Car Insurance for Young, Provisional Licence Holders

Grover

Been having murder trying to piggyback insurance for my 17 year old son on my own policy.

I've got a 1.3l Corolla and most of the quotes that I got back were for > £1,000 TPF&T.

Anyway, tried Tesco which was considerably cheaper and then cam across Norwich Union Direct. They managed to give me a quote for £650. That was even cheaper than Tesco's quote even with their £50 money back.

One last thing, I was also able to change the excess from the default £220 to £120 without it affecting the quote price.

flea72

if your son is looking at buying his own car, it will be cheaper for him to get insurance whilst still on his provisional licence, then have you as a named driver on the policy too

because someone on a provisional licence has to have an experienced driver sit next to them, they are classed as less of a risk than a newly qualified driver - so the premiums are lower - also means they can hopefully notch up a years no claims, whilst learning, so then when they do pass their test, and renew their policy the following year the premium should be lower too

Helen_from_yorkshire

My son is 18 (just) and passed his test last summer. To save costs we insured the car in my name, but with him as the main driver - this is insured through CIS, not many companies allow this. Fully comprehensive cost us £800 or so, cant remember exact figure, on V Reg Vauxhall Corsa.

Only problem is son doesn't build up own no claims but thought it would be best if he started to get his own insurance after he's 21 when prices drop anyway. Another thing, car has to be insured in your name, not son's if you want to do it this way, which mine was as it used to be my car.

If need exact details, PM me and I will give you details of excess etc and exact cost of insurance.

Grover

Unfortunately it wasn't cheaper to buy a new car and get him insured on it. The cost was the very similar insurance-wise and it would have meant buying and maintaining another car also.

flea72

but in the long run it should work out cheaper, as he will have built up his own no claims - most peple buy their own car once they pass their test anyway, and then his insurance will cost more than it would if he bought a car now and insured it - i know its swings and roundabouts, but really you are doing yourself and your child no favours by putting him on your insurance, as it means you lose your no claims, should an accident happen, and also means they dont build up their own no claims

most 17yr olds (even if at college) can afford to buy, maintain and insure a car, just from their saturday job wages

as for waiting til they are over 21 to get insurnace in their own name, it will make little difference - a 21yr old with no ncb of their own, will pay roughly the same as a 17yr old newly qualified driver - ages wise its not til you are at least over 25 that it has any affect on premiums, and again no ncb makes a heck of a lot of difference

i recently insured my daughter (on provisional licence) on her own insurance, with me and her grandma as named drivers and her quote came in at £700 FC - if we had waited until she passed her test the premium was nearer £1K, with no additional drivers on the policy - as that price is was worth her spending £500 on buying her own car - espec as its saves the arguments when i need to use my car, and shes already done a flit in it

flea

Helen_from_yorkshire

flea72 wrote:

you are doing yourself and your child no favours by putting him on your insurance, as it means you lose your no claims, should an accident happen, and also means they dont build up their own no claims
flea

The NCB on the car my son drives is different to that on my own policy and if a claim is made on one policy (unless it's me at fault, but I dont really drive it) it will not affect the other. Unfortunately I didn't realise that you could get cheaper insurance by insuring them whilst they still only had a provisional licence, if I had I maybe would have done that. I wasnt aware of MSE then!

flea72

as the policy your son drives on is your policy, but he is the named driver, you still have to declare any accidents on this policy, whether you were driving at the time or not, when you come to the renewal on any insurance you hold (so this will also affect the insurance you hold in your name only)

the wording of any insurance proposal is, have you had any accidents or made any claims in the last .... years - in your case, if you son is driving at the time, you will both have to declare the claim, when you come to renewing - so you will be notifying of a claim, and he will be notifying of an accident - and again with your individual insurance, any claim/accident made under that policy has to be declared for your joint policy

very confusing, but the number of times ive seen parents try and help out their kids by trying to fiddle around with insurnace, and they both come unstuck, with hefty premiums and excess as a result of having to make claims

Helen_from_yorkshire

Yes, I agree I will have to declare an incident to the insurance company if I was the driver at the time and this may affect my other insurance policy. However, if there is only a claim for an incident involving my son, this will not affect my own and separate insurance cover. As I hardly ever drive my son's car this probably won't occur.

abjem21

I was on the phone to Tesco's car insurance yesterday sorting out the renewal on my car insurance and during my conversation with their advisor I asked if Tesco's insure motorcycles.
Interestingly they dont BUT according to the advisor I spoke to Tesco and some other insurers Do allow customers to count no-claims discount earned on a motorcycle against a new car policy.
This is very very significant. Suppose you have a child who will be turning 16 in the near future. You could insure a moped in their name on a third party/fire theft policy for not a lot of money. Then when they turn 17 (so long as no claim has been made obviously) they will qualify for a 30% discount on a car policy. Even if you have no intention of actually letting them loose on a moped, if they dont get to ride it that should ensure the claim free status after all. I'm not sure how you would stand if you just bought a policy and didn't actually have the bike though.
I would advise you to verify this before you go to the expense of buying a moped policy that might not be needed, but the advisor I spoke who is a young driver himself told me that he is busy telling his friends about this.

Helen_from_yorkshire

I assume you would need a registration number to commence the insurance for the moped so unsure how you could insure your son/daughter without them having a moped/motorbile.

Savvy_Sue

Helen_from_yorkshire wrote:

I assume you would need a registration number to commence the insurance for the moped so unsure how you could insure your son/daughter without them having a moped/motorbile.

I am sure you are right. But how cheaply can you pick up a moped these days? For insurance purposes it doesn't have to be taxed, so for some of us it might be worth picking up a moped, insuring it in child's name, and throwing away the key! Oh, remember not to tell Grandma, she'll have heart failure even if you assure her child will never be let loose on said moped!