Young driver insurance - suggestions please

Young driver insurance - suggestions please

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Ranger 6

Original Poster:

7,042 posts

248 months

Sunday 23rd April 2017
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My daughter is just starting her lessons and we're looking for a car. Currently getting quotes for a 1.0 VW Up at £2500 which seems a tad steep.....

Any suggestions for a good insurance company? (already tried the top google results). Don't mind a black box policy.

TIA smile

JamesRR

279 posts

84 months

Sunday 23rd April 2017
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If you are willing to go for a multi car policy with your own and any other cars in the family, Admiral can be quite good for your circumstances.

imahuman118

51 posts

83 months

Sunday 23rd April 2017
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Sounds like you live in london. When it comes to black boxes a lot of companies just aren't great. Some insurance companies have 10pm curfews. Read plenty of reviews before you pull out a policy. I'm with Tesco, they're really good, I used to be with more than smart wheels, they don't bother you just don't speed. Avoid hastings smart miles, don't believe me just look at the reviews.

Also try reducing polity miles to however much you need (probably 5-6k) and add a few family members that are older than 25 if they have no claims or convictions.

Ranger 6

Original Poster:

7,042 posts

248 months

Monday 24th April 2017
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Thanks - will try Tesco

300bhp/ton

41,030 posts

189 months

Monday 24th April 2017
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Ranger 6 said:
My daughter is just starting her lessons and we're looking for a car. Currently getting quotes for a 1.0 VW Up at £2500 which seems a tad steep.....

Any suggestions for a good insurance company? (already tried the top google results). Don't mind a black box policy.

TIA smile
My experience and I'm sure it hasn't changed, is too look for less likely cars. They are often cheaper.

e.g. might be worth getting quotes on things like a Mondeo or Audi A6 sized things. And I believe the Toyota Celica is also one of those cars which are more insurance friendly for some reason.

On a side note, if she learns to drive a proper sized car from the off, it'll do her well in the future. As the reality is, not everyone stays driving micro city cars, as needs change. Being confident and able to drive a bigger car will be a bonus. Plus making driving smaller cars much easier anyway.

alscar

3,969 posts

212 months

Monday 24th April 2017
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Assuming that's a provisional licence but in her name it seems very expensive given that when she passes her test the annualised premium could go up 300% ?
I would try Admiral but only after using a comparison website first.
Unless the car is kept in the road in London I would guess that circa £1,000 is a more realistic price given she cannot go out on her own.

alscar

3,969 posts

212 months

Monday 24th April 2017
quotequote all
Assuming that's a provisional licence but in her name it seems very expensive given that when she passes her test the annualised premium could go up 300% ?
I would try Admiral but only after using a comparison website first.
Unless the car is kept in the road in London I would guess that circa £1,000 is a more realistic price given she cannot go out on her own.

Ranger 6

Original Poster:

7,042 posts

248 months

Monday 24th April 2017
quotequote all
alscar said:
...I would guess that circa £1,000 is a more realistic price given she cannot go out on her own.
Yup - £453 is the cheapest while she's on a provisional but that jump's to £2500 once she's passed.

No, we're not in London - thankfully!

After much work on the keyboard I've got Direct Line at £806, so that's improving. I just need to check that's for both before and after her test.

HTP99

22,443 posts

139 months

Monday 24th April 2017
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Daughter is with Admiral on her 04 KA, it is black box policy, no curfew 6k pa, she is 18 and passed 2 weeks ago, she pays £900 pa.

We are Surrey, if that helps.

GEFAFWISP

86 posts

90 months

Monday 24th April 2017
quotequote all
300bhp/ton said:
My experience and I'm sure it hasn't changed, is too look for less likely cars. They are often cheaper.

e.g. might be worth getting quotes on things like a Mondeo or Audi A6 sized things. And I believe the Toyota Celica is also one of those cars which are more insurance friendly for some reason.

On a side note, if she learns to drive a proper sized car from the off, it'll do her well in the future. As the reality is, not everyone stays driving micro city cars, as needs change. Being confident and able to drive a bigger car will be a bonus. Plus making driving smaller cars much easier anyway.
Regarding the Celica I would say it depends on what you get - I've been shopping around and for a stock Celica T Sport (190) for me (23 yrs old, 1 year NCD) the best I've found is ~£1700. With my mods declared it goes up to around ~£2200.

In terms of black box insurers I would give Carrot a try, lots of bad reviews but personally I've not had any problems with them - aside from the "technician" who fitted the black box to my '03 Astra claiming that the factory fitted spoiler was an aftermarket modification...

