car insurance for 17 year old. help!

silvercar

Followed Martin's guide and the cheapest car insurance is coming out at nearly £3,000.

Looking at a 2yr old group 1 car, value about £5-6k. So I feel I need fully comp insurance.

The car hasn't been bought yet, so can someone advise whether it would be cheaper to put the car in my name with son as main driver or to put the car in his name?

Getting really fed up with this. Asked his mates who they used and all bar one are insured as named (not main) drivers on parents insurance!
This will be the third car on the drive so can't really claim to be car sharing when we are not. Have added my name (no accidents in last 5 years) to the policy.

Saw quinn recomended and they quoted 6k!

Any ideas gratefully received.

espresso

As the car has not been bought yet, buy a cheaper car that you can afford to insure legally, so that the 17 year old will build up their own no claims bonus. Fronting here.

chuckles1066

Labman wrote: »

This has come up many times....insuring yourself as the main driver & your son as a named driver (if your son is the main driver) is known as 'fronting'. Insurance companies are well aware of this & in the event of an accident your son & you will find yourself in all sorts of bother...ie the insurance will be null & void.

But they can't prove it, of course.

Which isn't to say you're wrong when you say insurance companies are aware of it........but unless they're monitoring the insured's driving habits 24/7, any attempt by them to wriggle out of paying would lose in Court.

My niece (at age 17) was a named driver on her dad's policy but also bought a shell of a vehicle for £40 which she never drove and didn't have any intention of ever driving. She simply left it in their garage and insured it in her name for third-party cover only.........after five years, she'd paid £470 in insurance premiums but had accumulated 65% no-claims bonus :j

silvercar

Sorry, I really didn't make myself clear. I have no intention of fronting, my annoyance is that all his mates are doing it and therefore he sees nothing wrong with it. I know its not on and wouldn't sleep at night if we did it. I think his thoughts are that if we did it, then we could pay more towards his car.

blondie7

Are you not better off just getting him a cheap car about £600 micra 1.2 and just getting third party fire and theft insurance this you could insure for under £900 and all in his name

silvercar

blondie, I'm already down to a 1 litre, so that it is group 1. TPFT would probably ownly save a couple of hundred. Within the M25 postcode which is making the premiums higher.

chuckles, if I could get 1 year for £470, I would be laughing never mind 5 years.

Any more help.

In particular should I put the car in my name or his?

espresso

silvercar wrote: »

In particular should I put the car in my name or his?

Why would you insure it in your name? Are you the main driver?

G-G_4

have you tried confused.com? they search a few different firms.. I used them the other day, i'm 24 tho, and the best that came up was eCar... they are a new insurance company... anyway, that confused.com searched loads and the cheapest for me with 6yrs No claims was £400 ish TPFT, and up to 2,000 with some others!

Good Luck..

When I was 17 I had a £600 Fiesta and paid £1,100 TPFT to insure it.. what a joke..

flea72

personally i wouldnt buy an inexperienced driver, such an expensive car. you pay £6k for a car, then expect to pay at least £3k to cover the insurance companies possible losses. i would expect to pay £1k for a young driver, even on an old car, that was worth less than the premium.

has he passed his test yet? if not, then you should find that if you insure the car in his name, with you as a named driver, this will bring the premium down. dont wait til he passes his test, as the premium will be higher then, as he no longer needs a responsible adult sitting next to him.

the likelihood is, a young male driver will crash within 1yr of getting behing the wheel. i know i did (on several occasions), and im a well behaved young lady lol.

Buy a car more suited to an inexperienced driver. ie under 1.2, no modificiations, and if possible, something they will be too embarrassed to be seen in, so they only use it when necessary. the less street cred the car has the better, as then he wont be drawn into the silly road games, younger drivers play.

Flea

Badger_Lady

Have you tried doing the quote with a cheaper car? It's not just the fact that you could insure it TPO, it also reduces the insurers' risks because they wouldn't have to pay out £7,000 if he totalled it!

You might find the premium is slashed more than you realise... (or not)

nickmack

chuckles1066 wrote: »

But they can't prove it, of course.

Which isn't to say you're wrong when you say insurance companies are aware of it........but unless they're monitoring the insured's driving habits 24/7, any attempt by them to wriggle out of paying would lose in Court.

It's not discovered in all cases, but insurers are now much better at detecting this type of fraud. It only takes a small slip up when the questions start getting asked and insurers are very good at asking questions.

As for 'wriggling out of paying', the insurer, doesn't necessarily have to prove it, reasonable suspicion is enough to refuse the claim. If you're stupid enough to risk fronting and then knowing what you've done, appeal the decison, you are really playing with fire. The FOS has and will side with the insurer in cases where they provide reasonable grounds for refusing the claim.

Anyway, it's becoming a bit of a false economy as more and more insurers are basing the premium on the age of the youngest driver.

http://www.fairinvestment.co.uk/insurance-news-'Fronting'-on-car-insurance-policies-deemed-'false-economy'-475.html