I wonder if anyone has recent experience of insuring a new driver/young person for the first time?
My son is 18 and about to take his 2nd practical driving test (he failed the first one 2 weeks ago), he is due to start work very soon and will need a car to commute the 10 miles each way and - living in rural Gloucestershire ? there is no public transport between work and home.
I?ve run his details through Confused, ComparetheMarket, and so forth and it comes out around £1700 on a group 2 car TPF & T with my wife as a named driver- it?s actually over £2K without her on the policy!.
I?m sure there must be some specialist brokers who can find us something cheaper ? but I don?t know who to contact. Does anyone have any recent experiences?
He?s currently insured as a provisional licence holder on my wife?s Mini One and this adds £750 to her premium of £160 (Post Office) but they are not willing to insure him in his own name and we don?t want to ?front? him.
I expected £800 - £1000 but £1700 seems ridiculous.
I?m also looking around trying to find a cheap, low insurance car .
I?m currently looking for 1.0 Micra, 1.0 Corsa B, Punto 55/60, Fiesta 1.25, Ka 2 1.3. Any other suggestions?
Not many Micra?s for sale around here, the Corsa?s I?ve looked at have all been rough, and the Fiesta?s all seem to have the rattly 1.3 engine, Ka?s (same engine I know) all too expensive.
Thanks
Jacks
Edited by jacks on 10/06/2008 at 12:19
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to late to edit!
re: last paragraph - cheap means less than £1000.
thanks
Jacks
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Consider Pass Plus. The cost of the extra 6 lessons can reduce insurance premiums. The saving can cover the lesson cost.
www.passplus.org.uk/insurers.asp
Also look at Quidco - they offer cashback through a lot of insurance companies. I will be paid £45 from my current insurer if I renew through Quidco, rather than just calling them - in my case thats about 15% of the premium.
www.quidco.com/
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£1700 seems steep, but if you've been through all the comparison sites I'd be surprised if a broker can then take 40% off just like that. My eldest daughter's first year premium was £770 as a provisional in her own name. Second year was about £450, and the third year is about the same, but that's with her younger, provisional sister on the policy.
One car to consider is the Fiat Uno - old I know, but a few still with caring owners. It's a Gp 1 from memory - get the 999 cc, which is a FIRE non-interference engine (ie if cambelt breaks, it doe not wreck engine)
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Maybe consider a classic? It'll be a bit different, much cheaper to insure & bonus he should be able to maintain it himself.
Just a thought...
Alex.
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Location plays a big part in this so I would have thought you being in rural Gloucestershire you'd be better off than when my step-son first got insurance.
Back when he was 18 and wanted TPFT insurance on a FIAT Panda 4x4, it was about £1400 and that was over 3 years ago now. But part of the extra came from being near Stockport I guess. Last insurance still TPFT for a Proton Compact 1.5 with 2 years NCD was down to £560.
After much searching I found a broker for the last two policies who seemed a lot cheaper than the big companies. Policies were actually with HSBC. Downside was not being able to get interest free pay monthly. Broker is called GSI Insurance Services (Southern) Ltd. You could give them a try.
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Maybe consider a classic?
in my experience classic car insurance usually expects you to have another car or it's not so cheap
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I have just gone through this process with my daughter. She is 17 and has a Ford KA2 worth £2800. The best price I could get for her after trying everywhere (and I mean everywhere) was elephant. They operate a 10 month bonus builder and the cost for this was £945 (compared with £1400 with the competitors) but had she been a male I was told the cost would be double! One negative was she paid an additional £200 in interest for paying monthly instead of asking me to lend her the money interest free(ish).
The situation gets worse when she passes her test as the premium is expected to increase by about £400 as she is a greater risk out on her own but in year 3 the premium should be more sensible if she has had not made any claims.
I got the insurance to quote me on the KA with my 28 years claim free motoring and it was only £94 for the year.
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Another way to reduce the premium is to drastically increase the excess figure - then fingers crossed he won't have an accident you need to claim for! He will, I expect, have some minor dings as most young men seem to.
We got a good deal from Admiral for our son on a multicar policy - which meant I had to promise to put my other car onto the policy when it came up for renewal, which was only for three months. After the year he left home so I am not involved in his insurance, laundry or anything - oh happy day!!
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I've just had a look at Direct Line. They allow named drivers on your policy to build up their own NCD to use against their own insurance premium idc.
I'm not suggesting you front your son. But if you buy a car and genuinely use it more than him, he just using it to go to and fro to work, after a time he'll get some practice in, earn some NCD and his own car and insurance may seem a more practical financial proposition.
As deepwith suggests, taking all your cars to one firm might help also.
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>>and will need a car to commute the 10 miles each way and - living in rural Gloucestershire ? there is no public transport between work and home.
10 miles. Hmmm. This might not be very helpful, but . . .
. . . I don't suppose he'd considering cycling? I wouldn't want to do it myself, but if he was that way inclined, it could save an awful lot of money.
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Yup, tough being young as far as insurance is concerned.
Once they are over 21 , things will get better . Step-son got insurance for his Corsa 1.2L at £760 through confused after Pass Plus. Almost as much as we paid for the car.