300bhp/ton

41,030 posts

189 months

Tuesday 25th April 2017
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GEFAFWISP said:
Regarding the Celica I would say it depends on what you get - I've been shopping around and for a stock Celica T Sport (190) for me (23 yrs old, 1 year NCD) the best I've found is ~£1700. With my mods declared it goes up to around ~£2200.
I admit I don't have first hand experience on these, just something I've read. I think it was the 140 model more so.

Ranger 6

Original Poster:

7,042 posts

248 months

Tuesday 25th April 2017
quotequote all
HTP99 said:
Daughter is with Admiral on her 04 KA, it is black box policy, no curfew 6k pa, she is 18 and passed 2 weeks ago, she pays £900 pa.

We are Surrey, if that helps.
Thanks - we're not far away and I think the key barrier at this stage is that when I try to get a quote with a full licence her 17th was actually last Monday.....

Armitage.Shanks

2,251 posts

84 months

Tuesday 25th April 2017
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Watch out for 'bonus accelerator' policies which are 10 months but count as a year for NCD. Admiral seem to be all 10 month policies for young drivers so weigh up the full year cost against other annual cover insurers.

My experience is you get stung the first year and then there is a dramatic drop in year 2.


12TS

1,806 posts

209 months

Wednesday 26th April 2017
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Similar boat. We found that adding us as parents on the policy made a big difference.

For our Up, the lowest I was getting was circa 400 quid on a provisional, jumping to about a 1000 quid when he's passed.

The lowest with a provisional licence, weren't the same as the lowest with a full licence, so I'm thinking we could be better off cancelling one policy when he's passed his test and going somewhere else.

I'm also trying to avoid a black box with the provisional licence, they don't all insist on it. That way I can drive the car....

x type

910 posts

189 months

Wednesday 26th April 2017
quotequote all
Armitage.Shanks said:
Watch out for 'bonus accelerator' policies which are 10 months but count as a year for NCD. Admiral seem to be all 10 month policies for young drivers so weigh up the full year cost against other annual cover insurers.
You can use that to your advantage sometimes
Admiral renewal for daughter £950 ish

Same quote with Diamond (part of admiral ) £750 ish

Diamond accept admirals 10 month no claims

Armitage.Shanks

2,251 posts

84 months

Wednesday 26th April 2017
quotequote all
x type said:
Armitage.Shanks said:
Watch out for 'bonus accelerator' policies which are 10 months but count as a year for NCD. Admiral seem to be all 10 month policies for young drivers so weigh up the full year cost against other annual cover insurers.
You can use that to your advantage sometimes
Admiral renewal for daughter £950 ish

Same quote with Diamond (part of admiral ) £750 ish

Diamond accept admirals 10 month no claims
Yep I know that Admiral 10 months = 1yrs NCD to take elsewhere. I'm saying when comparing quotes, Admiral might sound good value against other annual policies but it will be 2 months short.

Re the Black Box for provisional licence. I've never heard of this happening given they cant drive on their own so makes fitting a box pointless. I only bought 3 months provisional insurance for my daughter as I knew she wouldn't be hanging about passing her test.

12TS

1,806 posts

209 months

Thursday 27th April 2017
quotequote all
Armitage.Shanks said:
Yep I know that Admiral 10 months = 1yrs NCD to take elsewhere. I'm saying when comparing quotes, Admiral might sound good value against other annual policies but it will be 2 months short.

Re the Black Box for provisional licence. I've never heard of this happening given they cant drive on their own so makes fitting a box pointless. I only bought 3 months provisional insurance for my daughter as I knew she wouldn't be hanging about passing her test.
How can you buy 3 months cover? Do you just buy a 12 month policy and then cancel? Of the policies I looked at, it was very difficult to find how much money you'd get back.

timberman

1,280 posts

214 months

Thursday 27th April 2017
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my daughter recently passed her test and also has a Vw Up

On our multi car policy with Admiral, fully comp for the year came to £500 ( without a black box fitted) and contrary to what I believed it actually worked out cheaper not to have named drivers on the policy so I just included myself.

It's probably worth ringing them direct so they can try a few different scenarios and hopefully get you a better price.

Ranger 6

Original Poster:

7,042 posts

248 months

Thursday 27th April 2017
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Thanks timber man - I'll try that

Armitage.Shanks

2,251 posts

84 months

Thursday 27th April 2017
quotequote all
12TS said:
How can you buy 3 months cover? Do you just buy a 12 month policy and then cancel? Of the policies I looked at, it was very difficult to find how much money you'd get back.
There are insurance companies that allow you to buy provisional cover in terms of days/months as most learners dont take a year to pass their test. Look here: https://www.collingwoodlearners.co.uk/UK/