High insurance for older drivers
Discussion
Is it a thing that insurance costs are sky high for older drivers?
Talking to the 84 year old MIL at the weekend about giving up her car she revealed that she was paying over £800 insurance on a 2001 1.6 Astra.
On top of the £360 RFL, those shopping trips are getting expensive.
She is fit and well for her age but admits to being very nervous behind the wheel. A small fault with the car is not helping. Trying to fix it is difficult with me only being around at the weekend due to work.
Talking to the 84 year old MIL at the weekend about giving up her car she revealed that she was paying over £800 insurance on a 2001 1.6 Astra.
On top of the £360 RFL, those shopping trips are getting expensive.
She is fit and well for her age but admits to being very nervous behind the wheel. A small fault with the car is not helping. Trying to fix it is difficult with me only being around at the weekend due to work.
Ultimately for most people, their faculties decline with age until the point where they have to give up driving. In many cases it's an incident which prompts them to hang up their keys, most people are quite naturally keen to preserve their mobility as long as possible.
https://www.theguardian.com/uk-news/2019/jan/17/pr...
given that many drivers in this age group are effectively driving until a collision prompts them to give up, it's perhaps not that surprising that the risks are higher. Couple that with potentially high repair costs for even fairly minor prangs, and inflation driving costs up, it's understandable that it's more costly.
I think risk follows a 'bathtub curve' with age - high for a new driver, declining fairly rapidly with experience, and then rising towards the end of one's driving career.
One of the hopes for autonomous vehicles is that they'll be able to give older people continued mobility without the increasing risk, but we have to get the tech to work first
https://www.theguardian.com/uk-news/2019/jan/17/pr...
given that many drivers in this age group are effectively driving until a collision prompts them to give up, it's perhaps not that surprising that the risks are higher. Couple that with potentially high repair costs for even fairly minor prangs, and inflation driving costs up, it's understandable that it's more costly.
I think risk follows a 'bathtub curve' with age - high for a new driver, declining fairly rapidly with experience, and then rising towards the end of one's driving career.
One of the hopes for autonomous vehicles is that they'll be able to give older people continued mobility without the increasing risk, but we have to get the tech to work first
randomeddy said:
She is of the generation that thinks putting all her details into a comparison search is dangerous.
I do think that’s a ‘just your mum’ thingJust checked the proposal with my mum (80 this week) to make sure everything she had entered to a comparison site and the resultant output was correct.
About £400 for a 1.2 Corsa for 4k per annum although she only does about 2k, inc home start, recovery and legal cover. Doesn’t sound loads but it’s about the same as me on a 997.2
My FILs insurance started going up again when he hit 75 - Mrs D does his admin and shopping about so it's not for lack of trying to get competitive quotes.
The insurance risks are clearly starting to reflect that many pensioners' cars look like they do track days at Angmering Raceway...
The insurance risks are clearly starting to reflect that many pensioners' cars look like they do track days at Angmering Raceway...
I guess commensurate with stats.
Certainly reflex’s become slower.
I made my mother stop driving when she literally became an accident waiting to happen.
She was 80 but obviously different for everyone.
My FiL is 90 and still a very decent driver and hasn’t complained to me about his prices going up too much.
Certainly reflex’s become slower.
I made my mother stop driving when she literally became an accident waiting to happen.
She was 80 but obviously different for everyone.
My FiL is 90 and still a very decent driver and hasn’t complained to me about his prices going up too much.
vikingaero said:
I've noticed that for my parents 74 & 84. It wasn't that long ago that their premiums were £150 and the last few renewals, I've struggled to find anything for less than double that or going with less than reputable Insurers.
Been seeing similar numbers for my mum who turned 80 last year. For the first time ever she now pays a tiny bit more for insurance than I do. alscar said:
I guess commensurate with stats.
Certainly reflex’s become slower.
I made my mother stop driving when she literally became an accident waiting to happen.
She was 80 but obviously different for everyone.
My FiL is 90 and still a very decent driver and hasn’t complained to me about his prices going up too much.
It's just the other end of the scale from young drivers. The big difference is the type of accidents the two groups have. Certainly reflex’s become slower.
I made my mother stop driving when she literally became an accident waiting to happen.
She was 80 but obviously different for everyone.
My FiL is 90 and still a very decent driver and hasn’t complained to me about his prices going up too much.
essayer said:
OH works for DLG and reckons over 80 is when it starts going up significantly.
I think this is probably true. My grandfather had an i10 so a pretty low insurance group but once he hit 80 we struggled to find anywhere that would insure him for less than £500 whereas previous years it was floating around the £150-200 mark. Gassing Station | General Gassing | Top of Page | What's New | My Stuff