New driver - over 30

kris88

I've found quite a lot of useful advice for young drivers but struggled to find anything for older new drivers. I passed my test in April and turned 33 in May, are there any good options for me or do I just need to get my first year out of the way? Any advice would be appreciated.

Thanks

lisyloo

The usual advice still applies.

Shop around.
Try adding another driver.
Consider additional qualifications but check the discounts first (you can easily do a quote with and without the qualification to see the difference).
Try a few direct companies in addition to comparison sites.
Try one or two of the companies that put a black box in your car.
If you are willing to have a kit car, then insurance for those is cheaper.
If your occupation can honestly be described in different ways then try the different descriptions and see if one if cheaper.

We can't recommend specific comapnies because it's all individual, Some are good for different postcodes, some for certain types of car, so what's good for one person is not good for another.

I'm pretty sure there will be an article with all this in on the site in case I've missed things.

Oh and try not to accrue any points.
That's not meant to be a smart comment, but it will cost you on your premiums for 5 years if you get points and it's probably more expensive than the fixed penalty.
If you have difficulty keeping to 30 then try an advanced course, it actually becomes second nature if ou practice and the cost of the cost is dwarfed by the cost of getting points.

bubblebobble

I'm 30 and recently passed - my OH is also a named driver on my policy (i'm the main driver, he only uses the car to share driving long distances really) and my insurance is £500 a year with Admiral. Lower than I was expecting beings i've only been driving days!

Quentin

lisyloo wrote: »

.......If you have difficulty keeping to 30 then try an advanced course, it actually becomes second nature if ou practice and the cost of the cost is dwarfed by the cost of getting points.

The IAM charge between £95 (test only) and £249 to take their course and test. It won't guarantee you won't get points.

And 3 points on your licence is so common these days you normally see little or no increase in premium.

How tiny are the dwarves round your way?

lisyloo

The IAM charge between £95 (test only) and £249 to take their course and test.

Not sure what you are referring to but the "Skills for Life" package is £139 inclusive of book and test on a national basis.
http://www.iam.org.uk/motorist/the-advanced-programme80

I've been an officer of the IAM and I don't recognise those prices you quote at all. Perhaps you could let me know what products you are referring to?
My local group does sponsor genuine hardship cases out of donations and some councils give free or subsidised places.

My local Rospa group charge £73 (£25 joining + £48 test), but there is no national fee, so it does vary across the country.
If you really are on a shoestring but want to do it, then the best bet is to join for £25, get the training but don't pay for the test. That's only £25.

It won't guarantee you won't get points.

I absolutely agree.
Howver many people claim it's very difficult to drive at 30 continually and whilst that might be true initially it certainly isn't difficult once you become accustomed to doing it, so I would say it can definitely help those people who claim they have difficulty in actually keeping to speed limits.

And 3 points on your licence is so common these days you normally see little or no increase in premium.

1) No-one said anything about only 3 :-) Seriously if you are serial speeder then why limit it to 3?
2) Someone on here recently posted £195 rise or thereabouts and that was in year 4. I'm sure you can find the thread if you are interested.
3) It appears to greatly depend on how risky you are. If you are a low risk driver then 3 points won't make much difference. If you are a high risk driver the premium rises are much higher. Some would argue disproportionately so.
4) Bear in mind they affect for 5 years on every vehicle you have. So if you are say on your spouse's car too, then that's 10 premium increases. If you have motorbikes or a van, then it could be 15 or 20 premium increases.

Anyway it was only a suggestion for people who claim they physically have trouble keeping to the limits - personally I think it's a bit of an excuse but nevertheless there is help available if required, for what I think in most cases is likely to be less than the premium increases across the 5 years. That may not be true in absolutely all cases e.g. low risk driver, with one car, but in many cases it will be true and that's just assuming you are only looking at the economic argument and gaining absolutely nothing else from the course (like avoiding an accident).

Anyway it was only a suggestion for those who struggle with it, I didn't want to go on about it :-)

Quentin

lisyloo wrote: »

......I've been an officer of the IAM and I don't recognise those prices you quote at all. Perhaps you could let me know what products you are referring to?...

The IAM charge between £95 (test only) and £249 to take their course and test.

They are the prices quoted on the IAM website for car drivers. Easily "recognisable".

What is the qualification needed to be an "officer"? Do they have ordinary ranks too?

(If you really want to see what difference 3 points makes, do some dummy quotes online with and without 3 points)

ryantcb

Shop around remember that Admiral, Elephant, (another i forget) are the same company under the hood. so they will match those quotes. I use the main comparison sites to get my quotes then go direct to see if i can get cheaper. use about 4 or more comparison sites cos you'll be amazed how the prices can vary. I got a quote of £2300 for Admiral from goCompare then £900 from compareTheMarket again from Admiral. Comparison sites seem to save time more than money.... never forget the independent brokers a quick call and a quote could save u a few quid!
Surprisingly fully comp will be cheaper that 3rd party and parking on the street and not a driveway will lower your premium. My premimum went down by £400 after i started parking on the street. Use the comparison sites to tweak your policy. i.e try different job titles, i think MSE has a little thing you can use to change the name of your job to effect your premium.
You wil be stung for high premiums at first as you lack experience so just grin a bare it.

dont be fooled into taking advance pass courses. The AA do an advance pass plus course and i went to their site for a quote put in I didnt have the pass plus and quote was say £1400. Then I said I did have an AA pass plus and it actually went up to £1700. See you think youll get cheaper insurance because you have it youll always try to use it but be carefull.

lisyloo

The IAM charge between £95 (test only) and £249 to take their course and test.

I deliberately didn't mention any groups in post#2 but would point people in the direction of ROSPA which can be joined from £15-£25. The objective of improved vehicle control can be acheived without taking any test, so no additional costs beyond maybe a few cups of tea and of course fuel.

The normal route that most people do with IAM is £139 which includes the test.
http://www.iam.org.uk/motorist/the-advanced-programme80
There is a fast track version available for £249, so there is indeed a product for this price if you wish to voluntarilty pay more but you don't have to pay anything like that to acheive the objective.

Out of interest why would you want to knock people improving their driving even if they have to pay a little?

What is the qualification needed to be an "officer"?

Same as for any other charity.
With the addition of being a qualified advanced driver/rider and not having loads of points.

Do they have ordinary ranks too?

Yes it's completely standard for charities to be run properly and have trustees and officers, but if you don't want to take those reponsisbilities you can jsut have ordinary memebersip. What does running a charity in accordance with the charities commission have to do with anything?

If you really want to see what difference 3 points makes, do some dummy quotes online with and without 3 points

Agreed, although I was not limiting it to 3 points.
You need to do this for every policy and bear in mind it last for 5 years.
So if you have access to 3 vehicles then you'll get 15 premium increases.
In the absence of anything else I use simple multiplication.
I know it's not accurate, but there isn't really any accurate way to forecast future premium rises.

Quentin

lisyloo wrote: »

Out of interest why would you want to knock people improving their driving even if they have to pay a little?......

Where did I "knock people" for improving their driving? (Rhetorical, as I didn't.)

You posted that the OP could take an "advanced" course to learn how to not get points on his licence for speeding, and went on to say the cost of the course would be "dwarfed" by the premium increase for getting points!

I pointed out how expensive the advanced motorists courses can cost, but you told me that even though you were an officer of the IAM you didn't "recognise" their charges, and asked me what they were for!! I showed you.

Now you seemingly do "recognise" the IAM charges you say you really meant do a ROSPA course, (though apparently they do courses on preventing accidents - not preventing points) all along??