Car Insurance

Simmo38

I am an 85 year old who is taking a proficiency course and test with the Institute of Advanced Motoring. I already consider myself to be a safe driver, but there is always room for improvement. Does the IAM certificate make much of a difference to the cost of insurance ? I would appreciate any advice.

DullGreyGuy

Most insurers dont ask about IAM etc these days, some specialists might but they tend to be looking at the fringes  to start with so often are more expensive than the mass market consumer if you can fit their profile. 

Are you looking to become a better driver or just lower premiums? There are several courses you can take that will make you a much better driver but ultimately of you are over 80 or drive a sports car your premiums simply will be higher. 

Jaybee_16

I passed the IAM test two years ago, purely because from time to time stories appear in social media about forcing those over 70 to take another driving test. This made me wonder if I could pass a driving test so did the IAM thing. 

Pleased I did it and the driving changes I adopted as a result but has it made any difference to my car insurance? Nope.

Some of the comparison sites ask if you have the qualification but whether that makes any difference to the premium I don't know. I doubt it.  My present insurer doesn't ask.

Zbubuman

Based on my experience in the insurance market. Your general motor insurer will not consider this certification, and it won't have any bearing on your premium.  There are a lot of variables, but insurance premiums are mainly based on past data and the probability of you having an accident. Policies would usually start with a base premium and then the variables would add or deduct a percentage from the base premium. for example:

Base premium £100
Driver over 70y old = 5% higher chance of having an accident
Driver lives in a major city = 10% higher chance of having an accident.
Driver has a speeding ticket = 15% higher chance of having accident
Vehicle is kept in garage overnight = 5% lower chance of theft/malicious damage claims
5 years no claims discount = 5% discount on premium. 

So £100 + £5 + £10 + £15 Less £5 = £125 less 5% (£6.25) = £118.75 insurance premium

DullGreyGuy

Zbubuman said:

Based on my experience in the insurance market. Your general motor insurer will not consider this certification, and it won't have any bearing on your premium.  There are a lot of variables, but insurance premiums are mainly based on past data and the probability of you having an accident. Policies would usually start with a base premium and then the variables would add or deduct a percentage from the base premium. for example:

Base premium £100
Driver over 70y old = 5% higher chance of having an accident
Driver lives in a major city = 10% higher chance of having an accident.
Driver has a speeding ticket = 15% higher chance of having accident
Vehicle is kept in garage overnight = 5% lower chance of theft/malicious damage claims
5 years no claims discount = 5% discount on premium. 

So £100 + £5 + £10 + £15 Less £5 = £125 less 5% (£6.25) = £118.75 insurance premium

There several different ways insurers can do it... you're apply simple percentage whereas a former client had compounding factors so your £100 base becomes £105 for a 70yo, £115.50 for a 70yo in a major city and £132.83 for a 70yo in a major city with an SP30 (-v- £130 by your methodology)

It used to be considered more often and it was a rating factor like anything else... in principle you could make a matrix with driving licence saying it has more impact on those that recently got their licence -v- someone with 20 years driving experience but that would depend on the level of correlation that the stats give.