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Car Insurance - young drivers


Weston Super Saint

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Any young drivers on here that have insurance?

 

If so, which company do you use for it, and how much does it cost you?

 

We have a 17 year old, who we bought a car for - 'P' reg volkswagon polo for about £600 - but really struggling to find an insurance quote that is sensible!

 

So far we have a range from £4,200 to £22,000 for one year third party only :scared:

 

We wanted to get him set up on his own insurance policy so he can start earning no claims bonus so it becomes cheaper sooner, but these prices are ridiculous!

 

We've trawled through the usual suspects of comparison websites and that's the best there is it seems, anyone use any specialist companies? Also, is it worth putting him on the Mrs's insurance as a named driver even though the car is registered in his name and he will be the main driver?

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Any young drivers on here that have insurance?

 

If so, which company do you use for it, and how much does it cost you?

 

We have a 17 year old, who we bought a car for - 'P' reg volkswagon polo for about £600 - but really struggling to find an insurance quote that is sensible!

 

So far we have a range from £4,200 to £22,000 for one year third party only :scared:

 

We wanted to get him set up on his own insurance policy so he can start earning no claims bonus so it becomes cheaper sooner, but these prices are ridiculous!

 

We've trawled through the usual suspects of comparison websites and that's the best there is it seems, anyone use any specialist companies? Also, is it worth putting him on the Mrs's insurance as a named driver even though the car is registered in his name and he will be the main driver?

 

If I understand you correctly that's a form of insurance fraud called 'fronting' and is illegal. Obviously I'd know ;)

 

Insurance company would never pay out in a million years if they found out

 

If he's 17 and a bloke then tough, I'm afraid that's how bad it is. If he was a bird it'd be more like £2000

 

My mate's lad got his own policy when he was 21 on a 2000 1 litre Nissan Micra. Cheapest he got was £1200.

 

If he pays £4200 and gets a year's no claims bonus, for the second year I bet he won't be paying much more than 2 grand

Edited by JackFrost
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Have you thought about waiting 10 years and then trying again?

 

Give it another 5 years and when you're 17 you might see things a bit differently when you want to get out there cruising the streets, doing doughnuts and hand-break turns to impress the ladies outside the discotech ! :)

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That is totally mental. 22 grand for a years insurance on a £600 polo, crikey!!!!!!!!!!!!!

 

I doubt I could do that much damage with a £600 Polo if I tried. They must be under the assumption that EVERY 17yo driver will definitely crash and write off someone elses £21,400 car. Nuts.

 

I'm 22 and the cheapest quote I can find has never been with the same company. I didn't start driving until I was 19. Then I got a 700cc Daewoo Matiz insured for about £900. It's tough. When I was 17 I just didn't even bother (other than passing the test). Granted that's not really a solution here.

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Always found that Admiral and Elephant came out cheapest with my 20-year old.

 

Direct Line aren't on comparison websites for the obvious reason - they don't compare very well.

 

What you could do is re-register the car in your wife's name (remember that the registered keeper is not necessarily the owner), take out a policy in her name and add your son as a named driver.

That way it will be considerably cheaper (though still not cheap) - do that for 2 or 3 years then get him his own policy when he's older.

 

It is legal to do that but you'll have to state that your wife will be the main driver, but if the worst happehs the insurance company is not to know are they ;)

 

Just make sure that the car doesn't look like a 17-year old boys car when he prangs it :lol:

Edited by Trader
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It is not easy try these

Top tips - ways to help reduce the premiums for a young driver

 

• Take the Pass Plus course of post driving test lessons. A number of insurers offer premium discounts / accelerated no claim bonus build up if you do.

 

• See if you can increase the level of any voluntary excess on the policy. A larger excess may mean a lower premium but bear in mind that if you may have to pay out if do have a crash. Many insurance companies will add compulsory excess onto younger driver's policies and this could all add up if your voluntary excess is high.

 

• A small number of companies, will offer reduced premiums if young drivers undertake to limit the times of day they use the car - i.e. they do not drive at night. 50 percent of all accidents by young drivers happen at night (from ABI).

 

• Shop around to get the best deal - even for young drivers the premiums will vary. Ring the company direct to discuss your quote and to ask if there are ways you can reduce the premium. It's worth contacting a broker who could access a wider range of insurers (not just the main ones), some of which may offer cheaper insurance for younger drivers.

