17 y/o insurance woes - being fair
Discussion
We have 3 boys in the household, all keen to start driving, which to an extent is necessary due to our location.
With our eldest we supplied him with 12 hours of driving lessons and the test, making it clear if he needed any more lessons after that or failed his test the money would come out his pocket. We had him insured for around 3 months on his provisional licence using my wifes 2004 Honda Accord CDTI.
We have a Rover 400 which used to belong to an elderly relative, so he had use of that car for 1 year after passing. We paid for the insurance (£900 at the time - 2011) plus road tax. The insurance was in his name so helped build NCB.
He then went on to buy a MG ZS in 2012 which was entirely his own money and gave the Rover back. IIRC the insurance was a lot lower for him after building up 1 years NCB.
Plan was to be fair and do exactly the same for son number 2 (17 this month) and 3 (17 in 2 years).
At the weekend we phoned the insurance company to get him on the Rover and it was £3200! We can insure him on the Honda whilst he has a provisional licence, but after that we are stumped.
I'd rather not sell the Honda Accord but if needs must we would consider buying another car which is more insurance friendly. I would have around 5k to spend and look for something fairly modern (08 Kia Ceed for example). It must be large enough for a family of 5 so no VW Lupo's/Peugeot 107s etc I'm afraid. The disadvantage would be that this would continue to be my wifes car, so she would remain the main driver and he would not be able to use it as much as a result - which seems unfair since son no 1 had his very own car for a year. There is also the problem he will not build up NCB as a named driver if IIRC.
The other plan would be to buy something other that the Rover - however its a basic 1.4 and about as insurance friendly as it gets. Are there any other cars which might be more suited? Or perhaps a classic?
Or is there anyother suggestion I am missing? What do others do in this situation?
With our eldest we supplied him with 12 hours of driving lessons and the test, making it clear if he needed any more lessons after that or failed his test the money would come out his pocket. We had him insured for around 3 months on his provisional licence using my wifes 2004 Honda Accord CDTI.
We have a Rover 400 which used to belong to an elderly relative, so he had use of that car for 1 year after passing. We paid for the insurance (£900 at the time - 2011) plus road tax. The insurance was in his name so helped build NCB.
He then went on to buy a MG ZS in 2012 which was entirely his own money and gave the Rover back. IIRC the insurance was a lot lower for him after building up 1 years NCB.
Plan was to be fair and do exactly the same for son number 2 (17 this month) and 3 (17 in 2 years).
At the weekend we phoned the insurance company to get him on the Rover and it was £3200! We can insure him on the Honda whilst he has a provisional licence, but after that we are stumped.
I'd rather not sell the Honda Accord but if needs must we would consider buying another car which is more insurance friendly. I would have around 5k to spend and look for something fairly modern (08 Kia Ceed for example). It must be large enough for a family of 5 so no VW Lupo's/Peugeot 107s etc I'm afraid. The disadvantage would be that this would continue to be my wifes car, so she would remain the main driver and he would not be able to use it as much as a result - which seems unfair since son no 1 had his very own car for a year. There is also the problem he will not build up NCB as a named driver if IIRC.
The other plan would be to buy something other that the Rover - however its a basic 1.4 and about as insurance friendly as it gets. Are there any other cars which might be more suited? Or perhaps a classic?
Or is there anyother suggestion I am missing? What do others do in this situation?
I was getting similar quotes for 1.25 Fiesta once 17yr passes test. On a provisional licence quotes were coming back around £800. In the end have gone to Direct Line, still over £2k but no increase when he passes test and lower excess than most as well. I agree with OP that insurers understandably don't want 17 yr olds driving on their own.
blueg33 said:
...him as main driver and mrsb as named driver.
That's a good point just in case the OP doesn't know. Adding mum or dad often reduces the premium. Also fully comp can be cheaper than 3rd party.We used CIS (Co-op) when our kids were learning and first driving, but that's some years ago now.
I'd be outraged if I was in the OPs position now, but the other side of it is I today renewed my Merc insurance for £163 and that's with business use, protected no claims and £0 excess. I spoke to a colleage in Munich and he's paying €1000 for his Audi Q5. So if you balance yours and your kids insurance off against each other it maybe doesn't seem so bad. Maybe.
