To think the cost of car insurance is outrageous.

[GothAnneGeddes]

There has been no change in our circumstances but our car insurance has nearly tripled and that's after looking on all the comparison websites and a few of the companies not on comparison websites too.

This just cannot be right.

I know the companies claim that they're having to increase their premiums due the number of uninsured drivers, but surely pricing most people out of even purchasing car insurance is not going to help matters.

When having a car is essential for many people and the cost of public transport is also increasing rapidly, this just seems really unfair and wrong.

YANBU
the whole thing is corrupt. Mine doubled this year for no reason at all, in fact with an extra year of no claims it should have gone down really. It used to be that adding an experienced female driver brought the premium down too - tried adding my mum and it went up ...nightmare. I really resent paying literally what the car is worth per year in insurance!

YANBU. I was taking driving lessons last year and looked into the cost of running a car - it was at least four times the price of a (very cheap, basic) car. So I gave up on the idea of driving as the cost of car, tax, fuel, insurance, MOT, parking and congestion charge will never be less than the amount I spend on public transport, even for an annual travel card and travelling first class on trains. I am lucky that I live near a tube station and bus routes though, I know public transport is awful in parts of the UK.

Mine went down by about £30. If you drive less than 6000 miles a year check out insurethebox.

Elephant, taking the "pass plus" after passing your test can bring down costs considerably.

I do agree that insurance costs for drivers, especially younger and new drivers are extremely high and prohibitive though. A better idea, in my opinion, would be to restrict new drivers to low performance, small engine vehicles, for a minimum of two years, so that they can gain experience in a car, but not be able to piss about being a "boy racer".. and I am not for a moment saying that all young/new drivers do that, but it is the ones that do so, and are able to jump straight into a high performance car, who are mainly responsible for bumping up everyones premiums.

But Goth, doesn't it give you a nice warm fuzzy feeling to know you're paying for all those lovely people who don't pay for their own car insurance? ;)

Ah well I have a "car" that costs only 125 GBP to insure a year ;)

However its 52 years old, only has 3 wheels and isn't overly reliable although the engine is so basic even I know my way round it!

Plus it has no boot and no reverse so not very suitable as an every day car!

i think its is very expensive and it annoys me greatly that if i am hit by an uninsured driver the insurance wont cover it

Um mines not too bad really. It's gone up over the past 3years by about £10 but I did add business use to it. I do drive a small car , no claims and I'm 30 plus. Biggest change to my premiums was getting married Miss to Mrs = + £35

squeakytoy The "boy racer" types commonly drive uninsured and would ignore any restrictions.

The lower rates for women will go following that bloody silly ruling of the ECJ on life insurance.

The only remedy is to abolish third-party and pay damages from a fund raised from a levy on petrol. There would be winners (high-risk low mileage drivers) and losers (low-risk high-mileage drivers) but there would be no uninsured drivers, and since about one pound in eight of your premium and mine goes to the MIB that benefits the honest to the disadvantage of the dishonest. Good!

My quote doubled this year too. For no apparent reason, as no change in circumstances other than both cars a year older.
I trawled the comparison sites and halved it (down to previous level), called original company and asked if they were having a laugh, and they agreed to match what I'd found! Took great pleasure in telling them to shove it and switched anyway, on principle - although I acknowledge they're all as bad as each other.

It isn't just uninsured drivers, it's the claims for whiplash. Radio 4 had a piece last week about how areas where no-win-no-fee lawyers advertise heavily have much higher rates of claims for injuries sustained in car accidents, and correspondingly higher insurance premiums.

All else being equal, the level of injury claims in an area could tripple your premium.

Apparently once referal fees are banned (which the govt are apparently doing) then the costs should come down a bit.

I saw on the news that the fines you get for driving uninsured are less than the cost of insuring a car for say a young person. I think it's a farce. I've nearly 20 years no claims and I pay over £500. Was there not going to be an investigation into car insurance practices? Maybe I dreamt that but it should be done.

Where did you read that MrsCog? It sounds plausible, but I wouldn't be surprised if they found a way to keep prices high

Sooty: I've only got 1 year no claims and mine is less than that!

I drive a 1.4 fiesta and my insurance company (Axa) will not insure my 17 year old son to drive it - they said they would not insure him ofr anything over a 1 litre.........

The thing about whiplash that really pissed me off (it was on the BBC program about car insurance) is that the car insurers SELL ON the details of people involved in car accidents to no-win-no-fee lawyers, so they have directly contributed to the rise in these type of claims.

It's not like they only sell on the details in serious crashes either, we have had 2 very minor crashes (one where no one was even in the car) whose details were sold on.

We are under 25, have had a few minor scrapes (as above) and pay around 1k a year to insure a 15yo corsa. Because we can't afford to pay it in one go the interest on the monthly payments makes it 1.5k!

It is outrageous, and I can well understand why people just don't bother buying any.

Mine rose by 1/3 last time. No difference here either except it's a year older, but, then I also had another year no claims.

wonky that's so odd - mine went down when I got married! But I was 'Ms' all the way through ... do you think that's the difference?!

Sooty, that's awful! I'm 27, drive a 2 litre diesel 13 year old TANK, got ten years experience, maximum no claims, fully comp - mine is £415 plus business use. Even though that's probs more than the value of the car, I know that's not terrible considering the current climate.

They've tightened up a bit on uninsured drivers, but not enough IMO, I'd have insurance certificates on the windscreen with a reference that the cops/ traffic wardens could check on a computer and an automatic fine of three times the lowest quote on a comparison website.

But actually the scams and the legal costs are what's really doing the damage. I'm not in favour of switching 3rd party to a tax on petrol because the current system motivates the riskier drivers to stay off the road or at least pay their fair share - I don't fancy coughing up for Mario Ballotelli's risk.

Awful isn't it?

Mine is currently £1800 (I'm 30-been driving for 11 months)
Got myself a quote for next month when (hopefully!) I'll have 1 yr no claims and it drops down to £650.

Can't bloody wait! Still so expensive, but not quite as painful.

Kind of wish I'd never learnt now.
I don't want to give up, having found the freedom, but would have been easier to never have bothered.

Dps insurance is awful!

1.3ltr peugeout 307, 51 plate, he's 25 been driving 2yrs no claims, £135pcm. We sold our big 1.9tdi estate car thinking insurance would be lower, wrong.

It is outrageous, I was spitting feathers a month ago when I rang the insurance company to tell them I was moving house to a property with a gated driveway and garage in a nicer, safer area. My insurance went up £20 a month and they also charged me £25 worth of admin fees, even though I have paperless insurance ffs.

I mean really. For the love of god. I genuinely cried on the phone - £20 extra for being safer and having a more secure car. Absolute cuntwork of the devil.

It is outrageous, and I can well understand why people just don't bother buying any.

But that's like saying you can understand why people drink and drive!

And to be fair, if you're under 25 and have had 2 crashes (and/or 'a few minor scrapes'), no insurer will really want your business, due to the implied risk.

When you've got some 'clean' years under your belts and are over 25, it will get cheaper, as I'm sure you know.