Young driver insurance

Janey1a

How is my son supposed to get car insurance?!

We have been looking at insurance quotes for him for when he passes his test and I can’t believe some of the quotes.
Based on a 2009 Mitsubishi Colt, we had a fully comp quote on Confused.com a few months ago for £3,800.
Today, exactly the same car is now £5,100.
I changed it to Third Party, Fire and Theft and it increased to £5,800!
I don’t understand these quotes. How can TPF&T be more expensive than Fully Comp?

We’re going to speak to Adrian Flux who specialise in Young Drivers but does anyone else have any advice as to how 17 year olds are supposed to get insured please?!

400ixl

Have you done the usual and added parents as named drivers etc?

TPF&T is often more expensive now as the people who take it out are statistically likely to be higher risk takers.

When you took out the original quote, how far into the future was the start date in comparison to the latest quote?

daveyjp

And what 'occupation' is the 17 year old?

The potential payout for a fully comp claim  is minimal.  Even a minor knock will write off a 15 year old Colt.

Janey1a

400ixl said:

Have you done the usual and added parents as named drivers etc?

TPF&T is often more expensive now as the people who take it out are statistically likely to be higher risk takers.

When you took out the original quote, how far into the future was the start date in comparison to the latest quote?

Just added his dad as named driver and increased his excess and it reduced to £3,300.  I put 21 days time for the quote as that’s what MSE recommends.  

Janey1a

daveyjp said:

And what 'occupation' is the 17 year old?

The potential payout for a fully comp claim  is minimal.  Even a minor knock will write off a 15 year old Colt.

He is an apprentice in the motor trade so we can’t get around that unfortunately but we have listed it as social only, not commuting to work as he can cycle to his workplace. 

amanda1024

If you get insurance and add him, does that make a difference? To an extent you might just have to accept that it’s not cost-effective for a 17 year old to have their own car. Once he’s had a year or more of driving experience I’d expect costs to go down

stuhse

Mitsubishi colt comes up as group 10,11 or 12 insurance.  A car that is insurance group 1 will be cheaper. Other options which may help reduce, are limited mileage, black box monitor, curfew.

Kim_13

amanda1024 said:

If you get insurance and add him, does that make a difference? To an extent you might just have to accept that it’s not cost-effective for a 17 year old to have their own car. Once he’s had a year or more of driving experience I’d expect costs to go down

If they start quoting for that on the same car, I’d expect all quotes to go beserk - it’ll look like they’re considering fronting. I realise that isn’t your intent as you mention that they might have to accept that it’s not cost effective for a 17 year old to have their own car. Asking your insurer to add him to your car at renewal is different, you just need to truthfully be able to say you will be the main driver. Once he has a full licence and can give the licence number for verification, prices may go down a little from those displayed now. If it’s already been given, that may be causing a problem - as the details given are that he has a full licence, but they can tell that he doesn’t.

Sitting on the full licence and not driving for a while will also get costs down - they don’t know that the driver has had a break from driving and are asking about the period the licence has been held for and any accidents or convictions.

TooManyPoints

If you get insurance and add him, does that make a difference?

It certainly will.

That's called "fronting". If discovered the repercussions are severe. The policy will be cancelled and that cancellation will have to be declared for life. If it is discovered following a claim, cover will be repudiated leaving the driver to bear the costs. There is also the possibility that the proposer may be prosecuted for fraud.

All in all, not the best idea.  

Janey1a

stuhse said:

Mitsubishi colt comes up as group 10,11 or 12 insurance.  A car that is insurance group 1 will be cheaper. Other options which may help reduce, are limited mileage, black box monitor, curfew.

Yeah, he may well have to compromise on the car he wants.  I don’t think he’ll have a choice on the black box, all quotes are black box policies.  How times have changed since I got my first car.  I appreciate first time drivers are going to have higher insurance but it’s getting ridiculous.  Some kids will need to drive to get to work and they’re making it very difficult for them.  

Janey1a

TooManyPoints said:

If you get insurance and add him, does that make a difference?

It certainly will.

That's called "fronting". If discovered the repercussions are severe. The policy will be cancelled and that cancellation will have to be declared for life. If it is discovered following a claim, cover will be repudiated leaving the driver to bear the costs. There is also the possibility that the proposer may be prosecuted for fraud.

All in all, not the best idea.  

Yeah I wouldn’t do that.  We added his dad as a named driver as he might use the car to get to his work, with my son using it at the weekends.
My son needs his own insurance to start building up no claims discount anyway.