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AIBU?

Share your dilemmas and get honest opinions from other Mumsnetters.

Original poster

to not expect a £7000 jump in insurance by naming my son on policy!!!

122 replies

cricketballs · 02/04/2011 10:35

my eldest ds is 17 in a few months. He has asked for driving lessons for his birthday and we thought this was quite reasonable.
Whilst I have heard about the stupid insurance quotes for young drivers insuring their own car, I have just run a quote on my 5 year old Focus with him as a named driver (increased his dob by a year so it looked normal) just to have a look....

My premium this year with myself and dh, fully comp, 8+ NCD and £0 excess was £250. The cheapest quote I have found so far this morning with adding ds as a 17 year old who passed his test last month is £7000!

Is there any wonder so many young drivers have no insurance? There is no way we could afford to pay that a year so how is he supposed to gain the driving experiance needed in order to lower his premiums?

OP posts:
iamamug · 02/04/2011 19:18

ivykaty - if you read previous answers you will see the reasons.
Claims costs up,(no win no fee plus very high awards to seriously injured people) uninsured drivers have to be paid for and Insurers are not getting returns on investments they once did.
My advice as an insurance professional is to try and get the lowest rated insurance group car that you can and use the insurer that gives a discount for keeping the car off the road after 11pm when most accidents occur with young male drivers.
I will be encouraging my son to learn to drive and pass his test but I will not be getting him a car until after he finishes university as he can survive without one and the costs are just not worth it.
I have had a quote to add him onto my 9 year old Focus of about £1000.

2rebecca · 02/04/2011 19:33

I passed my test at 17 but couldn't afford a car until 24. By then premiums were reasonable. Over 18 my parents added me to their insurance for a minimal hike though. Suspect it would be more now you can't favour female drivers.

harbingerofdoom · 02/04/2011 19:56

I have 2DDs that are in their first year of insurance. DD1 has crap P reg Toyota Starlet, DD2 has crap W reg Ford Ka. By crap I mean that they are old cars with scrapes etc. but fundamentally sound especially safety wise. Go for the unfashionable cars, it doesn't matter what they drive to develop road sense.

They are both off to university in September but it will be money well spent.

The fact they can't decide which one to keep is another thread methinks!

The insurance was less than £1200 for each car and they paid this out of savings.

hogsback · 02/04/2011 19:59

Valium but they're not though are they? When I passed my test in the 80s your first car was generally a fiesta or escort or whatever else your grandparents passed down. Usually brown. I had a Triumph Dolomite Sprint that went like the proverbial off a shovel. Most of these cars were 1.3-1.8 litres and usually very light (no air con, air bags etc) so they were much faster than the little 1.0 shopping trolleys that kids drive now.

And yet we could afford to insure and run them off the back of a Saturday job at Boots.

harbingerofdoom · 02/04/2011 20:02

Sorry, just thought of another thing to bring insurance down.

Occupation - even if they are still studying don't put student especially if they have a part time job. Then you can honestly say supermarket assistant etc. esp. if they travel to college by train.

CMOTdibbler · 02/04/2011 20:06

If you know anyone good with cars, then an old mini (more than 15 years old) is bargainacious for insurance - dnephew pays £500 a year for his, having just passed at 17. It is only a 950cc engine, but cheap as chips to run, and he's learnt the mechanics with his dad as they have restored it

BTW, insurers pay out in claims (so none of their costs included in this) more than they take in premiums for drivers under 21. Injury claims have gone up massively, and its this that drives the premium in this age group - not the car cost

Pixielovescake · 03/04/2011 00:45

Wow that is a lot. I think you might be right , a micra is hardy cool to be honest ! Uncool cars might be the way to go pricewise.

Maryz · 03/04/2011 01:12

This reply has been deleted

Message withdrawn at poster's request.

antsypants · 03/04/2011 02:16

Insurance companies basically see young drivers as cash cows, and if you think it is expensive to insure him as a provisional driver then wait till he has a full licence, he is considered the highest risk of all drivers and you will see that reflected in the premium. Don't expect your insurance rates to reduce significantly until the driver is over 25, that is if you are just shopping around the direct insurers, and whether your son is using your car often or not is irrelevant, he will be rated as the main driver and highest risk as almost all policies with a parent and child are rated as fronting, and as such, the value of your no claims bonus will have been reduced by most insurers underwriting systems.

If you can absorb the price, the best bet is to get him a little run about and insure it as third party only in his name, that way he will build up his own no claims bonus which accounts for the highest savings in anyones policy. If not and you are going comprehensive then a £350.00 voluntary excess normally generates a good discount, as does clarifying your mileage, instead of putting it in a general area of say average 8-10000 a year, break it down, if it is less than 6000 but more than 3000 then you will probably see some savings there. And make sure they have your occupation correct and your class of use, if you don't work because you are a SAHM then make sure you tell them that rather than being classed as unemployed as that alone makes your insurance higher.

In the end there is not much you can do, you will be able to find something cheaper than £7000 but the shopping around part is irritating.