 

• Find out what insurance bracket your car is in and consider buying a lower powered car in a cheaper insurance brackets

 

• Including an older named driver on a young person's policy may help bring down the cost

 

Also a new type of GPS device might help see

 

http://www.techradar.com/news/world-of-tech/car-tech/gps-to-reduce-young-driver-insurance-by-40--648638

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I doubt I could do that much damage with a £600 Polo if I tried. They must be under the assumption that EVERY 17yo driver will definitely crash and write off someone elses £21,400 car. Nuts.

 

So what about injuries/death caused to the third party? Worth a bit more than 22k now?

 

Not saying its right to charge what they do, but the insurance companies basically have us over a barrel. However as much as you want to argue it 17-21 year olds are in the highest risk bracket for a reason. And in my experience most (not all) of them do drive like complete ****s until they have a nasty 'learning experience' (and oftne continue to do so), and unfortunately that usually means problems for an innocent third party. Its high time the government looked at restricting young drivers to very low powered vehicles, and also introducing more stringent tests. How can it right that you can pass your test without ever having driven on a motorway, and then half an hour later go and drive round the M25?

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That is totally mental. 22 grand for a years insurance on a £600 polo, crikey!!!!!!!!!!!!!

 

They arent concerning themselves about the £600 Polo, especially as its a third party quote. And the costs rack up pretty quickly after an accident where somebody is injured or, God forbid, killed. Young drivers premiums are high for the simple reason that statistically they are that much more likely to be involved in an accident, insurance companies dont usually set out to deliberately price themselves out of any market.

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So what about injuries/death caused to the third party? Worth a bit more than 22k now?

 

Not saying its right to charge what they do, but the insurance companies basically have us over a barrel. However as much as you want to argue it 17-21 year olds are in the highest risk bracket for a reason. And in my experience most (not all) of them do drive like complete ****s until they have a nasty 'learning experience' (and oftne continue to do so), and unfortunately that usually means problems for an innocent third party. Its high time the government looked at restricting young drivers to very low powered vehicles, and also introducing more stringent tests. How can it right that you can pass your test without ever having driven on a motorway, and then half an hour later go and drive round the M25?

 

Well, yes obviously, but how many people do you know who have been involved in a fatal car crash? I know quite a few people my age. Probably several hundred if I ever sat down and counted all of them and I don't know anyone who has been involved in a crash where someone has died. Statistically it's bound to happen one day and I just hope it's not me or someone I'm close to. I've known a few people who have had fender benders and a couple caught drink driving (without actually crashing), but £22k for someone who hasn't actually had a crash is ludicrous.

 

I agree with your point about limiting engine sizes for teens, but in a way that's already the case. Insurance premiums are such that only a Premiership football can afford to run something properly fast.

Edited by Lighthouse
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I'm 19, got an L reg Fiesta 1.1, got insured with Aviva. At the time they were doing that thing were you get a month free, and going fully comprehensive with them was the cheapest deal I could find. I pay about £1300, that was after doing a pass plus course, which knocked about £700 off my insurance. Think having a name driver made it a little bit cheaper too.

 

I went into A-Plan in Eastleigh and they were very good in sorting it for me.

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What you could do is re-register the car in your wife's name (remember that the registered keeper is not necessarily the owner), take out a policy in her name and add your son as a named driver.

That way it will be considerably cheaper (though still not cheap) - do that for 2 or 3 years then get him his own policy when he's older.

 

It is legal to do that but you'll have to state that your wife will be the main driver, but if the worst happehs the insurance company is not to know are they ;)

 

It is only 'legal' to do that if it is her car and she is the main driver. Insurance companies aren't stupid - she'd also have to state how many cars are in the household and if she owns or has use of any other vehicle. Assuming that she has her own car, she'd have to lie a lot. She'd also have to hope they're stupid enough to believe that although she's however old she is and, probably, been driving a much better car for years: that it's pure coincidence that this old cräpheap has just been bought and registered in her name at the same time that her son has just become eligible to drive.

 

Of course, assuming that she's a convincing liar and the insurer is dumb, if/when the son has a prang she'll have to remember the lies she told when she comes to report the claim. She'll also have to hope that the son doesn't have an accident to/from college or work (because as a named driver his use cover would be for social excluding commuting normally, or else he'd be deemed the main driver), that they don't do a simple DVLA check on other household vehicles which would prove she lied and committed fraud, or that they don't employ one of many other tricks to expose the lies and render the policy null and void and leave the son liable for damages and prosecution.

