Specialist insurance for young drivers, is it a myth??
Discussion
Recently I have been searching and searching for specialised car insurance for young drivers, several well known companies (you all know who) advertise making modified and classic car insurance accessible for young drivers , which I assume means an almost reasonable price?
Last month a mk2 golf 1.4 came my way, I'm 18 with almost a years driving experience under my belt, yet I couldn't get a quote for less than 4 grand from any of these "specialist" insurance companies, a little bit hypocritical I think...
Then in the last week I have found a 1991 polo gt coupe, and it's the same story again, as soon as I tell them it has been lowered, the prices shoot up to way over 4 grand, even with no modifications places like halfords and tesco offer me cheaper insurance.
Can anybody explain why they advertise clearly classic and modified car insurance for young drivers, yet don't actually sell it?
And also does anybody have any advice or a viable way for me to buy and run this polo gt? I can afford everything apart from my ridiculous insurance quotes and it would haunt me if I missed out on what appears to be a bargain
Last month a mk2 golf 1.4 came my way, I'm 18 with almost a years driving experience under my belt, yet I couldn't get a quote for less than 4 grand from any of these "specialist" insurance companies, a little bit hypocritical I think...
Then in the last week I have found a 1991 polo gt coupe, and it's the same story again, as soon as I tell them it has been lowered, the prices shoot up to way over 4 grand, even with no modifications places like halfords and tesco offer me cheaper insurance.
Can anybody explain why they advertise clearly classic and modified car insurance for young drivers, yet don't actually sell it?
And also does anybody have any advice or a viable way for me to buy and run this polo gt? I can afford everything apart from my ridiculous insurance quotes and it would haunt me if I missed out on what appears to be a bargain
'Specialist' doesn't mean cheaper, it generally means more expensive. 'Specialist' is just marketing bulls
t jargon.
As for the 'GT' good luck getting insurance for it at a reasonable cost, insurance is all smoke and mirrors and perception, I went from a 1.6l car to a 3.0l v6 turbo and my insurance cost reduced by 30%.
The words GT in the model of the car probably has more effect on the cost of insurance than any other factor.
t jargon.As for the 'GT' good luck getting insurance for it at a reasonable cost, insurance is all smoke and mirrors and perception, I went from a 1.6l car to a 3.0l v6 turbo and my insurance cost reduced by 30%.
The words GT in the model of the car probably has more effect on the cost of insurance than any other factor.
Edited by Foliage on Tuesday 9th December 13:54
Edited by Foliage on Tuesday 9th December 13:54
Guess you mean a mk3 Golf to have a 1.4 engine as mk2 went from 1.3 small block to 1.6 big block.
The Polo GT is one of my favourite little cars, it's a great little package and in the same insurance group as a 1.3 Golf mk2 but benefits from DIGI fuel injection with 75hp plus a sweet little close ratio gearbox making them far quicker than 1.6/1.8 carb fed mk2s and with a few tweeks only slightly off mk2 Golf GTI 8v performance!
Have you tried Brentacre? I've used them for years to insure all sorts of VWs and find their team actually have extensive knowledge of dealing with modified cars and their owners.
The Polo GT is one of my favourite little cars, it's a great little package and in the same insurance group as a 1.3 Golf mk2 but benefits from DIGI fuel injection with 75hp plus a sweet little close ratio gearbox making them far quicker than 1.6/1.8 carb fed mk2s and with a few tweeks only slightly off mk2 Golf GTI 8v performance!
Have you tried Brentacre? I've used them for years to insure all sorts of VWs and find their team actually have extensive knowledge of dealing with modified cars and their owners.
mikeyr said:
Would it be worth buying the car then returning the suspension to standard? Factor in insurance costs saved vs expense of getting the work done.
I would say yes, but I have room for one car and one car only at the moment, so I would need to rent a garage, I'm on an apprentice wage so this would just about push things out of my budget.aka_kerrly said:
Guess you mean a mk3 Golf to have a 1.4 engine as mk2 went from 1.3 small block to 1.6 big block.
My bad, I meant a 1.3 mk2. And yes I have only heard good things about them, and its 0-60 time is half of my current car for not much more on the insurance (if unmodified)I feel like I will regret not finding a way to buy this car for the rest of my life if I give up, but then again I felt exactly the same about the golf and that pretty much fell to pieces a month or so after I turned it down haha
Are you in a position where your parents can help?
What I mean is the only way we got decent premiums (still excessive imo)for my son was to factor him into a multicar policy, He then still built up his own no claims with no risk to mine but saved about £3k from the figures you are talking about
Are you putting your parents on the quote anyway it reduces the premiums quite a bit?
Hope that helps
What I mean is the only way we got decent premiums (still excessive imo)for my son was to factor him into a multicar policy, He then still built up his own no claims with no risk to mine but saved about £3k from the figures you are talking about
Are you putting your parents on the quote anyway it reduces the premiums quite a bit?
Hope that helps
Foliage said:
'Specialist' doesn't mean cheaper, it generally means more expensive. 'Specialist' is just marketing bullst jargon.
Agreed. When I first bought my elise I made the mistake of going to a well known specialist broker. They were a pain in the arse to deal with (wanted to know the qualification of the person who fitted the optional factory stainless steel exhaust!). They threatened to cancel my insurance on a numberbof occasions while they were waiting for my NCD. When it came to renewal they upped their price by 50% but said they would beat any other quote I could get!!!!t jargon.Edited by Foliage on Tuesday 9th December 13:54
Edited by Foliage on Tuesday 9th December 13:54
I went on one of the comparison sites and got it cheaper than the previous years price. Insurance was bought in seconds, and no hassle from the insurer.