The quotes you got are the norm I'm afraid- good luck if you can beat them.
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Try Adrian Flux. Good for young drivers.
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"and will need a car to commute the 10 miles each way and - living in rural Gloucestershire ? there is no public transport between work and home"
I cycled to and from work as an 18 y/o for about six months before I joined the Navy. About the same distance, perhaps a tad more, in winter-time. It kept me fit, so much so that I was fitter than almost all the rest of my course-mates.
Given the choice between £1500-£1700 pa and a bike, plus the added costs of driving, I'd choose a push-bike. Assuming he's working for a bit more than the minimum wage, his insurance bill alone will take a good six to eight weeks of working time.
Cars now are very cheap for a reason - they cost loads to run. If cars cost £4,000 and very little to run, and credit was hard to get there'd be far fewer motorists, I'm sure.
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I cycle to work regularly 5 miles each way during spring/summer/autumn, but for 10 miles- what about insuring yr car with direct line with the lad as named driver so he earns n.c.b., and a scooter?
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hi
not looked to far into this , but a young lad at work after his first car mentioned an outfit called young marmalade. which is a combined car purchase and insurance for first time drivers. i had a quick look . a fiat grande punto 1.2 active 3 door 2006/56 plate £6970 for the car and 12 months insurance fully comp for a male 18 years old is £995. with a 35% no claims after first no claim year. with parents included on the insurance at no extra cost. maybe the way to go. a modern car still with warranty.
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Thanks to all BR's who replied - very helpful, and I'll try the companies mentioned.
Unfortunately the cycle option is not on - he's going to be working as a Chef with late nights early starts etc and the route is unlit B roads, sometimes narrow, blind bends, etc - I wouldn't fancy cycling alone at midnight, driving's going to be bad enough for a novice.
He will definately do Pass Plus as I believe this is worthwhile - even if there was no insurance benefit.
I'm buying the car and he will pay the insurance so I will lend him the ins.cash and let him repay each month
Jacks
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I'm afraid being a chef will also load the premium, as with most positions in 'hospitality'.
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Why's that DW?
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Because they're near ready supplies of sarsparilla all day, every day.
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Could be worth trying this tool to shave off a few pounds!
tinyurl.com/4qyc45
Not always possible I know.
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The insurance industry knows that many chefs work late hours in licenced premises. People in the entertainment industry also get loaded for insurance for the same reason.
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As Oldnotbold says, chefs, restaurant managers, pub staff and hoteliers are all seen as high risk. They work long, hard hours and are driving home at strange hours, having often had shifting rotas meaning they are in a state of constant jet lag. Add the temptation of a drink ....
I found chefs I employed either partied hard into the early hours and drank too much or resisted temptation and stuck to good wines/beers occasionally with their food. A good lesson for your son to learn as those who drank too much often found their careers stagnated (soul destroying to start in a 'good' restaurant and end up in a TexMex pub).
My sister was astounded at the premium when she changed from being a personnel and duty manager with a hotel group to being a personnel manager with Waitrose. I did it the other way round and went from being a teacher (v low premiums) to being a hotelier (yikes - and I am the same person) now at home and premiums v low again.
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Something to think about . . .
We went through this with my son about 4 years ago. Ended up with a 5k 1.0 Corsa at just under a year old. It had better NCAP scores than the older model and was CHEAPER to insure than a 3 year old car. For some reason the insurers seem to think that if you pay little for a car you won't drive carefully.
Bear in mind that as a car ages its structure will weaken as well and being a boy he WILL drive like an idiot at times - but not when you are watching.
We (In his name but I paid) used Direct Line as they were the cheapest. Could only drive his car and it was around £1400 for the first year.
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Bear in mind that as a car ages its structure will weaken as well and being a boy he WILL drive like an idiot at times - but not when you are watching.
I remember exiting a mini-roundabout in my old Sierra practising my slow speed powerslides.....with my parents standing at the nearby bus stop in full view.
Grounded for a week. At 18 years old. :-(
Cheers
DP
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I, for some reason, kept a M/O/S/ piece from July 2005 where Norwich Union were offering a black box facility,which relayed data about journeys via satellite,it was fitted in the boot, cost about £200, and allowed for a "Young driver pay as you go plan" and was aimed at 18-21 year olds. Then they were billed monthly with typical rates between £20-25/month -
In the example given a 18 yr old lady from Norfolk,was allowed 100 miles / month Free, then 4p between 100-500 miles, then 2p over 500 miles -but is £1 between 11pm and 6 am, sounds brilliant wish I could do this for my wife who does very few miles.
As my kids are still only 4 & 6, I've no idea why i kept the details, prehaps fate for questions like yours - let us know if it still runs ??
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I believe I have read in the last few days that they are scrapping the system because of low takeup
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Yes, NU announced they are scrapping it after a take-up of under 10,000. Apparently it was no cheaper than other insurers and the penalties for exceeding the set mileage or driving after 11 pm were very high.
What is the point of paying out all that money for your child to drive if they cannot then collect you from late parties and nights out?? I revelled in that first year son had his licence when he did his chauffeur duties in return for the use of the car ;-)
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