 

I ran a motor insurance brokerage for many years before becoming a claims assessor and owning a motor claims business. If you listen to some of the foolish suggestions on this thread then you do so at your peril. The only way to do it is to register the vehicle in your son's name and hope that he builds up some NCB by not hitting anything. Putting you or your wife on as a named driver may help keep the premium down with some insurers. I've been out of the business too long now to know which insurers are best for young drivers now. I'd suggest he asks his friends or other young drivers who they're insured with for ideas of who to get quotes from; But ignore those who tell you to put it in a parent's name. False and stupid economy to not be indemnified in the event of a claim.

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I passed my driving test when I was 18. Got my 53 plate 1.4l Citroen C2 insured for just over £1300. I think I was lucky as this price was more than 50% cheaper than the next cheapest on money supermarket. Quinn Direct is who i'm with and thats fully comp only £250 excess, breakdown cover, legal cover, windscreen cover etc. When this came up for renewal in September and with 1 years no claims my insurance actually went up about £80 which I was surprised about but Quinn remained the cheapest I could get anywhere.

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The use of statistics can be really frustrating when calculating premiums. Last year I had a bang. It was not my fault, someone slid back down a hill on the ice and hit me as I was stationary at the bottom. We claimed and thje following year my premium went up 60% because even though I still had full no claims and it was not my fault, statistically I am more likely to have another accident - sucks eh!

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They arent concerning themselves about the £600 Polo, especially as its a third party quote. And the costs rack up pretty quickly after an accident where somebody is injured or, God forbid, killed. Young drivers premiums are high for the simple reason that statistically they are that much more likely to be involved in an accident, insurance companies dont usually set out to deliberately price themselves out of any market.

 

Given the way they drive having passed their test, then this fact cannot be in dispute. Most of the bad driving I see on the roads, is caused by yoof tying out for a career in formula 1.

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Admiral, and in particular their sister company Bell, have been very good for me over the last few years. They also use the '10 month accelerator' where you can get a full year of no claim bonus for 10 months of insurance (works out at about £20 extra than the equivalent term on a full year insurance - if you see what I mean).

 

It still reduces my premium by several hundred pounds to add my dad as a named driver.

 

Adding a young person as a named driver is fine while they are learning on another car, but as soon as they have their own it's worth building up that no claims bonus!

As for Pass Plus - well, I did it but believe it's a waste of time and money. Like Jack Frost says, the companies who do accept it are usually well above the best quotes you'll get elsewhere.

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It does annoy me when I hear the boys are punished cost wise worse than the girls who are just as bad speed wise judging by most I see, including my own daughter, although she has calmed down now

 

It's all down to statistics. If young men didn't crash more than young women it wouldn't be like that. I suppose it's mainly because girls are less likely to fit nitro kits to a 1.1 Fiat Punto and thrash them around a council estate.

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The use of statistics can be really frustrating when calculating premiums. Last year I had a bang. It was not my fault, someone slid back down a hill on the ice and hit me as I was stationary at the bottom. We claimed and thje following year my premium went up 60% because even though I still had full no claims and it was not my fault, statistically I am more likely to have another accident - sucks eh!

 

This is what concerns me, that even though you were not at fault you get stung! I was never involved in any accidents when I was younger (I'm now in my mid 30's). I've recently had to claim as someone drove into the side of me, he was 100% at fault and admitted that, but I still can't help thinking that when it's time to renew it will impact my premium!

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I was never an underwriter and I am not going to comment on cost. I have seen plenty of evidence that 17-20 age group for male drivers is a high risk due to accident frequency in that group.

 

I find it hard to accept the high cost of insurance for this age group but the alternative is to smooth it out meaning older low risk drivers will have to pay higher premiums. That is not fair either, is it?

 

It you try to withhold material facts, in particular that the main driver is someone other that the real main driver to try to get cheaper insurance, that is fraud. You will be found out. It may not be until an accident has occurred but that will mean voidance of the Insurance and a possible criminal record, as well as being responsible for any accident costs. As a parent it is not worth ruining a sons future just to try to save money.

