Advice for a new driver please!

Savvy_Sue

cheese wrote:

Do you mean that if I put down my lovely "been driving safely for 20 years" mate as a secondary driver, the insurance company will lower my premium?

Maybe. Some do, some don't.

cheese wrote:

Even if she never drives the car?

If they do, they do it even if she never drives the car. Because, you see, you are naming her as a driver because she MIGHT drive your car, and you don't want her to drive unless she is a named driver, because even if she has TP cover from her own insurance, that's no use to you if she writes off your car and it's her fault. Edit: actually in this scenario it's no use to you if she's a named driver unless you've got fully comp cover, but the situation is simpler if she's a named driver rather than driving on her own insurance. And I can't remember if you pretty much automatically get TP cover to drive another car on any insurance policy or only if you have fully comp cover yourself. I am now tying myself in knots so will stop typing and go to bed!

Plus, you never know when it could be useful to have someone else able to drive your car.

cheese wrote:

This sounds too good to be true! will all insurance companies do this?

No. Not all insurance companies do this: some will charge you more for adding another driver. Oh, and remember that if your friend does have an accident then you will have to tell your insurance co. and it will affect next year's premium. Even if she's never driven your car. So then you decide whether or not to keep her on your insurance.

cheese wrote:

How can I judge this when doing a search of quotes?

AFAIK, the only way to judge is to get two quotes: one for you as sole driver, and one for you and your mate. Tedious, but there it is. If you're getting quotes by phone, ask for yourself first, then say "And if I add another driver?" and see what happens. If you're getting quotes on the web, see if you can save the first quote before you alter it to get the second.

cheese wrote:

I'm sorry to sound like a thick person, but this is a totally new area of life for me and one I didn't explore much before I passed my test!

Well why would you? :rotfl: You'd be a strange person if you had fully explored it BEFORE passing your test!

But I hope you've read Martin's articles on car insurance and breakdown services which you'll find in the Orange links on the lh side of your screen! It's all there!

cheese_2

Savvy Sue, I need you to move into my house and talk me through the rest of my life. You make perfect sense in an nonsensical world!

One last thing..
Have you ever heard of Quinn direct? They are coming up with the cheapest quote for me, but I've never heard of them. Any ideas?

maclean2

Hi - Quinn Direct are an Irish company established about ten years ago who now operate in UK as well.They are members of all the usual trade bodies and compensation schemes just in case they go belly up.Obviously they do not have the track record of somebody like Norwich Union or Allianz Cornhill but they have been consistently profitable and I wish I had held some shares in them ! Although for a newer car on which I wanted comprehensive cover I might go for a more established name I would have no qualms about insuring for third party fire and theft with them.

I hope this helps.

Savvy_Sue

cheese wrote:

Savvy Sue, I need you to move into my house and talk me through the rest of my life. You make perfect sense in an nonsensical world!

No, cheese, I need you to move into my house where my pearls of wisdom appear to be cast before swine ... OK, the swine are all under 20, there are a couple of more mature chaps who are more appreciative of my wisdom.

BTW, I'd never heard of Quinns either, but then I wouldn't necessarily expect to have done so, good job maclean is better informed than I.

iceburn

Yes it seem they all do. Like you I am getting a quote for my Ford Fiesta now. And when I called POL to get a quote (with the £25 discount) during the conversation I said see how much it would cost to add my wife. The quote drop by £20! (note for other savers it seem with POL if you have a home insurance it is a pain to get a quote and if you had a discount on that, than to take the £25 voucher you have to lose the discount on the home insurance.!) Called my current insruance company Nationwide and it reduce by £100. Than did a search on confused and it went down from the inital price of £500 of my own to £300 with Norwich Union!! So "DEFINETALY PUT HER ON" It is such a pain that last year my quote with my Daewoo was £900, how much lower it could of been if I added her to it than!. I added my father to it, but it increase the policy. Also the cheapest quote I am getting is a Third Party Fire and theif. Not just Third Party or Comp. If you want to see for yourself, just goto confused and do a search with her on, and other without her on.