Learner and new driver insurance

[StonedRollin]

My daughter was due to sit her test and pick up a car on Sat but her test has been cancelled so i am now looking at insurance for her as a learner but also keeping in mind that will have to change when she eventually passes her test.

Getting quotes from the usual suspects (annoying opera singer, etc) and i get very different results from who is willing to insure her as a learner and who is willing to insure her when she passes. I'd rather go with a company that we could update the insurance on to keep things simpler rather than take out a new policy with someone else and potentially lose a few months NCB.

Any suggestions or advice or is it just a cross the fingers job?

Thanks

[surveyor_101]

StonedRollin said:

My daughter was due to sit her test and pick up a car on Sat but her test has been cancelled so i am now looking at insurance for her as a learner but also keeping in mind that will have to change when she eventually passes her test.

Getting quotes from the usual suspects (annoying opera singer, etc) and i get very different results from who is willing to insure her as a learner and who is willing to insure her when she passes. I'd rather go with a company that we could update the insurance on to keep things simpler rather than take out a new policy with someone else and potentially lose a few months NCB.

Any suggestions or advice or is it just a cross the fingers job?

Thanks

You might want to get a temp policy as changing between the two status can be very expensive.

As you say as a learner its normally lower and some companies get very expensive with a young new driver.

[alscar]

With our 3 children I found the easiest thing to do was take out a policy in their name as learners and then bite the bullet when they passed their test on the higher additional premium then charged.
It’s all about getting them to the first years NCB which by keeping with the same company as provisional then full means you get that one year irrespective of when they pass.
Each time we went with Admiral and each time no need for Black boxes- adding my wife and I as named drivers put the costs down too.

[Pixel Pusher]

Don't know if you've heard of these people. Seem very flexible.

https://www.wearemarmalade.co.uk/

[StonedRollin]

Thanks all

The wearemarmalade looks like a decent shout so will check that out

[Fas1975]

Check out ticker. Went with them for my son, it is a black box policy but seems to be driven by common sense. First year policy was £1200, for him on a 1.2 polo, we just renewed at £650, again with a black box, but as my son now lives away for Uni, and leaves the car at home, for the handful of weeks he’s home, we thought it was worth it.

[Rough101]

Admiral, it tripled in cost, but no black box and came down rapidly with NCD.

[iDrive]

We went with www.collingwood.co.uk via TopCashback for driving whilst a Learner (£15/£35 cash back made them cheapest

[StonedRollin]

Thanks all

[Chrisgr31]

Pixel Pusher said:

Don't know if you've heard of these people. Seem very flexible.

https://www.wearemarmalade.co.uk/

They insured my daughter whilst she was driving my wife’s car as a learner. They were ridiculously expensive to insure my daughter once she had passed and had her own car.

[Chrisgr31]

Rough101 said:

Admiral, it tripled in cost, but no black box and came down rapidly with NCD.

Why wouldn’t you want a black box for a new qualified young driver?

I do appreciate it’s the thin end of the wedge when it comes to driver monitoring but if it encourages young drivers to drive within the limit whilst they build up experience isn’t it good?

[AndyNetwork]

Chrisgr31 said:

Why wouldn’t you want a black box for a new qualified young driver?

I do appreciate it’s the thin end of the wedge when it comes to driver monitoring but if it encourages young drivers to drive within the limit whilst they build up experience isn’t it good?

Because they often impose very restrictive rules. My daughter has recently past her test, and the black box policies she was looking at would not let her be away from home for more than so many days, which given she stays at her boyfriends house most weekends is not suitable. Also they wanted to restrict her from driving at night, and between 6.30am and 10am then later in the afternoon to avoid rush hour, so made using the car to get to and from work impossible.

Black box policies are fine for those new drivers that want to drive to college at 10am, and are back home by 4pm, and only go to McDonalds in an evening, but if you want to use your car anything else that a normal policy will cover you for, even if it is for an extra premium (commuting etc.), then they are very restrictive.

[TwigtheWonderkid]

Chrisgr31 said:

Why wouldn’t you want a black box for a new qualified young driver?

I do appreciate it’s the thin end of the wedge when it comes to driver monitoring

Is it? They were launched in 1995 by Norwich Union as a niche product for young drivers. 28 years later, they still are, plus some fleets of vans with poor claims experience. It's a very long wedge, because we're still at the thin end.

[TwigtheWonderkid]

AndyNetwork said:

Because they often impose very restrictive rules. My daughter has recently past her test, and the black box policies she was looking at would not let her be away from home for more than so many days, which given she stays at her boyfriends house most weekends is not suitable. Also they wanted to restrict her from driving at night, and between 6.30am and 10am then later in the afternoon to avoid rush hour, so made using the car to get to and from work impossible.

Black box policies are fine for those new drivers that want to drive to college at 10am, and are back home by 4pm, and only go to McDonalds in an evening, but if you want to use your car anything else that a normal policy will cover you for, even if it is for an extra premium (commuting etc.), then they are very restrictive.

Many black box policies do not come with the restrictions you refer to. You just have to choose the right black box policy for the young driver in question.

[Chrisgr31]

TwigtheWonderkid said:

Many black box policies do not come with the restrictions you refer to. You just have to choose the right black box policy for the young driver in question.

Indeed my daughters Black Box just comes with a mileage restriction. But we can buy more miles if we need to.

[mattwh]

Chrisgr31 said:

Why wouldn’t you want a black box for a new qualified young driver?

I do appreciate it’s the thin end of the wedge when it comes to driver monitoring but if it encourages young drivers to drive within the limit whilst they build up experience isn’t it good?

Because when we passed our test black boxes didn't exist and that gave us freedom to drive. My lad passed his test last year and i went for a policy without a black box so he can relax and really learn how to drive without getting emails saying he exceeded the speed limit by 1 mph. I trust him.

[TwigtheWonderkid]

mattwh said:

Chrisgr31 said:

Why wouldn’t you want a black box for a new qualified young driver?

I do appreciate it’s the thin end of the wedge when it comes to driver monitoring but if it encourages young drivers to drive within the limit whilst they build up experience isn’t it good?

Because when we passed our test black boxes didn't exist and that gave us freedom to drive. My lad passed his test last year and i went for a policy without a black box so he can relax and really learn how to drive without getting emails saying he exceeded the speed limit by 1 mph. I trust him.

Young drivers with black box policies make on average 45% fewer claims, and the claims they do have are 40% less expensive, than young drivers without a black box.

As a parent, that's more important to me than some old sentimental claptrap about relaxing and "when we were young".

Why do you think you cannot learn to drive unless you break the speed limit?

[Chrisgr31]

TwigtheWonderkid said:

Young drivers with black box policies make on average 45% fewer claims, and the claims they do have are 40% less expensive, than young drivers without a black box.

As a parent, that's more important to me than some old sentimental claptrap about relaxing and "when we were young".

Why do you think you cannot learn to drive unless you break the speed limit?

Interesting stats. With a Black Box my daughter has made a claim, however my parents were in the car so I know she was being careful. Clashed wing mirrors with someone coming the other way. No damage to her car, Small hole in the wing mirror cover on his (assuming it wasn’t already there). He got a quote for 150 inv VAT to fix it. I said I’d pay half. He responded by submitting an insurance claim. Her insurer has offered to go 50/50 and has already paid half his car hire costs. Be interesting to see how inflated his costs are.

Our cost is of course no NCD, however the black box shows her driving so the impact isn’t create.