Adding 18 yr old DS to car insurance and NCD?

[trickyex]

I need to renew my car insurance, currently with Direct Line.

Annoyingly I lost my no claims discount (hadnt protected it) after a claim in 2021 when someone reversed into me, but the claim wasnt settled.

My DS is due to take his test in May and looks very likely to pass.

I am not able to protect my NCD with Direct Line but can with other insurers but am not sure how best to proceed with adding my son to my policy as named driver.

Who have you used when adding a teen to your insurance and which companies would you recommend?
Do you always protect your NCD?
I did try Hastings direct often recommended on here but the quote was nearly 1K just for me.
I am 52 and drive a 10 year old Golf....
TIA

Black box insurance is quite good for new drivers so their driving is checked as they go along

Go through a comparison site like money supermarket or compare the market to see what offers you get. They will list the ones with black boxes or some sort of app that tracks the car however we wanted to avoid these as they can be faulty.

I have a brand new 23 plate car worth £25k, for me and Dh alone it is around £300 but with 15 years protected NCD. To add Ds who passed last year it is £1500 ish. Ds has to pay an extra £250 on top of the voluntary and compulsory excess, it is with Hastings Premium. I always protect my NCD as well as adding legal protection etc.

However, when I was running numbers last year it was higher and suddenly dropped this year. Our thoughts are that it happened because even though it is still under a year since he passed the year he passed isn't this year it is 2022. Plus I even halved the value of a car and ran the numbers and still came back high because to the insurer he is an unknown risk so the car value didn't matter so much.

Definitely use a comparison site. We've just switched to Admiral from Aviva - different scenario as have an older, third car for newly passed DC. But insuring that third party for her and ours both fully comp was the same price as just fully comp for two with Aviva.

Thanks for the tips.
I have done quotes for myself using Compare the market, just didnt add DS, wasnt sure if its better to get him a cheap run around and insure him on that.

Is the price to insure him likely to fall after he passes his test?
His test is on May, a month after my renewal date.

Is the price to insure him likely to fall after he passes his test?
No, it goes up massively. We ended up getting a Fiat 500 for dd to go to sixth form and back and then selling it when she went to university as the insurance on our cars was ridiculous.

After they pass it will go up astronomically. To the insurance they are a bigger risk as they aren't supervised any more.