Can’t get car insurance for 18 year old son - anyone else having this issue?

[Picklemeyellow]

DS18 passed his test a year ago and has been driving his own car since then.

All year he has been insured with a black box. Has had no issues with his driving, no convictions, penalties etc and drives well.

However, his insurance is up for renewal and his current insurer has said he doesn’t meet their criteria and therefore can not insure him this year.

We are now struggling to find an insurer. We’ve tried a few comparison sites and they are quoting ridiculous amounts, at least £400 per month (currently paying £180 per month). Other companies we have called are repeating the same, that he doesn’t meet the criteria etc.
I’ve just called my insurer, Direct Line to see about getting him on my insurance but again he doesn’t meet the criteria, the guy I spoke to at Direct Line has said it’s because the insurance will be way more than the value of the car and it’s not worth them insuring him.

What on earth can he do? He is a very careful, competent driver and has had no issues with the black box. He drives a 16 year old, 1.4ltr Fiesta which has had no modifications etc. It’s book value is only £800.

He has just been offered an apprenticeship in an industry he has wanted to get into all year and needs his car to get to and from work (it’s 30 miles away and not on a public transport route). I don’t know what we can do.

Can anyone recommend any insurance companies that we may have missed?

Depending on his industry there may be a broker that gets good deals for that industry. Dd was quoted £2000 with admiral on my multi car but only £760 also admiral but via the specialist broker, same details throughout.

I don't understand why they wouldn't insure him because his car is cheap. Unless they think that may mean he doesn't care about it so will be reckless. If he did have an accident it could be with a Ferrari, so the value of his car is pretty irrelevant to the insurance.

Also add you (and dad) as named drivers helps, I'm listed on DD's which also means I can borrow it if mine is being fixed! Finally location matters a lot, we live in a cheap to insure location, thankfully, and the specialist broker accepted this as DD's permanent residence despite her listing her normal location for work purposes as a higher risk area, the normal insurance route couldn't cope with that

Third party only can be a lot more expensive than Fully Comprehensive, or TPTF.

I found out in 1999, when I was knocked off a motorbike by a jeep, which shot a roundabout. I managed to get TPFT through Kawasaki Club membership. It was about £750 - up from £90 Fully Comp.

They wanted thousands for Third Party Only.

If the dc is the actual owner and main user of the car, this is insurance fraud.

As pp have said add one or more experienced clean licence drivers and it should bring costs down

Try adrian flux insurance brokers. Add you and/or dh to your son's policy as named drivers. Change to a lower insurance group vehicle.

That’s insurance fraud and you could be prosecuted. Your insurance company will certainly cancel the insurance when they find out. Stop advising other people to do it.

my son is a newish driver too and got a good premium via Go Skippy and adding one parent as a second driver

Having just bought a car and insured my 18 year old yesterday after months of trying to get a decent quote on the cheapest car, for us the Ford KA or Citreon C1 has the cheapest insurance, they are in category 1. Fiestas were way too expensive and anything over 1.2 engine was unaffordable. You probably need to look at changing his car.

I assume you have used comparison sites? Compare the market comes out the cheapest for me and amazingly after months of quotes over 2.3k we got a quote for 1.5k and went ahead with this quickly before they changed their minds! That was through compare the market and was with Hastings You Drive.

We also have added me and DH to the policy as names drivers which helped.

If the insurance is £5K then it’s cheaper to buy a newer car.

Its not just the low value - things go wrong, cars aren’t looked after which could cause accidents.

Have you tried third party only or a multi car policy?

We are insured on all teen cars as it’s cheaper.

Change the car. He needs a 1ltr and something where insurance companies will not be paying out for a lot of claims with young drivers for that model of car. So I imagine a fiesta is popular with young men and a Honda for example isn’t. It’s not the value of the car as such, it’s the potential value of a medical claim from another person injured by him.

Scarletttulips · Today 12:36

If the insurance is £5K then it’s cheaper to buy a newer car.

It's not just the value of the car to be insured, it's the likelihood of the kid crashing and hitting a 50 grand Merc, or seriously injuring someone, who'd end up with a large sum of compensation money.

Deleted my post as didn’t read all the OP updates! 🙄

LOVE being able to edit!!

SORRY

Sorry I have just done my own pet hate!!!

Not read all the OP updates!!

Yeah does sound weird if his driving is fine!

Very strange.

Whatever you do, do a few quotes for different makes and models of cars before you buy one… it might not be that and you want to make sure that is the factor before you commit to a different vehicle, so research in advance.

Was his previous year’s insurance started when he was still on a provisional licence? Insurance can be affordable for learners but shoot up on passing the test - the logic being that learners are always accompanied but once that safeguard is removed, can then drive more recklessly alone.

@Picklemeyellow all Insurance companies have put up their prices a LOT and many of them have changed the criteria for what they will and won't insure. Lots of much older Adults facing this issue too, according to various social Media sites ( like WHICH for example)

As others have said, he needs a car in a low insurance group to start with. Adding a named driver to his insurance who has a clean licence and has been driving for a number of years, should bring the cost down, at least with some insurers

Also try a specialist Broker?

They’ve been hot on it for about 25 years!

Another Ticker recommendation, both my dc, one an 18year old boy use them, many of their friends do too.

Have they not said what it is about him that's outside the criteria?

It's not the cheap car, that's not important to them.

It could be the car itself - get quotes for others and also use comparison sites. I regularly recommend something like an old focus estate. It's all about statistics and young lads don't typically drive big estates so when they do it CAN work out cheaper. They can also be instantly refused because of the raw power of that 2.0l engine

Add yourself as a named driver, this can reduce but make sure your no claims are used on your car and not this one.

Insurance has gone up significantly this year so do expect higher costs but you should be able to get it still.

I watched an interesting tiktok the other day. Insurance quotes work on previous data..apparently more young lives end in a corsa than others so they become impossible to Insure. I would imagine a fiesta has similar stats. Try putting a quote in for a skoda or something unpopular for youngsters.

Also recommend Adrian flux and a plan. They are good for this type of thing.

It's an acute problem at the moment - and happening through all age ranges - not just new drivers.You and yours did a report on it a few months ago. We got DS and DD sorted by linking to both parents - ie all 4 of us through one company and arranged through a high street broker.

It’s the car!
Just changed to a 1.0L Toyota Aygo and loads of quotes coming up.
So we’ll to change the car.

Excellent - good luck either way the car sale!