Car insurance for young drivers - Clubhouse

Dark Vader pirate

pirate

08/10/2011 at 10:39

bbc news story

Any young drivers here...? or parents of young drivers?

Are insurance premiums, even for basic small cars, really that expensive thesedays..?

(I feel so old now.........!)

If so.. what are the cheapest cars to insure...?

seren nos

pirate

08/10/2011 at 10:48

true.my 17 year old son assed his test..but can't drive around yet as my insurance company want to increase the premiun from £220 to around £2500 for my fabia to put him on............

He's looking to buy a 12 year old corsa and the cheapest quotes for him are around £2500

Mr Puffy

08/10/2011 at 11:29

Yes DV, you'd better start putting a bit aside!

It raises a big question...

In what other field would an institution be allowed to behave like this?

You can smoke 50 a day and drink 10 pints a night but you still get free NHS treatment for your cancers just like the vegetarian teetotaller.

Just because a lad up the road takes his son's car and kills himself and 3 of his mates, why does my son have to pay for it?

Stevie G .

08/10/2011 at 11:38

teenage boys are generally statistically have the highest amount of accidents so simply have to pay the highest premiums. It's just the way it is.

Over time their premiums will naturally drop, dependent on careful driving. Can't say fairer than that really.

I saw my price go down from about £1,000 at 22, to £330 or so aged 29 in the spring for the same (cheap) car off 7years no claim.

Obviously If I'd started at 17, you'd see a much steeper reduction still.,

Edited: 08/10/2011 at 11:40

Emmy H

08/10/2011 at 14:38

When i passed my test it was £1500 to insure a 1.2 vauxhall nova (18 years old) with third party insurance. As i'm over 25 now, it's suddenly gone to £800 for a similar priced car. In Europe, i'm now being charged 1700€ for a peugeot 206 and it's beyond a joke

If i could take public transport - I would in an instant.

M.ister W

08/10/2011 at 15:50

Mr Puffy, it isn't a question of an "institution" being allowed to behave like this. Insurance companies are businesses and owe it to their shareholders to make money. They have no way of working out which 17 year olds drive like idiots and which ones don't. That means they work to an average, and the average 17 year old boy will have lots more accidents than the average 40 year old so they have to charge a lot or they'd lose money.

You should be pleased that they're looking at technology that can separate the good drivers from the bad and it will reduce insurance premiums for sensible drivers, as I assume your son is.

Flat Foo..ted

08/10/2011 at 15:59

Raise the minimum age for driving to 21 or restrict anyone under 25 to a car with an engine no bigger then a 1.2.

If you get caught with no insurance it's 6 points and £200.......so some will take the chance of not getting caught and if they do then it's still cheaper then £2500 insurance.......and with police budgets getting cut ANPR/traffic units will see a reduction in man power/equipment so the chsnces of getting caught are going to be less.

SuperCaz

08/10/2011 at 16:04

The average 17 year old has more expensive accidents than other people. Pensioners (for example) are often not the best drivers once their health starts to go, but they generally have minor accidents that don't involve anyone else, whereas teenagers often hit other people or take out crash barriers that cost a lot of money to replace.

MrsK8

08/10/2011 at 16:28

I got my renewal through the other day with my current insurer & was pleasantly surprised.

Although I have gone from a 1.6 Astra to a smart car in the last few months with all this '40% increase' since I last renewed, I was expecting it to still cost the same to insure the smart as it did the Astra but it was the cheapest it's ever been.

I don't envy teenagers or the parents of teenagers as it is so expensive to insure nowadays but we all know the statistics when it comes to accidents, it's just a shame people are paying for other people's mistakes before they've even had a chance to (potentially) make their own.

cougie

pirate

08/10/2011 at 16:46

Teenagers are really bad drivers. I know I was bad to begin with. Hence the high insurance - they're very risky. You cant argue with the statistics.

popsider

08/10/2011 at 17:38

What about classic car insurance for young drivers - if it's significantly cheaper it might pay to look at something like a Mk2 Cortina or an old mini ?

Out of interest are motorbikes and scooters really expensive for teenagers to insure now too ?

seren nos

pirate

08/10/2011 at 17:54

I new a 20 year old who changed to a van for his work and his insurance dropped like mad.................I welcome the black box techknowledy for young drivers........................maybe it will be made compulsory in a feww years for all drivers

they need to do sometging to deter young drivers without insurance though..............and charging £2000 doesn't encoutrage them...............as I said befreo my son only earns £3 odd an hour and there is no public transport near his work on top of a mountain....................so thats a hell of a lot of hours he has to work for insurance

Madlot

08/10/2011 at 18:02

£2000 for a 17 yr old is cheap! Had a lad in the other week who had had quotes of between £4500 and £8000 on a group 1 insurance car. Insurance has gone up by at least a third this year. Was told the other day that for every £ ins company's take it's costing them £1.20. That's down to professional claimers.

Stevie G .

08/10/2011 at 18:46

There must be something more to the story than that Madlot. No normal 17 year old is going to be charged that much for a group 1 insurance surely.

Did he have a previous conviction or something hugely affecting it?

Madlot

08/10/2011 at 18:49

Nope, just passed his test. It's common now.

Madlot

08/10/2011 at 19:02

Popsider, I was told that if a 16yr old gets insured on a scooter, once he passes his test, he will have no claims and will be cheaper. Again this is only what I've been told but apparently parents have bought scooters for their kids and insured them without the kids knowledge so that it's cheaper in the long run.

I have no idea how much it is for scooters or motor bikes though.

Dark Vader pirate

pirate

08/10/2011 at 19:07

Those insurance premiums are just crazy.....

Madlot

08/10/2011 at 19:09

Price does depend on address too.

Madge.

08/10/2011 at 20:23

I've insured my offspring because I think it's important that they gain driving experience whilst under my care (and supervision)

The cost is pretty prohibitive however.

I'm pondering whether I can justify insuring them this year ...but I do want them to get experience. I don't mind paying for increased risk. I do mind paying for lots of uninsured drivers and people who claim for a whinjury just because they can.

After a car accident last year I was called repeatedly from firms trying to get me to make a claim. It was a year ago and I had another call just recently.

Gertie

08/10/2011 at 21:27

There was a discussion about insurance premiums on 5Live a few months ago. The rep from the insurance companies was asked why the UK premiums were so high. His responce was that the UK had the weakest necks in europe and had the most claims for whiplash.