Car insurance for the elderly

[sunburntfizz]

We are looking to buy a second hand card for MIL. She hasn't been driving for about 3 years so doesnt have no claims bonus. The car is very cheap, but functional and in good condition. Getting a good deal hopefully through an acquaintance. However when looking at insurance it just seems so pricey. The insurance is more annually than the price of the car.

We have company cars so I haven't been in the market for car insurance we have to get ourselves for a while. Am I missing some key tricks or sources of where we can get decent basic insurance.

To give an idea of price, we can get the car for about £600 but the cheapest insurance I have found is £760 and that's with quite a high excess. It's comprehensive cover.

Old cars cost more to insure. We had an old micra and it was more than our brand new qashqi

Thanks bruffin. It does seem ridiculous though as car would just get written off.

Just to say that 3rd party is £680.

Its not the value of the car, its the Third Party risk which pushes up the premium for an older driver. How old is she? Some insurers won't accept new policies for over 65 or 70. I would try Saga Insurance.

Why third party?

She is 71. Saga was even more expensive.

I tried looking at 3rd party to see if it was any cheaper - it is about £100 cheaper or so. But still quite a lot. She literally needs the car for getting round to shops, see her friends, us and medical appts. All within fairly close distance so mileage quite low

Cheaper to insure but in the event of an accident is likely to cost much much more then the £100 to go fully comp.

My granny is in her 80's but she has been driving for years, she is with direct line but it's £900 this year.

Have you done quotes just for her to drive? Sometimes its cheaper to include a named driver (even if they won't drive car at all). At 71 though some companies just won't give a new quote. RIAS is another company which tends to favour older drivers.

Have you tried asking an insurance broker? Not all insurance companies are on comparison websites, and they might find you a better deal from somewhere specialising in older drivers for example.

I agree with Babdoc. This is exactly what a broker is for. They sometimes have acess to policies not available online to general public and could advise about ways of accelerating No Claims Discount building with short term policies, etc

Tbh that sounds in the ball park with zero NCD. My policy with max NCD is about £300/year. I'm younger and the car is higher value. I am 54. I'm no expert though!

My Insurance is with NFU who you have to speak to direct rather than online.

I agree that figure sounds not too high given that she has no NCD.
Try putting yourself and maybe someone else as named drivers on the policy. Works for our DD who has lived at a different address from us for 6 years.
Also if you’re using a comparison website experiment with different amount of annual mileage. Lower figures sometimes increase the premiums.

Thank you everybody. Lots of things for me to follow up on. Will go investigate further.