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?

Sorry that was reply to @Picklemeyellow

Have you listed your DC as the "Main Driver of the vehicle"?

If you haven't they could claim the insurance is null and void.

It's the insurance group of the car. If you look it up 1.4 Fiestas are high.This is for a couple of reasons:

They are commonly stolen
The combination of larger engine in smalller car makes them a prime candidate for racing

Insurance groups are based on stats and small cars with larger engines are very frequently raced, modded (and not declared) and crashed.

For a young driver you need a 1.0 or 1.1 engine and often something "less trendy" like a Suzuki or Kia will be cheaper than a Ford or Fiat.

Fiestas, Puntos and Golfs with 1.3-1.4 engines are prime "boy racer" cars.

Look at new cars and check the insurance groups. You need as low as possible. Fiestas are about 9 or 10 usually.

Have you tried insuringna a car lately for a 17/18 year old? If so who did you go with because on the price comparison sites at the moment a 1 litre Kia Picanto comes out at £4500.

And thats insurance group 1

I've not tried in the last couple of years but I know the insurance group is a huge factor, even with black box.

Last time I did it we stuck the car candidates into insurance comparison sites before we bought the car to make sure insurance was viable.

Unfortunately, there are so many variables it's a pain. You need something small engine, low desirability and not too new, as a new car replacement cost can drive the price up as well.

What's most desirable and stealable changes often. It's that 17-19 age group that's killer though with the first year being the worst.

All insurance has rocketed so much recently though it's horrific so I just hope it is actually viable, since I have a 17-year-old just starting to learn who has a horrific bus commute currently.

Personal injury claims are down actually because the government has slashed whiplash claims with a change in the law.

But the cost of car parts, especially anything with a silicon chip, and the lead time to order them in (which ramps up the cost of courtesy cars while you wait for a repair) has gone up massively. That's the killer. Companies are pulling out of the market because they're losing too much money.

This, it goes on previous stats for the make and model of the car. Less teen boy racer cars like Hyundai, Kia, Toyota or Skoda are better for getting lower insurance than the typical Polo/Golf/Corsa/Fiesta car choices. Add the parents as named drivers if you can and see if that also brings a quote down.

@mamahg they are apparently not keen to insure a car now with a main driver being different than the registered keeper. I had a conversation about this with the dealership when I was buying my new car last year. I wasn't planning on doing this ever but it came up in conversation because 20 years ago I bought a car and the sexist chap in the garage registered it in Dh's name as he paid for it from our joint account but the card had his name on it. I was dealing with our newborn son in the garage at the time so didn't hand my own joint card over. I called Dh Two Cars John (not his real name) for 3 years whilst I had that car.

Any lying to an insurance company is insurance fraud and would affect any further insurance in the future and could completely cancel any insurance claim if they find out. Never lie about the main driver of the car. My car makes me log that it is me driving, Ds20 logs in as himself. You just press a button when you get in, but Ds makes it his mission to get the highest mpg he can and the app tracks the car too, average speed etc. He is incredibly sensible luckily.

A few posts on insurance rocketing, anyone know why?

His Fiesta is a group 10, my Mini is group 19 yet the quotes are cheaper for my Mini than his Fiesta. You are correct though, the Fiesta is one of the most commonly stolen vehicles in the U.K. so that’s obviously having an impact on his premium.

Sadly he just can not afford a newer car right now so we are stuck. Luckily we’ve secured this years insurance now and hopefully he will be in a better position financially later in the year to change vehicles.

I can't remember the details but it's something to do with underwriters being more choosy.

I was warned by someone who works in specialist insurance underwriting a couple of years ago it was going to happen.

Is this for fully comp?

Could he go for third party, fire and theft?

What about getting a more expensive car? Maybe via leasing?

My son has also been driving a year, with a fiesta 56 plate. The first year he was insured with ticker and I've just renewed him either aviva zero, was about 1k. Maybe try aviva zero?

Third party, fire and theft quotes were no different, some were even more expensive.
Sadly, he just can not afford a newer car, he has only just started an apprenticeship job so doubt he would get finance or leasing easily.

Managed to get it for £1400 via Ticker.

My daughter is payjng 2400 this first year,that's with Ticker with black box and Auntie with big no claims as named driver,she has citroen c1

Mine hasn't. But I'm with police mutual. Think I'm glad of it reading this.

Definitely sounds like it's time for a new car OP.

There is going to be a massive problem with people driving around uninsured due to the exorbitant cost of insurance. I know of two youngsters who do not have insurance. If caught, they will just take whatever punishment is handed to them. Fines will be far less than the cost of insurance!

Both my Ds18 and dd20 insurance went down about £400 after a year with ticker, dd has only been driving 6 months longer than Ds, it's both their first renewal!

We took out Admiral multi car. Dd is 18 and has a Ford Ka. Putting me and dh on as named drivers reduced cost considerably.

Rather than tge "fronting" pp have suggested try getting a quote with DS being the main driver and you and DH being on the policy as named secondary drivers. My quote went down when I named DH as a secondary driver even though he never actually drives me car it means he could drive it in an emergency. The quotes are all algorithm-based so it might be enough to bring a score back over some arbitrary threshold.

When my kids learned to drive, their car was put in my name as the owner with me as the main insured and them as named driver.
It saved a fortune.

Aside from this being illegal, it doesn't really save a fortune, does it? They have to take out their own policy at some point and will have a hefty first few years no matter when that is. Any saving made by lying will simply be added in at the other end, not to mention the lack of any no claims built.

Not really. Doubling the cost of insurance for a 23 year old who's had a licence for 5 years is never going to cost as much as you'd save by halving the cost of insurance for a newly qualified 18 year old.

@YoullCatchYourDeathInTheFog

Right, but you have already paid heavy enough for the additional driver at the start. It's not the great saving people think it is. All it does is shift the balance a bit. I'm not saying it won't save money, of course it does, but it's not the massive amount people seem to think it is. Not to mention the risk of being caught and your insurance null and void then they get a policy!