Young driver's insurance.

Kwacka_Chris

Just require some tips/advice regarding getting the best car insurance deal for my recently passed, 18yr old son who is a student. I've read items on MSE and have run a few hypothetical quotes through Confused, Go Compare etc, as he hasn't purchased a car as yet, and have been quoted around £3000 mark - scandalous! On MSE it says average prices around £1200 so wondered if anyone out there has any info on getting a better deal. Are telematics (black box) really worth it? I've heard they don't make much of a difference and have curfews and other conditions involved. Look forward to your replies. Thanks.

Horseunderwater

Did you add yourself as a 2nd driver? That can make a huge difference.

Andypandyboy

I have registered to get some help with this.

forgotmyname

All the comparison sites all the brokers and all the companies you missed.

Move to a better area. Add a grandparent. I found adding my daughters nan knocked £200 off. But adding her grandad only knocked a few pounds off.

Adding myself actually increased the premium.

UsernameAlreadyExists

I was getting similar numbers (about £3K) when I was looking at getting my own son on the road a few years back, and this was in a manky 1.1 Clio - nothing special. Didn't bother in the end, it wasn't worth it. I simply cannot justify or rationalise £3K.


I'd initially found a quotes at around £1K and nearly went ahead with it, till I bothered to actually read it and realised that "provisional" insurance was almost acceptable, but would have to be cancelled as soon as he passed, and then the silly numbers kicked in as a full licence holder.


It's plain outrageous, and I can see why kids drive without it.

tberry6686

There is nothing outrageous or scandalous about these prices. The truth is insurance companies do not want new drivers on their books as they are far more likely to have a claim than any other group.

UsernameAlreadyExists

... but it's a legal requirement ... so they put the price skywards and people are still obliged to pay out. Legalised scamming IMHO.
There are various other ways of implementing 3rd party insurance cover.

LandyAndy

Make them wait a year. That made a big difference for my elder son. He passed at 17 and then didn't drive for a year, when we bought him a car at 18 he had a year's 'experience'. So, with MrsLA and me as named drivers his premium was £950 for a Peugeot 307 1.6 petrol. Just had this year's renewal. £794.

Younger son passed last December. Probably be getting him a car next Easter.

tberry6686

UsernameAlreadyExists wrote: »

... but it's a legal requirement ... so they put the price skywards and people are still obliged to pay out. Legalised scamming IMHO.
There are various other ways of implementing 3rd party insurance cover.

Yes it is a legal requirement. But driving a car is not a legal right. Personally I can't think of a fairer system than the one in place, ie the higher the risk the more it costs and statistically new/young drivers are a far higher risk than someone with 5 years driving experience.

flea72

I would say £3k is the going rate for a newly qualified driver. It only comes down to around £1k once they have a years ncb.

Waiting til his age increases wont bring premiums down by any noticeable amout, so you/he just have to lump it, if they are gojng to want/need their own car within the next few years.

You just have to accept that the first year of insurance is going to be extortionate and then hope they dont crash within the first few years, or youll be back to square one

nobbysn*ts

The choice of car makes a great difference. Run dummy quotes with every car you can imagine. Ford Ka, Vauxhall Nova, Mk1 Micra, and a Mk1 Subaru Justy worked out best for us.