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I've been planning to insure my wife's car (Citroen ZX diesel) for my 18 year old daughter to learn to drive. I've been staggered by the the cost of the insurance quotes for this - £1200 plus! Are there any realistic alternatives?
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Have been through the same exercise with 2 boys (even worse!) in recent years. Co-operative Insurance Society invariably came out easily best but you can still expect to dig deep in pockets.
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Are you buying her a second hand car or new?..nowadays dealship offer new cars with free insurance so you may check that out first...
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Don't do it unless you want a new car anyway and can buy it with cash. The depreciation alone will be worth more than the cost of insurance on your wife's car. Keep the lump sum in the bank, and put the interest payments towards the insurance.
Chris
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Make sure the NCD [no claim discount] carries forward when the deal is up. Some of them don't!
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The free insurance rarely applies to 17 year olds and certainly not to learner drivers...
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For that kind of money, I would imagine that what they are doing is rating the car on her, considering her as a main user.
For this to happen, I would assume that you have two cars in the family. When this is the case, insurers frequently rate the second vehicle on the highest risk.
If this is the case, then you can try two things......
1) Add her for a limited period of time. If you add her for a month or two, it becomes very difficult for the insurer to justify rating the car on her.
2) Ring around for quotes, and be very specific that she will *not* be either the main, or even a substantial user. Also point out that she will only be out in the car with you or your partner.
3) as a last resort, buy the cheapest, most beat up, but narrowly roadworthy car you can. Insure it in her name, third party, even if she isn't going to use it. This should dramatically reduce the insurance cost for you, since virtually all insurers would then accept that she was not the main user of your car and will also allow her to build up NCB, since this is going to be a continual problem until she does.
NB: Even if you do not insure the old car, you will probably find the same result, depending on how the question is phrased on the proposal. Sometimes it says "owns or has the use of any other car" and sometimes it says "has insurance for any other vehicle in her name" - but don't play games by lying or misleading, it isn't worth it in the event something goes wrong.
On the other hand, if she is a main user, then bite on it - its safer. Really safer. A lot safer. So much safer you cannot imagine. More safe than a safe thing on a safe day in a safe mood doing something very safe in a very safe way.
Mark.
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What about classic insurance? Does that apply for a 17-year old? I don't think I have ever been asked my age when insuring my Triumph 2000.
My classic tractor insurance (not entirely relevant here) even says 'anyone over 16', cost £26 pa.
Cliff Pope
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Cliff
Yes, youngsters can be covered under Classic Policies. However, the one we have for the Minor has a much higher premium for under 21's - it would increase from £55 to £200ish I believe.
Still relatively cheap though, but only for 1500 miles/year.
Regards
John
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Paul
I've been there and got the T shirt.
The only answer is to get out the Yellow Pages and make lots of phone calls. We had quotes a couple of years ago for adding our 17year old daughter to a 1.2 Corsa (Group 2 insurance). Quotes ranged from £400 to £1400 (yes £1400). Despite her passing her test and doing Pass Plus the next year was £460 due to premium increases. Adding her to the Policy costs nearly £300 per year over the premium my wife and I would pay. She's now at Uni, and off the insurance. I can't justify keeeping her on it for the holidays.
I checked about short term additions, for the holidays, and had some very different views about costs. Some companies were relatively cheap, but had higher basic basic premiums, the cheaper premiums attracted higher short term rates. I'll just act as a taxi - it's cheaper. If your daughter is learning to drive, then it's difficult to fiddle around with putting her on the insurance for short periods.
Mark (Brazil) makes some valid points. Make sure they are clear she's not the main driver, as that really would push up the premium. I have to say that your premium quote, although high, might well be on the basis she isn't the main driver - depends very much on the insurance group of the car! However, if she is the main driver then admit it, and pay the money. Otherwise, if she does have a claim they will be very keen to check this out.
For what it's worth we got the best deal from Norwich Union Direct, but premiums seem to change with incredible speed, so get on the 'phone.
Regards
John
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