If you're a young man in a car that is modified in any way you're going to get bummed with insurance because the statistical fact is that you're very much more likely to be a cock and cause an accident. I'm not saying every teenager in a modified car drives like a cock but the stats say it's much more likely.
Your best bet is going to be to stick to entirely standard cars until you have a couple of years NCB, and check various makes and models on insurance comparison sites to see which ones are cheapest to insure. It is amazing that two comparable cars like a 1.4 Golf or a 1.4 W168 Mercedes A class can have an easy £1000 a year difference in insurance costs. OK you might have to drive a wk car for a couple of years, but for £1000 a year I think that's worth putting up with. Also anything you can insure at your age is likely to be a bit wk, so don't kid yourself that a Polo is less wk than a Corsa or anything along those lines 
As suggested I'd get a quote for the car you want un-modified and put it back to standard if you really want it, and in my experience the online comparison sites will do you better than any "specialist".
Your best bet is going to be to stick to entirely standard cars until you have a couple of years NCB, and check various makes and models on insurance comparison sites to see which ones are cheapest to insure. It is amazing that two comparable cars like a 1.4 Golf or a 1.4 W168 Mercedes A class can have an easy £1000 a year difference in insurance costs. OK you might have to drive a w
k car for a couple of years, but for £1000 a year I think that's worth putting up with. Also anything you can insure at your age is likely to be a bit wk, so don't kid yourself that a Polo is less wk than a Corsa or anything along those lines As suggested I'd get a quote for the car you want un-modified and put it back to standard if you really want it, and in my experience the online comparison sites will do you better than any "specialist".
Edited by dme123 on Tuesday 9th December 16:02
Yeah I know that's why its so expensive, that's what makes it so frustrating though.
And I wouldn't say my current car is a piece of st, i drive a Polo now and i would say its a better car in every way than a Corsa, but each to their own haha
That's pretty much my only option if i do get the car, either that or store it for 3 months
And I wouldn't say my current car is a piece of s
t, i drive a Polo now and i would say its a better car in every way than a Corsa, but each to their own hahaThat's pretty much my only option if i do get the car, either that or store it for 3 months
Edited by Kj159 on Tuesday 9th December 16:09
As mentioned, you could look at reducing it my getting your parents onboard with a multicar policy.
In my first year of driving i put myself on my mum's policy. It increased 'her' premium quite a bit, but it was a lot cheaper than getting a policy in my own right. I'm not sure if insurance companies have bcome wise to this, as the caveat is that your mum (or whoever) should be the main user of the vehicle.
In my first year of driving i put myself on my mum's policy. It increased 'her' premium quite a bit, but it was a lot cheaper than getting a policy in my own right. I'm not sure if insurance companies have bcome wise to this, as the caveat is that your mum (or whoever) should be the main user of the vehicle.
Pit Pony said:
As an apprentice are you a student ? My son got at excellent student deal from Ensliegh. Less than £700 for a 1.6 Mk4 astra in London. He's 21.
Forgot about Endsleigh, I was insured with them whilst I was a student. They were the bunch that wanted to charge me the insurance rate for an XR2I because I had a XR2I bodykit on a 1.3 but when i bought a XR2I told me they couldn't quote me...
I'm now 23 nearly 24.
Been driving since 2008 with a "driving without due consideration " (letting the tail slip on ls400 on empty road late at night )
I have an r33 gtst and I pay £1400.
Third party.
Is it modified ? Not as far as insurance goes. I made £160 worth of calls to insurance companies in a week and as soon as I said modified it went up to the £5k mark.
I didn't pay that for the car , the parts on it don't even add to that price.
However I managed I insure my Beamer for under 600, my ls400 for under 500 and current family wagon with myself an missus on it for less than £650.
I was constantly told that until I'm 25 insuring a modified skyline isn't going to happen.
Yet I have a friend with a 400bhp rb25 s13 with everything declared and an agreed value if £12k , only costs him £800 a year to insure. He's 26.
They wonder why so many young drivers don't have insurance ....
Been driving since 2008 with a "driving without due consideration " (letting the tail slip on ls400 on empty road late at night )
I have an r33 gtst and I pay £1400.
Third party.
Is it modified ? Not as far as insurance goes. I made £160 worth of calls to insurance companies in a week and as soon as I said modified it went up to the £5k mark.
I didn't pay that for the car , the parts on it don't even add to that price.
However I managed I insure my Beamer for under 600, my ls400 for under 500 and current family wagon with myself an missus on it for less than £650.
I was constantly told that until I'm 25 insuring a modified skyline isn't going to happen.
Yet I have a friend with a 400bhp rb25 s13 with everything declared and an agreed value if £12k , only costs him £800 a year to insure. He's 26.
They wonder why so many young drivers don't have insurance ....
In past experience whenever I have been pulled over questions normally are..is it your car ? Yes. Is it insured ? Yes . Declared mods ? Yes.
That's fine on your way.
I used to run a corsa with a c20xe, paid the proper road tax , was down on the log book as 2 litre , insurance however only picked it up as a 1.4.
Being 17-18 I was happy with it and never had a problem.
Can't say however that this will happen every time.
That's fine on your way.
I used to run a corsa with a c20xe, paid the proper road tax , was down on the log book as 2 litre , insurance however only picked it up as a 1.4.
Being 17-18 I was happy with it and never had a problem.
Can't say however that this will happen every time.
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