New driver insurance- it's hair-raising! Any tips?

[duchesse]

18.5 yo DD1 is hoping to pass her test in the next month. She really needs to because we live in the sticks and I'm sick of driving her everywhere. If all goes according to plan she'll be a medical student by next October. Anyway, I've been looking at car insurance and it seems the cheapest possible is 1600 and something pounds.

Has anybody found anything cheaper? Any advice?

[myflabberisgasted]

You can ask for a black box to be fitted and that monitors the drivers speed etc and that can bring the price down a bit!
Apart from that how about 3rd party?

[specialsubject]

3rd party is quite often more expensive.

put yourself on the insurance as a named driver - this is ok, what is fraud is to put the grownup as the main driver when that's not true.

beyond that, she just has to be very careful not to hit anything to build up some no claims. The recent stupid gender equality ruling from the EU means insurance for girls has gone up although it is the boys who have a 1 in 4 of a fatal tree-versus-car.

[AMumInScotland]

If she's getting her own car, then consider getting a multi-car deal - we did that with Amazon, as it was the cheapest way to get DS insured. You can also be listed as an additional driver on her car, that can help. And check the insurance groups of cars when she's looking at them, some are way better than others.

Or, if you're sharing the car, try talking to your own insurer and see what they would charge. It might be better than what the comparison sites offer.

The Cooperative insurance I think have deals with a black box and/or a curfew. And there's one called Young Marmalade that specialise in younger drivers. And do look at individual insurers websites to see if they have any incentives - curfews, agreement not to take young passengers, black boxes, etc. They won't be mentioned on the comparison sites but can make a difference.

[timidviper]

Check lots of companies.
DD has been driving for 6 years and has just changed her car from an old banger to a newer car with the same engine size and a better safety rating, LV insurance who had insured her previous car for a few hundred quoted £2300 for the new one . We used comparison sites and asked a broker, got another company for a few hundred again.

Often the quote is lower if adults are on as extra drivers so, if DD lives with you, the car will be based there and you and/or any other adults might drive it you may find that lowers the quote. DH and I both use DDs car here and there and were surprised to find the quotes went down when we asked about adding us on

[DameEdnasBridesmaid]

Cooperative insurance young drivers Smartbox. The best we found. DS been with them since he passed, on his own policy with me as named driver.

Would highly recommend.

[Musicaltheatremum]

I insure my son and daughter (18 and20) on a Toyota yaris and me on a Saab for about £1000 per year. Because I use the Toyota more than them I am the main driver which helps. Now they are away from home I am going to sell both cars and get a small one for me that they can drive in the holidays. I am with admiral insurance.

[Damnautocorrect]

Make sure they will cover them when they pass. The new insurance 'trick' is to just cancel your learner policy and not offer you new insurance. If that makes any sense!!

[duchesse]

It's quite likely she'll not have her own car for the time being because of being a student from October, so she'll be a named driver on one of our policies. We have one smaller car and the family Ford Galaxy which she doesn't want to drive. The smaller car is a 2008 Vauxhall Astra with a 1.6 l engine which I think means that Marmalade Young Driver won't insure her for as it's a) over 6 years old and b ) has a larger engine size.

I'm really not convinced there's mileage in her having her own car at this point in her life but she is going to be very busy for the next few months working various jobs and studying so maybe it's worth it even if only for 10 months...

[duchesse]

She's on a Marmalade learner policy at the moment btw.

20 yo DS hasn't passed his test yet either and is not really anywhere close. Does anybody know if having two 2 DC as named new drivers on a policy at the same time affects the premiums much? Or is it worth having them both on at the same time?

[CecilyP]

It was a while ago that DS learned to drive and as a teen he was only insured to drive my car, not his own, but we had one policy with Norwich Union where it was cheaper to get car insurance for anyone to drive my car rather than just me and DS. If there is still a policy like this, it would definitely good if you had 2 young DCs driving your car.

[secretscwirrels]

Direct Line all the way.
I was in the same situation a year ago with DS1. He was learning to drive and I wanted to insure him on my car. It was unlikely that he would have his own car and he'll be off to uni in September /October.
I did a lot of research and by far the best deal came from Direct Line. I put him on my car which is a small Suzuki. It cost around £800 the first year and he passed his test part way through the year. I have just renewed for £813. That covers me, DH and DS to drive it. It's massively cheaper than anything else I was quoted. They were offering a further discount for young drivers in their own right or as named drivers if they had a telematics box fitted but only for new customers. Even without that I thought it was a good deal. They also give DS a "notional" NCD.

Now DS2 will be 17 next year so I don't know how that will work.

[Snakeoil]

Added 17 yr old DS onto our policy driving golf vw as "additional driver" total £900 per year. Added DS 2 who is older but still learning and that didn't affect premium it stayed the same (in other words, it's not a bigger risk to have two youngsters driving vs onethey can't drive the car at the same time). HTH

[longingforsomesleep]

That's interesting Secret - we have 3 vehicles insured with Direct Line. DH rang them in the summer to see about putting DS on the policy as a learner and they said no - they would only insure him when he has been driving for a year.

[MrsAMerrick]

We are in a simikar position with ds1, who is currently learning and has a Marmalade learner driver policy. My insurance company has already told me they won't insure him so I will need to find a new insurer once he passes his test. The black box scheme has been suggested but I don't see how it works unless he has his own car. He'll be driving my car occasionally. If the black box is fitted then it will be monitoring my driving rather than his as I imagine he'll be using my car once or twice a week at most. Or am I not understnding how it works?

[secretscwirrels]

MrsAMerrick it's my understanding that black boxes only apply when the young person has their own car. The sceme I mentioned above with DL is the only one I've come across where it's fitted when they are a named driver. Of course it would be monitoring your driving as well then . Mind you, I've discovered that 17 year old learners are the world's worst back seat drivers. " are you sure you are in the right gear mum?"
longingforsomesleep I really don't understand that. I was so impressed with DL, why are they so inconsistent?
One issue about having DC as named drivers is that insurance companies don't believe you. they think you are "fronting". I've been very careful to ensure that DS drives my car far less often than I do. He takes it out probably 2 to 3 times a week. We are very rural so every journey is a car journey.

[mathanxiety]

Ask her to fork over the cost even in dribs and drabs. It can have a great effect on a teen's driving habits to see how much insurance costs.