Car insurance up 25% (due to 1st child?)

miyo360

Hello,

I have just received my car insurance renewal, which is up 25%. Our circumstances are exactly the same as last year, except we now have a 7 month old baby.

When I run an online comparison, and select 0 children, the insurance is around the same I paid last year. If I then change it to 1 child, it bumps up, for all insurance companies.

Anyone know what is the reason behind this? The baby is not a named driver!

Thanks

Jamiesmum

I don't know but I would assume like everything else it's just down to statistics. Maybe accidents with kids in the car are more common than not.

Kids can also be very distracting to a driver as well, especially young babies crying. It's probably lots of things which just add to a higher risk.

rs65

Replacing a car seat in the event of an accident. You didn't have that risk last year.

miyo360

Thanks both for the replies. Makes sense.

Just curious more than anything.

Crazy_Jamie

All potentially good points so far, though the potential cost of a new car seat wouldn't result in a 25% increase in my view. The far bigger risk from a quantum perspective is that if you cause an accident with the child in the car, which is now more likely than it was before (the child being in the car, not necessarily the causing of an accident), the child will be able to bring a personal injury claim against you, which on any reading is likely to be higher than the cost of a new car seat.

gemnomnom

25% increase is steep - you could go with an insurer who does not use this as a rating factor (not sure if I can name them on this board?)

System

So we now know the purpose of those annoying "Baby on board" signs.
They mean "Warning - higher insurance risk".

paddyandstumpy

Clifford_Pope wrote: »

So we now know the purpose of those annoying "Baby on board" signs.
They mean "Warning - higher insurance risk".

And there was me thinking they were just a tacky fashion item! :rotfl:

mattk_180

paddyandstumpy wrote: »

And there was me thinking they were just a tacky fashion item! :rotfl:

I only found out recently that they are for emergency services to prioritise vehicles that possibly have children inside at the scene of an accident.


Until then, I thought the above that they were just a fad.

teddysmum

More likely a warning to stay well back as the driver is more likely to slam on the brakes while yelling, 'For God's sake will you..... ??' (Toddler screaming, arguing, fighting , trying to get out of baby harness).

PersianCatLady

Clifford_Pope wrote: »

So we now know the purpose of those annoying "Baby on board" signs.
They mean "Warning - higher insurance risk".

"Baby On Board" signs are unnecessary and stupid.


A friend of mine who is in the fire service said to me that when they first came out one of his colleagues was badly injured one night when trying to rescue a baby from a smashed up car.


He was only looking for a baby because of the baby on board sign, however the baby in question wasn't even in the car that night.


Now at the scene of an accident they have been told to completely ignore any such signs but he says that whenever he sees one he still checks for a baby even if there is no evidence of one being there.


I wish that people would stop using these stupid signs.