learner driver the time has come ......:((

[bmw120d]

Hi this may have been covered before…)
My daughters learning to drive …..
What is the cheapest and safest to insure at the tender age of 17 …
Do I buy a £ 500 run around insure as mine and her as a named driver , or do I get a new small safe car ka c1 and the like or will the premiums be to high

[Major Fallout]

bmw120d said:

Do I buy a £ 500 run around insure as mine and her as a named driver

No, its ever so slightly illegal.

When I say slightly I mean very.

[smiffy180]

Never mind deleted post

[bmw120d]

learner .... lol

[Slow]

Get her to learn in a diesel tbh.

Harder to stall it when your first learning.


Learnt in my mk 1 1.8 tdi ford focus.

Was £2700 to insure once i passed my test sadly.

But while i was a learner it was £100 a month on my provisional.

[Liquid Tuna]

Do manufacturers still do insurance deals when you buy a new car?

[Negative Creep]

Liquid Tuna said:

Do manufacturers still do insurance deals when you buy a new car?

Not for 17 year olds

[bmw120d]

most are 18 on new car deals,

why oh why am i getting a smilly face + a big heart on my posts ?? (( green face looking up wards ))

Edited by bmw120d on Tuesday 1st January 18:46

[john2443]

There have been a couple of thread on this recently, I've taken out a separate policy from Collingwood for my daughter on my car - only valid for while she's a learner, £360 for 6 months on a Stilo 1.9 TD, which is a bearable amount, other companies do the same. Google 'provisional insurance' or something like that.

My insurer specialises in old farts low risk drivers so won't add her to my policy and this was the cheapest option. Another problem once she's passed, but we'll cross that bridge when we come to it.

[flibbage0]

Interestingly, if your daughter waits a couple of months after passing, her insurance quotes will more than likely decrease by quite a considerable sum.

Also what you suggested is what I believe to be called fronting. (If she passes and is still a named driver)

Edited by flibbage0 on Tuesday 1st January 18:59

[john2443]

Major Fallout said:

bmw120d said:

Do I buy a £ 500 run around insure as mine and her as a named driver

No, its ever so slightly illegal.

When I say slightly I mean very.

I don't think it's illegal when she's learning, clearly is when she's passed if she's the main user.

[itcaptainslow]

Peugeot 106 diesel is the perfect learner car-cheap as chips to insure and run, mend it with a penknife but not much power to get into trouble. Then when you're done with it, sell it for what you bought it for.

The only problem is that it's your most precious thing in life motoring around in something offering slightly less crash protection than a tissue box.

If I remember correctly there's a scheme for young drivers where they can lease/purchase a car complete with insurance called Young Marmalade or similar, I've no experience of it though so don't take this as an endorsement.

Best advice I can offer is as soon as she passes, get her on the IAM Skill for Life course-this WILL save her having an accident-and here I speak from experience. It's one of the best things I've ever done in my driving career.

[ging84]

Major Fallout said:

No, its ever so slightly illegal.

When I say slightly I mean very.

I'd say you were closer the first time, at worst it's a grey area

when i was 17 (over 10 years ago now), my dad did what the op is proposing, he bought a car to teach me to drive in, we choose it together (i was able to look for the car, he would decide if it was suitable or not) he paid for it upfront, i later paid him back for it (which the op hasn't mentioned in his plan). My dad was insured as the main driver and registered keeper.
My dad and I would have clocked up similar mileages as the driver, as most of the driving would have been me driving to school, where my dad would then drive it home. i would sometimes take it out with him for a long drive on the weekend, but he would also use it for some personal use.
After passing my test there was a couple of months left on the policy, my dad notified the insurance company i had passed my test, but did not alter who was the main driver. In those last 2 months of the policy my dad rarely drove it where as i started to use it by myself for personal use. When the policy ran out the i took out a new policy in my own name and became the registered keeper.
i know it's a little borderline on how legal, certainly if it was a fully comp policy (which is wasn't anyway) with full disclosure they might have tried to refuse or reduce the payout on a personal claim, particularly in the last 2 months, but i'm not convinced at any stage if there had been an accident with a 3rd party claim even with absolute full disclosure to a really sharp insurance assessor they could have successfully voided the policy, refused the 3rd party claim and left me or my dad liable to prosecution, or been able to successfully sue either of us to reclaim money after paying out. And with just a little bit of being economical with the truth it most likely would never have even been an issue.

[chrisispringles]

As someone else has said, use a provisional insurer like Collingwood to insure her to learn in your car. It is by far and away the cheapest way to do it. Once she passes, don't expect the quotes to be pleasant, the recent changes forced on the industry by the EU will mean she is shafted on insurance. Unless you have a couple of grand lying around to insure her afterwards, it will probably be the case that you insure her to learn and, once shes passed, leave it for a year or two for the premiums to become realistic.

[bmw120d]

As an old fart … and as I have old farts car (c180) not the best thing to learn to drive in!!
And thanks to all who replied...
but from what I can gather the newer the car and safer it is the more Insurers look kindly on my pocket , not saying this is going to be a cheap fix by a long way !!
So my thoughts are as is buy a new or newish small safe car and insure it as mine while she passes her test then sell it at a loss but by this time she will be at uni and have no need for a car for 3 years...

[Targarama]

Slow said:

Get her to learn in a diesel tbh.

Harder to stall it.

Er no. Diesels are easier to stall than small petrol engined cars. I think it is something to do with the higher compression ratio but stand to be corrected on that part.

[caiss4]

I went for the cheaper older car. Bought an 02 Ka for £1500, registered to me and I'm the main driver. First daughter learnt and passed in it, second daughter is learning right now. Being conscious of 'fronting' I'm careful to ensure I maintain my status as the main driver so I use it weekly as the station snotter (first daughter now at Uni so rarely uses it).

For insurance Admiral did a good deal the first year under their multi-car policy. I've since gone back to independent policies. Currently paying around £450 for TPF&T with me as main driver, wife, daughter 1 and daughter 2 as named drivers. I wouldn't even dream of buying anything decent. Daughter 1 has played dodgems with it but fortunately not another car (garage downpipe to be precise!)

[Drums]

Another vote for the KA, i've never owned one but quite a few mates did when we were younger, by far the cheapest to insure out of all the cars in our friend group.

[Hammer67]

Little Miss H67, just turned 18 (sorry no pics) has a 2000 Micra 1.0 on a provisional license through Diamond.co.uk at £654 fully comp with myself and Mrs H as named drivers. No black box, no stupid restrictions.

This was taken out in October and with the same details with her having passed her test the premium was about £1200.

I`d imagine our sleepy Kent post code probly helps but I thought that was a bit of a result, the next best price was about £900 IIRC.

[Slow]

Targarama said:

Er no. Diesels are easier to stall than small petrol engined cars. I think it is something to do with the higher compression ratio but stand to be corrected on that part.

If you put a diesel into first and slowly let the clutch out with no accelerator it wont stall.

Not a good thing realy but helps when your first learning.