Adding Learner Driver to Insurance

ryan7

I'd like to add the wife who is currently an ongoing learner to my insurance. 
They quoted me an additional £100 a month.

Is it possible to take insurance out with another company or does it need to be an addition to mine? 

caprikid1

"Is it possible to take insurance out with another company or does it need to be an addition to mine? "

Yes lots of companies out there that do policies for learners, I just did it for my son on my Golf GTi cost c£70 a month and I did it for 2 month.

His policy stopped the second he past his test, was not even legal to drive it home.

Ebe_Scrooge

As above, your wife can take out her own leaner driver policy, she doesn't have to be a named driver on your policy.  Usually the cost is not too bad for a leaner since, by definition, they will always be supervised - although there are some insurers who don't "like" insuring learners.

It's when they pass their test and can drive unsupervised that the cost tends to rocket.  And that kind of reinforces the very important point made by caprikid1 above - you must understand that as soon as she passes her test, her learner driver insurance will no longer cover her, she must update the insurance company.

400ixl

It can get very complicated if you insure the same asset twice (e.g. for fire and theft).

There are companies that do on top insurance for learners, where the base cover (fire & theft) stays with the main policy holder and the on top insurance covers the learner driver when they are at the wheel.

https://www.wearemarmalade.co.uk/learner-driver-insurance and https://www.veygo.com/learner-driver-insurance/ are two examples.

Sandtree

ryan7 said:

I'd like to add the wife who is currently an ongoing learner to my insurance. 
They quoted me an additional £100 a month.

Is it possible to take insurance out with another company or does it need to be an addition to mine? 

How old are you both? Who's your broker/insurer?

£100 a month extra is a lot for someone who is presumably not a teenager, adding my wife to our insurance as a learner driver when in mid 30s added under £100 for the year on a 4.7L car.

As others have said, you can buy top-up insurance for learner drivers, certainly for us it was much more expensive but probably won't be for you. It tends to be a bit of a balancing act though as many policies are cheaper per month the longer you commit to but automatically terminate the day they pass their test.

What's the plan after she passes? Learner drivers are relatively cheap to add in comparison to newly qualified drivers and for those there aren't long term top up policies available. It may be your current insurers are ones that just dont like risky business at all or its one of the bottom feeders that charge cheap rates at new business but crazy charges for any mid term amendments (inc cancellations).  
 

Gav1987

I always thought additions were the cheapest way of doing it - some insurers offer day/week/month purchases which might help if you don't want to take out a full year.

ryan7

Sandtree said:

ryan7 said:

I'd like to add the wife who is currently an ongoing learner to my insurance. 
They quoted me an additional £100 a month.

Is it possible to take insurance out with another company or does it need to be an addition to mine? 

How old are you both? Who's your broker/insurer?

£100 a month extra is a lot for someone who is presumably not a teenager, adding my wife to our insurance as a learner driver when in mid 30s added under £100 for the year on a 4.7L car.

As others have said, you can buy top-up insurance for learner drivers, certainly for us it was much more expensive but probably won't be for you. It tends to be a bit of a balancing act though as many policies are cheaper per month the longer you commit to but automatically terminate the day they pass their test.

What's the plan after she passes? Learner drivers are relatively cheap to add in comparison to newly qualified drivers and for those there aren't long term top up policies available. It may be your current insurers are ones that just dont like risky business at all or its one of the bottom feeders that charge cheap rates at new business but crazy charges for any mid term amendments (inc cancellations).  
 

1st central. 
£25 admin fee included. 
Both in mid 30s.
Ive been driving for 15 yrs

Username03725

We paid about £52 for each month we needed it when Son #2 was learning but away at uni for some of the time. The flexibility is v useful - it doesn't need to be a month at a time either, I think we used Veygo and they allowed user-specified time spans, down to hours in a day and up to numerous months.

Herzlos

How often is she going to be using your car to learn? Is her car suitable?

You can rent a dual control car for £15/hour from Arnold Clark, which will include insurance. Other rental options must be available too.

foomanchu

Companies like Veygo insure learners by the hour / day / week (separately to your normal policy) depending on what you need and can work out cheaper for low use. Google 'temporary learner insurance' .