try your own insurers.

See if he could be added to yours or his mum's policy as an occasional driver - insurers may or may not do this depending on the vehicle grouping.

It is tough for youngsters now, but unfortunately rising insurance costs have been driven by the injuries sustained by third parties mown down by Kevs and the outcome is that everyone else in the age group has to pay as statistically they reflect increased risk.

mikey72

I used to think that. Experience again proves differently. Post#3 is good as well. https://forums.moneysavingexpert.com/discussion/3971525

IanHislam

try black box insurance because then young drivers can pay for how they drive, with discounts for better driving. a few places offer this, ingenie is one of the main ones.