 

I was a Personal Injury Compensation Manager until my retirement 7 years ago. I personally handled 135 case workload with a value of £35m. The team country wide handled claims worth £2.2 billion. All personal injury with a minimum value of £125,000 (the local departments handled claims up to that level)

 

That was 7 years ago and will give some idea of why motor costs are so high

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This is what concerns me, that even though you were not at fault you get stung! I was never involved in any accidents when I was younger (I'm now in my mid 30's). I've recently had to claim as someone drove into the side of me, he was 100% at fault and admitted that, but I still can't help thinking that when it's time to renew it will impact my premium!

 

It's well worth considering legal protection for an extra £20 to £25 a year. It will help you to reclaim uninsured losses.

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Obviously young men under 25 are the most likely group to have an accident, but I see as much dangerous driving from 60+ drivers

 

I think there is some argument that most men under 25 couldn't live without a car - therefore the car insurance companies cash in on that!

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Obviously young men under 25 are the most likely group to have an accident, but I see as much dangerous driving from 60+ drivers

 

This is also true. AS bad as some nippers are on the roas, I've yet to hear of one get confused and drive the wrong way own a motorway/dual carriageway. Personally I think they should bring in bi-annual testing for over 60's, rising to yearly for over 70's.

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It does annoy me when I hear the boys are punished cost wise worse than the girls who are just as bad speed wise judging by most I see, including my own daughter, although she has calmed down now

 

The insurance companies will base their pricing structure on facts and risk assessments so statistically young men must cost the insurance industry more than young women.

 

Anecdotal evidence and observation may suggest otherwise but insurance companies will use tangible stats.

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I got bumped off a major insurer for the old 'parent first driver scam'. My car was broken into at my place of work, which caught me out! A nice letter a couple of days later voiding my policy.

 

That said, I would highly reccommend it if insurers will still let you do it.

 

My first quote at 17 (ten odd years ago) was circa £2k for a very low value motor.

 

Whacked me mum in as the first driver and me as the second = £500 p.a

 

Did that for 4/5 years, saved thousands. Eventually bought my own policy at around 21 yrs old, with no no claims = £500 p.a...

 

I got that price for having a clean license which I had maintained for 4/5 years. Not sure what all this no claims nonsense is when your younger, it certainly didnt effect me! The posts above keep saying you need to build them up, whilst other posts are stating that all teenagers will have a crash, either way its unlikely that a teenager will save much buy owning their own premium.

 

I estimate a saving of around £5k on insurance costs. It was legitimate in my opinion, my mum did drive the car occasionally, as did I. Unless you stack it in your work car park, how can an insurer suggest that a named driver was doing anything other than social commuting?

 

I did Pass Plus, and have never recieved a discount from any insurer!

 

It is no surprise to me that so many young people dont bother to get insurance these days (making the situation worse), only the very fortunate could whistle away thousands a year to insure a car that will be instantly written off for a few hundred quid at the first dink.

 

Like the stoodent debt threads, im so glad to have got all this out the way before all this, the cost of these privillages is escalating to the point where a whole generation is going to get absolutely stitched!

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Like the stoodent debt threads, im so glad to have got all this out the way before all this, the cost of these privillages is escalating to the point where a whole generation is going to get absolutely stitched!

 

Whilst I agree to some extent these two situations are different - the need for students to pay for themselves is simply because of numbers wanting to go... simply impossible for the tax payer to cover it all especially since every college and poly is now a Uni and a squillion kids can become stoodents on 'degree' courses in media studies that have no real worth in the real world simply because the previous government thought it a good idea to get 50% of kids into higher education.... the old notion of an academic elite supported by a well educated and grafting workforce was lost in 70s... but the story of the socio-demographic decline of the Thatcher years is another story....

 

... sorry, but the car insurance thing for 17 year olds is simply a result of the trends in the last 20 years beginiing with the joy riders, uninsured tw*ts that dont give a flyin g feck about anyone else - unlike the younger person above, I at 41, have seen 4 fatals of kids I knew the parents of and a story a few years back of a local mother and baby that were killed by a 19 year old doing 85 in a 50 zone ... the 3rd party factor is the thing that is most often overlooked by young kids in their cheap heaps of crap when factoring the insurance costs... the only way they will come down is if collectively these kids change their attitude and start taking the responsibilty seriously... sure this has led to an increase in driving without insurance, but the only way to sort that is heavier and more realistic penalities, not fines of a few £100 quid.... I certainly dont want to pay more to cover the losses incurred by idiots who dont think...who does?

