Learner Driver Insurance

jackieblack

DD is now 17 and wants to learn to drive. I appreciate that she would benefit from extra practice, between lessons, in the family car.
My car insurance is due for renewal in 10 days time and I have been searching for quotes both with and without DD included.
I have been quoted anything from £600-£6000 (:eek:) to include DD on my policy, but the cheapest quotes are all with companies I have never heard of, or have only heard negative things about and with whom I would not normally ever consider taking my insurance with.
(I usually pay under £200 for myself & DH, but have been quoted £156 this year for a policy without her.)

I have also been looking at learner driver insurance policies which I understand my DD could take out in her own name, on our car. Apparantly the advantage of this is that if there was any claim made, it would not affect my insurance at all. I have seen a quote of about £650 for a year for this (via the AA website). The excess on the policy is lower that it could be for her on my policy.
She hasn't started driving lessons yet and I'm thinking it could take about a year until she is ready for her test? (I'm just guessing)

I don't really know anything about these learner policies, whether they are considered a good or bad way of arranging insurance and whether there are any pitfalls that I'm unaware of.

I'd like to be in a position to make a decision before I renew my own insurance, but I've spent several days at the computer and feel like I'm going around in circles!

Does anyone have any experience they could share please?
Thanks

InsideInsurance

The main issue is that Learner Driver policies only apply whilst she is a learner driver. As soon as she passes her test the policy is no longer valid and their cancellation terms dont tend to be favourable.

If you add her to your policy also be aware that the premiums will go up further when she passes her test (which you have to tell them) and not all insurers that accept learner drivers also accept newly qualified drivers.

The third thing to be aware of if you add ehr to your policy and if she has an accident then there will be a fraud investigation to ensure you werent fronting (ie declaring yourself the main driver when its really your daughter). Obviously this should resolve itself assuming you are being honest but it may slow down any claim.

jackieblack

InsideInsurance wrote: »

The main issue is that Learner Driver policies only apply whilst she is a learner driver. As soon as she passes her test the policy is no longer valid and their cancellation terms dont tend to be favourable.

I'm guessing that it might take her about a year to pass her test (?). there are shorter term policies, but these are more expensive, pro-rata, eg £210 for 3 months.

InsideInsurance wrote: »

If you add her to your policy also be aware that the premiums will go up further when she passes her test (which you have to tell them) and not all insurers that accept learner drivers also accept newly qualified drivers.

Yes, thanks, I understand that, but am thinking that that's a bridge to we'll have to find a way to cross when we get to it.
We purposefully bought a small engined, cheap-to-insure car knowing what problems friends have had getting their offspring insured on their cars.

InsideInsurance wrote: »

The third thing to be aware of if you add ehr to your policy and if she has an accident then there will be a fraud investigation to ensure you werent fronting (ie declaring yourself the main driver when its really your daughter). Obviously this should resolve itself assuming you are being honest but it may slow down any claim.

Yes, thanks, I undestand all about fronting. We only have the one car and we've had it for 3 years. I will genuinely always be the main driver as it is my car.

InsideInsurance

jackieblack wrote: »

I'm guessing that it might take her about a year to pass her test (?). there are shorter term policies, but these are more expensive, pro-rata, eg £210 for 3 months.

A year sounds a fairly long time and I would guess that 6 months is a more normal number assuming one or two hours of lessons every week and a bit of practice in another vehicle.

jackieblack

InsideInsurance wrote: »

A year sounds a fairly long time and I would guess that 6 months is a more normal number assuming one or two hours of lessons every week and a bit of practice in another vehicle.

Oh, thank you, that's very helpful.

bouncydog1

DD learned to drive and passed first time in 8 weeks!! IMO it is really worth getting them a course of lessons and having 2 or 3 a week and driving every day in the family car. It costs less than paying for a lesson every couple of weeks for a year and they are taught properly from day 1. After all those of us who have been driving for years all do things that would probably get a fail, so we shouldn't pass those on to our children when teaching them!

jackieblack

bouncydog1 wrote: »

DD learned to drive and passed first time in 8 weeks!! IMO it is really worth getting them a course of lessons and having 2 or 3 a week and driving every day in the family car. It costs less than paying for a lesson every couple of weeks for a year and they are taught properly from day 1. After all those of us who have been driving for years all do things that would probably get a fail, so we shouldn't pass those on to our children when teaching them!

Thanks, she will be having lessons, 1 or 2 a week if she can fit them in, time-wise. Driving our car will just be for extra practice in between. I have no intention of trying to teach her myself - she feels obliged to argue with everything I say at the best of times!

bouncydog1

Mine does a wonderful impression of me " get away from the wall", "GET AWAY FROM THE WALL" - I'm amazed 4 years later that I actually did it!!!:rotfl:

dibuzz

My youngest 2 have had learner insurance on their brother's car with Provisional Marmalade.
It was about £90 a month for a fully comp policy which runs alongside the main driver's own policy.
If the learner did have an accident the main driver's insurance would not be affected.
This worked well for us as neither of them were getting their own car straight away.

forgotmyname

How long ago did you pass your test or whoever is going to teach them?

Things may have changed and you could be teaching them bad habits that could cost more for an instructor to get them out of.

JoolzS

It's a long time since I learnt to drive, but I know that if my mum had wanted to put me on her insurance so that I could practice in her car, with her as an "instructor", I would have begged her to give me the money it cost for proper driving lessons!