Car insurance, very expensive removal of named second driver

BethBetty

I'm shocked to find out today that to REMOVE a second driver from a person's car insurance increased the price by approx 46%, from £631.00 to over £1000.  This is an elderly but very competent person's insurance.  We put this second driver onto this policy 20 years ago at a cost of approx £35.00.  Upon this year's renewal, trying to reduce the cost asked how much this second driver was costing us, and what reduction we could achieve  by removal.  Advised we have to pay £400 to REMOVE.  The broker was unable to offer an explanation, just that it was the insurer's policy; they had no further details and didn't really understand it.  We have asked them to look into this and advise.  But I'd be pleased to hear whether anyone on the forum has had this issue.  Thank you 

paddyandstumpy

£35 20 years ago would be a lot more now, taking inflation into account.

I presume you aren't with the same insurer 20 years on, as that would most likely not be money saving. 

Assuming you're not; what one insurer did 20 years ago isn't relative to what your current insurer is doing now. 

davidmcn

If it's saving you money, why don't you just leave them on the policy?

TELLIT01

The question is, why removal of an additional driver should increase the premium at all, never mind by £400.  I suspect the OP will advise keeping the named driver on.

Aretnap

Premiums are set by number crunching data, not by underwriters sitting around trying to rationalise why one group of drivers might be more likely to have claims than another. If people who tick Box A tend to make more and bigger claims than people who tick Box B, then people who tick Box A will pay higher premiums. WHY people who tick Box A make more claims might be an interesting thing to think about, but the insurer doesn't need to understand the reason, or to share the reason with you if they do understand.

Of course we can speculate. My own premium went down noticeably when I first added my girlfriend; maybe this was a sign that I was growing up and getting more sensible (and that I was quite likely to have someone with me in the car who would shout at me when I went over the speed limit...). It's quite common for young drivers to find that adding a parent lowers their premium - perhaps teenagers whose parents take an active interest in the car tend to drive more sensibly than those whose parents don't.

Off the top of my head it's not obvious why having a second driver might lower an elderly person's premium but it doesn't really matter - if the insurer thinks that they have data to show that elderly drivers who have additional drivers on their cover are less likely to claim then they're free to price accordingly, and in turn you're free to keep the additional driver on the policy (even if he doesn't drive the car much, or at all), or to find another insurer who charges differently.

rs65

TELLIT01 said:

The question is, why removal of an additional driver should increase the premium at all, never mind by £400.  I suspect the OP will advise keeping the named driver on.

One will be higher risk than the other.  Take the low risk off and you are left with the high risk 

stokesy1966

rs65 said:

TELLIT01 said:

The question is, why removal of an additional driver should increase the premium at all, never mind by £400.  I suspect the OP will advise keeping the named driver on.

One will be higher risk than the other.  Take the low risk off and you are left with the high risk 

This.  The insurance company will make an assumption about what percentage of the driving is done by the elderly driver and what will be done by the younger driver.  It makes no odds to their calculations what that percentage mix is because they won't have asked you that question.  However, as soon as you remove the younger driver the percentage goes up to 100% for the older driver and hence they will see the perceived risk of a payout going up.  In reality, if the older driver doesn't suddenly start driving loads of extra miles each week (miles the younger driver may previously have done with the older person as passenger), the actual risk should fall but the 'computer' probably won't come up with that answer and hence the premium will go up.

BethBetty

Thanks everyone for your ideas and comments, and particularly Stokesy1966 explaining the percentage driving risk factor.  And the fact that I (I am the second driver) hardly ever drive this car at all.  Looks like the computer says "pay"!

Penelopa.Pitstop

Just keep second driver on policy.

vacheron

It seems bizarre, but it has been this way for years.
You can often reduce premiums by adding a second driver, so it is only logical that by removing them, the policy may increase.

I had a situation once where I had a 2.5 tonne 5 litre, 350 horsepower luxury car and 15 years driving experience, 15 years no claims, and paid £400 per year insurance.
My wife had just 1 years experience and drove a 1 litre, 55 horsepower Yaris and paid £600/year. 

However, If I was added to my wife's yaris, her premium went up by something nominal like £10... however the bizarre and utterly illogical thing was that if I added my wife (with 1 years driving experience and a £600 bill to insure a Yaris) to my 5 litre car, my premium went DOWN by almost £120 to just over £280!

The motto is, don't even try to work out how these things are calculated, just exploit it to your advantage as long as you aren't dishonest or break the rules.