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AIBU?

Share your dilemmas and get honest opinions from other Mumsnetters.

Original poster

to think insurance has gone crazy!

27 replies

Abitwobblynow · 21/08/2012 11:04

One of the things that the Labour Party didn't have a huge handle on, was the Law of Unintended Consequences.

Getting insurance quotes for my 18yo newly qualified drivers:

£9, 689 to
£20,890

This is a result of the 'no win, no fee' rule which has resulted in lots of personal injury claims Angry

They have to know this is not sustainable! I can't afford that, so now what?

Do any wise mumsnetters have any advice? Where am I going wrong? What can I do?

OP posts:
Original poster
Abitwobblynow · 21/08/2012 11:04

sorry, driver. That is one quote for one person Shock

OP posts:
MrsPear · 21/08/2012 11:08

Don't get me started on insurance - my husbands car insurance is a 1/3 higher on average just because he was born out of the UK and was an adult migrant from a non EU country. Explain that someone please. The whole thing has been raised in parliament and it is only going to get worse as more people are not bothering to get insurance as it is too expensive!

mishymashy · 21/08/2012 11:08

Have you been on elephant.com? Its worth a try as i know from personal experience how ridiculous insurance premiums are for kidsAngry

It was the best we could get from a bad lot, still 1200 but far better than 2800 for a car that was only worth 1600!

MaryPoppinsBag · 21/08/2012 11:09

That is ridiculous!

MaryPoppinsBag · 21/08/2012 11:11

What kind if car is it? can you buy a cheap 1 litre run about? My husband and his Mum had a polo and then a Rover 100 to keep costs down.

Nancy66 · 21/08/2012 11:12

...an awful lot to do with the number of uninsured drivers too.

I live in London, have been driving for 25 years with no points and still can't get my insurance under a grand due to

1)postcode
2) occupation
3) on road parking

PrimrosePath · 21/08/2012 11:12

Can you get a more experienced person as named driver, that usually brings the premium right down?

FredFredGeorge · 21/08/2012 11:14

So you mean lots of people who'd been injured by bad driving by newly qualified young drivers got some compensation for their injuries? And now the bad drivers are being discouraged from continuing to injure other people by being priced out. Seems good doesn't it?

Ilovesunflowers · 21/08/2012 11:16

That is crazy. Utterly crazy. Who could or would pay that? I think the only thing you can do is put yourself as the main driver and your child as the named driver.

OldLadyKnowsNothing · 21/08/2012 11:18

Have you looked at Pay As You Go insurance?

ethelb · 21/08/2012 11:19

i'm sure you came out of the womb able to drive fred. Biscuit

ViviPru · 21/08/2012 11:20

the only thing you can do is put yourself as the main driver and your child as the named driver.

You have to be very careful doing this. Insurance companies are savvy. if they think that you have done this but the child has primary user of the car, they won't think twice about not paying out in case of a claim.

Can you get a more experienced person as named driver, that usually brings the premium right down?

Yes, you're right. They don't even need to be in the same house or related. When I was younger, I used to have my SiL on my car insurance as a named driver and it reduced the premiums considerably.

ViviPru · 21/08/2012 11:23

Also, accelerator insurance is a good option, it gives you a years no claims after 10 months. Doesn't sound like much, but it helps you accrue no claims bonuses quickly. I did that for a few years when i was younger. Admiral multicar insurance always works out good value too.

My renewal was £970 this month, I ran a quote on the same companies' website and for the same cover, I got a price of £530. I called them up and they honoured that price for my renewal. Pretty good when most other companies were quoting over a K. And that's with 8 years no claims.

EnglishGirlApproximately · 21/08/2012 11:50

Have you looked at the Smartbox? It collects data about how well the person is driving and good drivers are, in theory, rewarded by a lower premium.

When I saw it I was a bit unsure about the privacy side of things but I would probably changed my mind if I was looking at 10k for insurance!

inkyfingers · 21/08/2012 11:55

We've gone for the smartbox and the premiums are very low - well under a grand. It also means you can check the driving scores online and if the car is driven well, premiums go down, or up in the NQD is racing about and cornering badly etc. Incentive to concentrate on what they're doing as they still have a lot of experience to gain.