Edited by NPI on Wednesday 5th March 23:23
When I was purchasing my first car at 18 the insurance came out at over 3k. Just seems to be the way it is, after a year it went down to £600 so not all bad. A classic mini is probably the cheapest to insure (£600-800) at that age, but I imagine not exactly reliable! I myself purchased a mini as a project for my first car but instead opted for a 1.2 Corsa, altogether to drive for my first year it cost around 4k - not ideal but needs must. Good luck!
Are the stats for young drivers really that bad?
The rates they charge you have to assume that they are pretty much guaranteed a total loss or a very considerable loss in the first year of driving.
I know there are plenty of idiots around but are there really that many to make premiums so high?
The rates they charge you have to assume that they are pretty much guaranteed a total loss or a very considerable loss in the first year of driving.
I know there are plenty of idiots around but are there really that many to make premiums so high?
ktro said:
The other plan would be to buy something other that the Rover - however its a basic 1.4 and about as insurance friendly as it gets.
Is it? It's not a big stretch to think about 17yos getting 400s, slapping ZS chavtat all over them, fibbing to the insurer, then smearing them over a bus-stop full of nuns and kittens. Insurers take a fairly dim view of that.Play with a meerkat, and try various other less "cool" similar cars. Pug 307, mebbe.
Mr Whippy said:
Are the stats for young drivers really that bad?
The rates they charge you have to assume that they are pretty much guaranteed a total loss or a very considerable loss in the first year of driving.
I know there are plenty of idiots around but are there really that many to make premiums so high?
The problem is not that young drivers are worse these days than they used to be, but that the modern compensation rubbish means that even a small, low-speed knock can easily result in a five or even six figure payout for personal injury and/or for a "like-for-like" hire car. A £1000 repair can easily cost the insurance company £10k+. The rates they charge you have to assume that they are pretty much guaranteed a total loss or a very considerable loss in the first year of driving.
I know there are plenty of idiots around but are there really that many to make premiums so high?
OP: If some form of motorised transport is really necessary, how about running a moped until he's 21?
Edited by kambites on Thursday 6th March 09:15
Mr Whippy said:
Are the stats for young drivers really that bad?
The rates they charge you have to assume that they are pretty much guaranteed a total loss or a very considerable loss in the first year of driving.
I know there are plenty of idiots around but are there really that many to make premiums so high?
An interesting question, I'm 19, went to a large (150+ students per year) school, so know (and know of) a huge number of 17+ y/o's who have been driving 1-2 years.The rates they charge you have to assume that they are pretty much guaranteed a total loss or a very considerable loss in the first year of driving.
I know there are plenty of idiots around but are there really that many to make premiums so high?
Of all of them, I only know of one person who had to claim on their insurance in the first year of driving. Makes you wonder
AJordan said:
An interesting question, I'm 19, went to a large (150+ students per year) school, so know (and know of) a huge number of 17+ y/o's who have been driving 1-2 years.
Of all of them, I only know of one person who had to claim on their insurance in the first year of driving. Makes you wonder
That's a meaningless statistic - you don't know how many miles they've driven, where and and what time of day.Of all of them, I only know of one person who had to claim on their insurance in the first year of driving. Makes you wonder
Might be worth having a look here - http://www.parkers.co.uk/cars/insurance/car-insura...
You can select the insurance group and it will list the cars and model within the group which should give you a good starting point.
You can select the insurance group and it will list the cars and model within the group which should give you a good starting point.
Monty Python said:
AJordan said:
An interesting question, I'm 19, went to a large (150+ students per year) school, so know (and know of) a huge number of 17+ y/o's who have been driving 1-2 years.
Of all of them, I only know of one person who had to claim on their insurance in the first year of driving. Makes you wonder
That's a meaningless statistic - you don't know how many miles they've driven, where and and what time of day.Of all of them, I only know of one person who had to claim on their insurance in the first year of driving. Makes you wonder
When I was in 6th form (20 years ago), probably about 1/4 of my peers had a crash within the first year or two of driving. 2 blokes managed to write off 5 cars between them in a year. I can't believe the youth of today are any worse, but we weren't paying silly money for insurance back then. I realise this is no help the OP.
Have you looked at these black box deals?
Have you looked at these black box deals?
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