NetworkGuy · 03/04/2011 05:55

various curfew schemes started around 2005/06 with a penalty of say 25 quid if car was used - so for a trip to hospital it was affordable but going out every week wiped out any discount.

As others have said, seems best is to get insurance separate from parents, if possible because of NCD which will at least give benefit in later years and when a better car might be afforded from their own income.

Did a bit of hunting for 'curfew insurance' and

www.i-kube.co.uk has 2300-0500 curfew (with 100 pound penalty for using car) but offers a discount for Pass Plus

www.insurethebox.com does no curfew, but allows for 6000 miles per year and uses a GPS tracker. Say they would use it to track car if stolen, and that if there's a suggestion of a crash, will try to contact driver (and emergency services if unable)

NB I'm not even a driver, even if I am 3x age of OP's son, and websites were only found via web searches (along with Guardian and BBC pages) so no knowledge as to how competitive the insurance costs are vs other firms.

StealthPolarBear · 03/04/2011 07:30

I was at university (as a mature student) in 2001 and the university car park was crammed (we could never get a space) with expensive / souped up cars owned by the 18/19 year olds. Presumably something big has happened between now and then making insurance unaffordable!!

hogsback · 03/04/2011 10:35

Stealth - the "souped up" cars owned by 18 year olds tend to be dinky little cars with small engines as this is all they can afford to insure. They "soup them up" by bolting a load of tat from Halfords on to them - cheap alloys, spoilers and exhausts etc. They generally don't touch the engine or suspension as they used to back in the day because a) it would invalidate their insurance and b) they don't know how.

FellatioNelson · 03/04/2011 10:38

Unfortunately what will happen when this new EU directive comes in is that girl's insurance will go up to match boys, rather than splitting the difference! I don't see why they cannot operate a rebate scheme whereby you agree to very high premiums with the promise of an end of year rebate if you haven't made a claim.

bellavita · 03/04/2011 10:40

My friend at work - her 17 year old son passed his test and bought a 2004 plate peugot 206, so nothing sporty etc and the insurance is £3000 which had to be paid up front. She tried insure it as the main driver with him driving on her insurance, the cost went up to £3500.

herbietea · 03/04/2011 11:03

This reply has been deleted

Message withdrawn

hogsback · 03/04/2011 13:18

FN - there is no new EU directive. There is a ruling from the ECJ on a case brought by the European Women's Lobby on discrimination in insurance premiums.

This is widely being seen as a victory for women's rights, except for some reason in the UK.

FellatioNelson · 03/04/2011 13:21

Well as long as the women don't mind paying more - because that is what will happen!

hogsback · 03/04/2011 13:27

They may end up paying more for car insurance, but that will be greatly offset by levelling the playing field in pension and life insurance provision, which is what the case was about.

HelenBaaBaaBlackSheep · 03/04/2011 13:37

I can understand now why so many young drivers are uninsured

That is a huge amount of money, but this is an outrageous thing to say, you do know what it actually means for someone the uninsured driver injures don't you?

DilysPrice · 03/04/2011 13:44

Actually the victim of an uninsured driver will still recieve a payout from the MIB, it's just paid for by a levy on insured drivers.

Ponders · 03/04/2011 13:46

DS2 passed his test earlier this year; he'll be 18 in a couple of weeks but we still can't afford to insure him, either as a named driver on one of our cars, or on a car of his own.

But he'll be going to university in Sept & wouldn't be driving while he was there anyway.

He got on very well with his driving instructor, so I've suggested he continue having the odd hour out with him once a month or so (£23 vs £300 insurance premium!) to keep his hand in. He is desperate to drive a car on his own but that isn't going to happen, sadly...

amerryscot · 03/04/2011 14:03

I am amazed at the huge premiums. At £1200 for two teenage boys, we must be really lucky.

MedusaIsHavingABadHairDay · 03/04/2011 15:58

UndiscoveredApprentice.... thanks for mentioning LV... just looked ofr my DS (18 and about to take his test) and their quote was waaaaayyyyy cheaper than any others so far!!!!

SardineQueen · 03/04/2011 17:31

Dilys

That makes it alright then?

Despite the fact that driving uninsured is illegal
Despite the fact that it has been proven that people who are uninsured are more likely to flee accidents rather than call for assistance for any people who they may have injured (as they know they will get into trouble)
Despite the fact that the MIB fund is paid for by a levy on law abiding people - how can it be a good thing that people's insurance premiums are higher due to irresponsible criminals who don't want to pay
And of course, the fact that the MIB does not pay out as much in many situations as if the car was insured correctly - it's a safety net

"you do know what it actually means for someone the uninsured driver injures don't you?"

And you talk about money. What about the fact that someone injured by an uninsured driver is far more likely to be left without assistance while the driver legs it. People die because of this.

It's just not OK. No-one should be driving uninsured - it is never understandable and is against the law.

FrumpyintheFrost · 03/04/2011 17:46

Can I second LV?
Our 17 yr old DS has been on with them since passing his test last year. He is a named driver on our small fiesta. The insurance is £600 pa fully comp, with a £500 excess for him.