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Just been through this....was over 4k for my 17 year old daughter on a Y reg Clio we were going to get her one.

She is now named as an additional driver on her mums car - she will be going to uni next year and cant have a car there.

Admiral were miles better than anyone else and having multi car policy for mine as well bought it down and paying in one lump saved about £200.

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A major reason why insurance premiums are so high these days is that so many more people claim for "whiplash" when their car's been hit at 2mph than did even 5 years ago.

 

And with regards to insurance companies ripping people off with the high premiums, I doubt that there's an insurer out there at the moment that makes any money on underwriting motor insurance.

 

Blame the compensation culture and the "where there's blame there's a claim" parasites who advertise on daytime telly 24/7!!

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A major reason why insurance premiums are so high these days is that so many more people claim for "whiplash" when their car's been hit at 2mph than did even 5 years ago.

 

And with regards to insurance companies ripping people off with the high premiums, I doubt that there's an insurer out there at the moment that makes any money on underwriting motor insurance.

 

Blame the compensation culture and the "where there's blame there's a claim" parasites who advertise on daytime telly 24/7!!

 

I should have said "private motor insurance", ie the likes of you and me.

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I got bumped off a major insurer for the old 'parent first driver scam'. My car was broken into at my place of work, which caught me out! A nice letter a couple of days later voiding my policy.

 

That said, I would highly reccommend it if insurers will still let you do it.

 

My first quote at 17 (ten odd years ago) was circa £2k for a very low value motor.

 

Whacked me mum in as the first driver and me as the second = £500 p.a

 

Did that for 4/5 years, saved thousands. Eventually bought my own policy at around 21 yrs old, with no no claims = £500 p.a...

 

I got that price for having a clean license which I had maintained for 4/5 years. Not sure what all this no claims nonsense is when your younger, it certainly didnt effect me! The posts above keep saying you need to build them up, whilst other posts are stating that all teenagers will have a crash, either way its unlikely that a teenager will save much buy owning their own premium.

 

I estimate a saving of around £5k on insurance costs. It was legitimate in my opinion, my mum did drive the car occasionally, as did I. Unless you stack it in your work car park, how can an insurer suggest that a named driver was doing anything other than social commuting?

 

I did Pass Plus, and have never recieved a discount from any insurer!

 

It is no surprise to me that so many young people dont bother to get insurance these days (making the situation worse), only the very fortunate could whistle away thousands a year to insure a car that will be instantly written off for a few hundred quid at the first dink.

 

Like the stoodent debt threads, im so glad to have got all this out the way before all this, the cost of these privillages is escalating to the point where a whole generation is going to get absolutely stitched!

 

Well they won't as it is a form of insurance fraud. Most will now report you to the police and you could end up with 6 points on your licence for driving without insurance.

 

It's only last year when the insurance companies really started to crack down on it

Edited by JackFrost
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Well they won't as it is a form of insurance fraud. Most will now report you to the police and you could end up with 6 points on your licence for driving without insurance.

 

It's only last year when the insurance companies really started to crack down on it

 

I wasnt driving with out insurance though detective! My name was on the policy, I was fully covered as a named driver on the policy. There were no conditions on the policy such as driving at night etc.

 

But what did I do wrong?

 

I didnt 'own' the car, it was registered in her name.

 

If I am guilty, then it can only be for doing more miles than estimated when the policy.

 

She owned the car registration, she held the fully comprehensive policy, I was merely a extra driver on the policy... straight forward, legitimate and never questioned *****il the car was broken into at work..!).

 

what was wrong with that? If I were to have had an accident, I would have been fully insured.

 

As you have mentioned, I think insurance companies have started to close this loophole. We were all doing it back then, it was the sensible thing to do.

 

Franks mention of the Third Party issue is very true, and I would argue it is a viscious consequence of the premiums commanded by insurers. Nobody would take basic third party cover by choice!

 

From friends and collegues who have renewed this year, it appears to me that everyone, not just the young drivers, are seeing increases in premiums.

 

A mate who recently got done for using his mobile on the road saw his premiums practically double as a consequence. Be warned!

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