New driver insurance

jules06

Howdy folks

So i have a son who has recently qualified to drive ( he is 17 and past a week ago), we were wondering what the best way forward would be for him to drive, and when we say best way forward we mean cheapest.
Do we add him onto my car insurance so he can drive mine for a bit or do we encourage him to buy a small car and insure him on that, including me as an additional driver ?
Obvs taking into account what would be the best option in the long run
Appreciate any help as to be honest its all on the confusing side
Mucho gracias
J

forgotmyname

Depends if you want to risk your own no claims bonus?

If he is a named driver he wont be earning his own no claims to take elsewhere. He may get an introductory discount with the same insurer but they may not be the cheapest anyway.

csgohan4

some insurers allow named drivers to accrue No claims but only if they take out a full policy with the same insurer, so if he is a named driver for 3 years with no accidents, and takes out their own policy he will have 3 years NCD on the policy.

Morph4610

Jules, really comes down to how often you think he'll be driving (which I guess you may not know until you see how we gets on with it). Bottom line is it will be much cheaper to add him to your insurance with him being an occasional user (assuming that your insurers will cover him on your car) than him getting his own car and policy. One area of interest may be policies for learners (provisional drivers only). These are cheaper than normal policies and have the benefit of not impacting your insurance. Collingwood is one of these providers.

eddddy

Have you checked with your current insurer whether they'll accept a 17 year old as a named driver? Quite a few won't.

Other's will quote 'silly premiums' because they don't really want young drivers. (As an example, I'm told the Saga call centre warn people that their quotes will be uncompetitive with other insurers, if you want to add young drivers.)

Best plan is to get quotes - they'll all be eye watering.

You might even want to consider changing insurers - the cancellation fee might be insignificant, compared to differences in premium. (But consider implication of not getting a year's NCD).


Don't buy him a car before getting insurance quotes for it. The year's insurance will probably cost more than the car.

mattk_180

Morph4610 wrote: »

One area of interest may be policies for learners (provisional drivers only).

jules06 wrote: »

So i have a son who has recently qualified to drive ( he is 17 and past a week ago)

No use going to a provisional drivers only insurance company.


If he is going to get his own car at some point anyway and/or will be driving a lot, in my opinion it would be better to get him his own car and his own policy. It won't be the cheapest option right now, but there is no use putting off the inevitable and looking long term, it would be better for him to start building his own NCB etc. as soon as possible as he will be paying smaller premiums a lot quicker than if he was to sit on your policy for a few years. Not to mention he can then be a lot more independent.


Yes, as others have said there are insurers that will give him NCB as a named driver, but he is then restricted to insuring his own car with them afterwards and they may not necessarily be anywhere near the most competitive on the market. I've seen some cases where the quote with said company that gives NCB is more expensive than insuring somewhere else with zero.


Just make sure you do as eddddy says if you go down this route and get quotes before you commit to any purchase.