How much did it cost to add your 17yo learner driver to your insurance?

[bellyoo]

DS (17) has been having driving lessons, and is ready to start practising in our car. DS called the insurance company and was quoted £500. Not sure yet if this is for a full year or just until the renewal date in March, so will need to check. But in the meantime we're wondering if we should shop around (not sure if that's even possible mid-way through the year). Also curious if the price will go up or down if he passes his test and starts going out alone.

Anyway, please tell me how much you paid to add your 17yo learner to your policy, and let me know if you have any money-saving tips.

We got an extra insurance through marmalade insurance- pay by the month/ 6 months.
About £30 a month ish

I can't remember actual figures, but it was not much. This is because you are with them while they are learning. The big cost is when they pass their test.

The learner driver wasn't too bad. Added to our insurance with only a little rise.

When she passed though.

She passed in July, our insurance was due for renewal in November.
To add her till November was another £700.

We found another insurance company which fitted a black box and charged us £700 for the year, which was a step up from normal, but nothing like as dreadful.

DD bought her own car to practise in - insurance was £300 - she did a quote as if she had already passed and it was £1800 [wow]

Leaner drivers are cheap to add. It's when they pass it's a problem.

My dd is 24, passed when she was 17, has her own car yet if I want her to drive my small car it's still an extra £250, doubling the price.

Ours was £300:with Marmalade. It's going to be almost £1000 when she passes though. If she ever gets a test date!

I think we were told it would be £300 to add Ds as a learner to my little runaround however that will triple when he passes as they are no longer under supervision.

I don't recall what they were as learners but they were about £1K on a first year insurance policy on their own cars. Black box does reduce the cost but be very careful what you put in for mileage as we had to pay extra on top when my son got a job and started travelling more than expected. Ended up the same as what it would have been without the black box.

An extra £25 on our annual policy (for our small runaround, with both me and DH on the policy too).

DS has his own learner policy on his little car which was around £200 a year IIRC.

As PP's have said the big shock comes when he passes his test

£30 a year when she was learning. It then shot up to £180 a month when she passed. Insurance is extortionate.

My insurance wouldn't allow a learner driver on my policy. I used the temporary driver policies which worked well for us as you can insurance for however long you want. Typically we insured for two hours at a time.

Wait until they pass their test, then you will find out the true cost of insurance. My son's first insurance three years ago was £1600 for a 1 litre Clio with a black box.

I got her a separate learner policy through veygo….you can buy blocks of a few weeks at a time. I’m sure it worked out cheaper as my insurance wanted a lot to add her.

OMG I'm shocked at these costs, I knew it would be expensive but bloody hell. Maybe worth teens not taking their test but staying as learners for longer. For me I was thinking DS and I and eventually DD would share a car. He would drive to school in it with me and I'd continue to work. So no point him passing his test too soon...

@MoiraNotRuby you are only delaying the inevitable though. The sooner they pass the prices usually decrease after the first year.

This is an eye opener because I was quoted £880 extra a couple of months ago to add my Learner ds to my policy. I only have a fiat so not a big powerful car. Maybe I should phone around...

Very little to add learners to our policy (Admiral). Quite a difference once they passed though.

Marmalade or similar. Doesn't affect your no claims bonus/insurance if they have an accident.

It wasn't much for DD1 5 years ago (Admiral) but did go up when she passed. However she had clocked up no claims whilst learning (who knew?) so wasn't as bad as it could have been.

Just about to embark on this for DD2 (car hunting as we speak as our cars aren't suitable)...

my policy has 2 learner drivers on it and it was just under £300 for all of us for the year. That was with Swinton so yes worth shopping around

My son had his own (oldish mini) as a learner, policy in his name with me as named driver was c£30 pm with Collingwood. By the time he passed he'd had the policy for 10m so Collingwood gave him a full years NCD. His policy after he passed was £1600 without black box. I understand the prices do drop significantly in year 2 subject to no claims of course.

To anyone struggling to get a test date, book a test anywhere that has availability (literally anywhere in the country) then use one of the cancellation apps, searching on your chosen test centre only. My son failed first time on 11 June, next available date was late November so he booked it then using the app had within 24 hours of failing got a cancellation at his chosen centre for 1 July, and thankfully passed. I understand there are lots of cancellations as people are booking before they're ready due to the delays in lessons but finding they're still not ready when the date approaches.

My insurance broker advised getting stand-alone temporary insurance not through them

I tended to use Veygo (an Admiral company) for blocks of 2 hours up to 2 weeks (ds is away at Uni). Two hours was about £10.

It has to be done in the learner's name, using their provisional licence number but they need to know the car registration and with whom you have insurance and to say that they have your permission which of course they do as you'll be in the car with them