Putting someone else as main driver when they're not is dubious practice.

Also, what is the 18yr old doing to contribute to the cost of driving? Petrol money/contribution to road tax and their insurance? Helps to concentrate their mind that unfortunately running a car for everyone now is a massively expensive pain!

FermezLaBouche · 21/08/2012 11:56

the only thing you can do is put yourself as the main driver and your child as the named driver.
My parents did this for me a years ago. I didn't realise how silly this was at the time as I lived a considerable distance from them and any claim would have looked very dodgy. Also I didn't build up a no claims discount as it didn't do me any favours in the long term.

My insurance is about £480/year but has recently increased by £50/year due to moving house :(

FermezLaBouche · 21/08/2012 11:58

I can't help but think that many younger drivers will weigh up the risk of being caught with no insurance against massive premiums and just drive without.

FredFredGeorge · 21/08/2012 12:28

"Fronting" Putting yourself as the named driver when you're not, is not "dubious" is in effect illegal, because the insurance policy is not valid, so the people driving the car will be driving without insurance.

You might get lucky if you can carefully word the calls and applications that it's not obvious which is the name driver, but make sure you brief the child on what they have to say too...

booksandchoc · 21/08/2012 12:32

Policy's can now have a main driver different from the policy holder. Also check policy prices for a new car, having an old banger is seen as more of a risk as in the driver won't be bothered financially about an accident because there car isnt worth much. Newer cars have more careful drivers.

nickelcognito · 21/08/2012 12:33

You can put yourself down as a named driver, if you intend to be able to drive the car at some point.
or your DH, if you don't drive.

don't put yourself as the policy holder and your child as a named driver if he's the one who's mostly driving the car - that's illegal.

nickelcognito · 21/08/2012 12:36

Fermez - it's very true - if you weren't quite sure about the legality of it and were to weigh up the risks of being in an accident versus not having insurance, it makes sense to a young mind not to insure.

seriously, I've had insurance for about 15 years and have had 2 accidents.

granted, they were both within a year of passing my test, and one of them could have been a very bad plan not to have insurance!

oh, look, even the most unscrupulous adolescent wouldn't be able to guarantee the odds of that not happening - new drivers are more likely to have accidents.

NumericalMum · 21/08/2012 12:40

Insurance is expensive because of fraudulent claims and people making a quick buck out of the compensation culture.

It is going to get even more expensive in December particularly if you are a woman thanks to the well-meaning idiots European Commissioner who would like us all to pay the same regardless of gender. Insurance companies now have more risk from insuring a male at a lower cost if they use averages so will instead pass this on to policyholders and everyone will pay more. Joy.

FredFredGeorge · 21/08/2012 12:43

nickelcognito Any current policy is worded such that the main driver has to be just that - if you only "intend to be able to drive the car at some point" then that is fronting.

The AA
"The main driver is the person who is in charge of the vehicle most often, which means they are the person who makes the most journeys as the car's driver. It's important to be honest here, as insurers can invalidate a claim if they believe they have received inaccurate information about the main driver. "

Kayano · 21/08/2012 12:45

I crashed my car last year and opened my renewal with a heavy heart...

Only to find it went down dances !!!!

Swinton I love you x

HmmThinkingAboutIt · 21/08/2012 12:48

If you are getting quotes as high as that there is one major problem.

The Car

What size is the engine?
What make is it?
How much is it worth?

The only way that 18 year olds can get affordable insurance is to run a small, older, uncool car that generally is classed as 'sensible'.

Look up second hand skoda fabias. Low insurance group. Cheap and reliable to run. Will set you back a couple of grand and insurance should under £2500 for an eighteen year old. Probably won't get much better than that.

Second the recommendation of Elephant.com I found them miles cheaper than anyone else until I hit 25. (this was a few years ago mind).

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