Insuring a learner?

wozzza72

Hi all
My step son is 18 in March and we have bought him a car from savings since he was little. He is still a provisional driver though has passed his theory test. What is the best way to insure this car for him to drive? With all the lockdown etc he probably is many months away from being able to book a test.
My understanding is I will have to have the car firstly in my name and insure it myself with him as a learner? Is this the most cost effective way?

littleboo

When my daughter was learning, she had her own car insured in her name, from an insurer that wouldn't cancel the policy when she passed her test. That meant she started building NCB when she was learning. That was about 6 years ago, not sure if you can still do that but I went through Adrian Flux who are a specialist insurer.

Sandtree

wozzza72 said:

My understanding is I will have to have the car firstly in my name and insure it myself with him as a learner? Is this the most cost effective way?

A learner can own and insurer a car in their own name... traditionally parents would claim their kids car was their own when in reality parents would never drive it and so this is fraud (known as "fronting").

Assuming he is the registered keeper then it will be easier for him to be the policyholder, you can add yourselves as additional drivers in case you need to take over driving responsibilities which will normally reduce prices. Its a toss up between getting a normal policy and just do a mid term amendment when he passes or get a specialist short term policy and then buy their own policy after they pass. Generally I would go for the former option as they start to earn their own no claims discount but be warned insurance goes UP when he passes and whos cheap for a learner may not be so cheap for a newly qualified driver.

Flight3287462

I insured my daughter in her own car when she turned 17, with Collingwood. 

https://www.collingwood.co.uk/annual-learner-driver-insurance-lp/?keyword=collingwood learner insurance&gclid=CjwKCAiA65iBBhB-EiwAW253WwoFIu3zh1kmf4HYS6xU4IBULBFC8TK-Tu-GDbp3vpt8u5Fm1TtZIBoCBuEQAvD_BwE

Cheapest way to do it I found when they are a learner.  Once they pass that is when it gets expensive.

You will also get a pro rata refund if they pass their test within the year.  You can have one other named driver that is me, her mother is insured toi drive under her own policy (but doesn't really need to).

I think it is best calling them instead of doing it online.

TadleyBaggie

You'll find that insurance for a learner is quite reasonably priced,  but will skyrocket once they have passed their tests.

poppy12345

My daughter was 19 when she was learning and had her first car at the same time. She had the insurance in her own name with me as the named driver so i could drive the car when needed. You should never insure it in your name if you're not the main driver.

Korkyb

Agree with all of above posts:

Both my daughters were insured with Adrian Flux Learner Insurance when they were learning in their own cars.

We could have gone with Collingwood but after a couple of calls to each company Flux came in with the best deal (wee bit of haggling / playing them off against each other).

You can take learner insurance for a full year or part of a year - We did the full 12 months for both girls which worked well because both ended up passing their test during month 11 of the learner insurance and both got a full year of no claims bonus (every little helps).

My youngest passed her test just 3 days before the 1st Covid lockdown kicked in last year (thank goodness!!!).



When it comes to insuring him after he passes don't forget to get multi-car quotes as these can work out significantly cheaper than standalone quotes. (if you have other cars in the family of course).

We have had an Admiral Multicar policy for around 3 years & I reckon that the premiums for the anklebiters have been up to 40% lower than if we had gone for standalone policies. (i.e. Renewal last month for youngest was £610ish for an 18 year old girl in a 1.0 Corsa without a black box).

ejv

Korkyb said:

Agree with all of above posts:

Both my daughters were insured with Adrian Flux Learner Insurance when they were learning in their own cars.

We could have gone with Collingwood but after a couple of calls to each company Flux came in with the best deal (wee bit of haggling / playing them off against each other).

You can take learner insurance for a full year or part of a year - We did the full 12 months for both girls which worked well because both ended up passing their test during month 11 of the learner insurance and both got a full year of no claims bonus (every little helps).

My youngest passed her test just 3 days before the 1st Covid lockdown kicked in last year (thank goodness!!!).



When it comes to insuring him after he passes don't forget to get multi-car quotes as these can work out significantly cheaper than standalone quotes. (if you have other cars in the family of course).

We have had an Admiral Multicar policy for around 3 years & I reckon that the premiums for the anklebiters have been up to 40% lower than if we had gone for standalone policies. (i.e. Renewal last month for youngest was £610ish for an 18 year old girl in a 1.0 Corsa without a black box).

I'm in a similar situation where my 2 daughters are now learning and taking tests later this year.
I can afford to buy 1 car for them to share.
What's the best way to go?
Buy car in one of their names, insure both in the same car, along with me as named driver?
NCB accrues only for the main driver isn't it? If they keep sharing the car for few years after passing test , how can each of them accrue NCB? Make each of them the main driver alternate year?
Thanks in advance

Sandtree

Alternating the policyholder until they have a car each is probably the fairest way.

Some insurers do offer a named driver no claims discount but that locks you into a small number of insurers to compare quotes from and the ND NCD is typically only recognised by that insurer so you are then fully locked into them for when they get a second vehicle.

jlemaitre

dont forget to get a quote from direct Line. Theyre not on these comparison sites. 90% of the time they beat all other qoutes too.

Sandtree

jlemaitre said:
90% of the time they beat all other qoutes too.

I suspect they'd be much bigger were that the case... plus they do quote on aggregators via their sister brands of Churchill, Privilege etc (not that they all have identical pricing)