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AIBU?

Share your dilemmas and get honest opinions from other Mumsnetters.

Original poster

AIBU to think >£800 is a crazy car insurance quote for a new driver??

130 replies

Badbird · 26/07/2018 17:24

Hi all,

I am a newly qualified driver over the age of 25. I expected insurance to be expensive but I'm being quoted online between £818 (with a tracker box) to well over £1000! I would understand if I were 17-18 or even under 25, is this really normal? Should I phone some of these companies and try to haggle it down or is that not done?

OP posts:
safariboot · 27/07/2018 00:14

The three most important things in car insurance prices: location, location, and location. Seriously, it's more important than just about anything else. I paid £1600 in my first year of driving, similar age to you, just because of where I live.

DianaPrincessOfThemyscira · 27/07/2018 00:17

Seems crazy low to me.

My insurance this year was just shy of £600. I've been driving 17 years, no accidents, SP30 (unfortunately), 3 years no claims as I didn't have a car for a long time and driving hire cars doesn't count Hmm.

First two years, it was cheaper to get fully comp. Now I'm on 3rd party. Apparently this is the way it's done now - when you're classed as a new driver, 3rd party is often more expensive as the risk is higher so they want you to be fully comp.

Cheesenacho123 · 27/07/2018 00:28

I think £800 a year is very good. I’m 24, driven since I qualified at 19 and have so many years no claims. When I first got a car the insurance was £2,000-£3,000 a year, for the last three years I’ve paid £2,600 as an insurance and car just add fuel deal that had a black box. This year my insurance alone will be around £1,000.

It’ll be more for your first year because they say newly qualified drivers are most likely to crash in there first year after qualifying. Does insurance still go down at 25? I’d like to know that one.

Holidayz · 27/07/2018 00:40

I'm 40 and my insurance has never really decreased. Been driving 21 yrs now. Currently drive a 2L car and pay a little over £600 for the year. That's with full protected NCD. I'm sure if I drove a less powerful car it would be cheaper, but not by that much. My postcode adds a lot to my premium.

TittyGolightly · 27/07/2018 07:26

I'm 40 and my insurance has never really decreased

I’m also 40. First car insurance at 17 was £700 on a 1l polo. Now costs £1k per year to insure a powerful 4x4, a cheap runaround (for DH) and a performance sports car. All fully comp with full business cover and protected ncb.

echt · 27/07/2018 07:35

Fuck me. Even in Australia, land of the rip-off, that's very steep, OP.

daisypond · 27/07/2018 08:31

I think that's cheap. Most people I know had to pay about £2,000.

Timeisslippingaway · 27/07/2018 08:34

Could you possibly have someone else as the main driver of the car and you are just on the insurance. That's what we did when I passed at 26. It took the price down massively. Now I'm on as the main driver because 2 years later it's cheaper for me to be the main driver haha. It's crazy.

Alwayscommuting · 27/07/2018 08:48

Also is your car kept on a drive way or in the street? It's cheaper to keep it in the street.

parklives · 27/07/2018 09:01

Why is it cheaper if you park over night on the street rather than a drive always?
I would have thought it would be the other way round?

AppleKatie · 27/07/2018 09:19

Don’t do that- you’ll invalidate your insurance

Blobby10 · 27/07/2018 09:34

If you are under 29 then try Ingenie - they were very reasonable on my daughters car.

confusedmomm · 27/07/2018 09:51

It's pretty standard to be honest

BackforGood · 27/07/2018 11:36

Also is your car kept on a drive way or in the street? It's cheaper to keep it in the street.

Why ? Confused
Our cars parked on the road regularly get hit. On the drive, never get hit.

BackforGood · 27/07/2018 11:38

Your postcode is crucial though.
When my dd moved away, it shaved about £600 off her insurance - same person, same additional drivers, same car, same everything except address.

TittyGolightly · 27/07/2018 12:10

Cars these days are stolen using the keys. Cars parked on drives means keys on that house. Cars parked on streets don’t indicate which house the keys are in.

And garage parking is more expensive now because of the number of people who have damaged their cars getting in and out of them.

BackforGood · 27/07/2018 12:15

Oh.
Do you work in insurance, or is that something you've heard ?
Only we have more cars than drive space, but are allowed to park on next door's drive overnight (only works if we are going out before crack of dawn as they need from early on, in the day) which I've always appreciated in terms of assuming it would be cheaper as off the road (as well of course, as them not actually being hit Grin).
I've always assumed it would lower the premiums by a couple of quid.

TittyGolightly · 27/07/2018 15:03

Used to work in insurance.

Lots of things you would think would make insurance cheaper don’t.

Used to be that saying you had kids reduced the price because the assumption was you would drive more carefully. The stats showed that drivers with kids cause more accidents due to being distracted. So it puts the price up.

Driving fewer miles: less time on the road = less chance of an accident, right? Nope. If you’re only doing a few thou a year you’re unlikely to have the skills and confidence needed to navigate tricky situations. (Imagine a brain surgeon who only does 1 op a year versus one that does 100).

YorkieDorkie · 27/07/2018 15:07

My first policy was £600 when I was 23. I now pay £16/month 👍🏻

runningkeenster · 27/07/2018 15:13

My mum adds me to her policy as it brings her policy down. Single people are considered to be higher risk even if experienced drivers. I only drive her car because she has a narrow drive so we sometimes have to rearrange the cars but she is the main driver on the policy.

My husband and I are both named drivers on both our policies but he's the main driver on the newer car and I'm the main driver on the older car and so do drive it a lot more than he does. I'm not really sure how the insurers can determine who drives the car more often if the second driver is the one who happens to have an accident.

I don't know if £800 is good but it probably is as I pay £200 for my oldish car (about £400 for the newer one).

RideOn · 27/07/2018 15:14

Not unexpected to me.

ArkAtEee · 27/07/2018 15:50

Not unexpected. I was paying this when I was 25 and that was more than 15 years ago now! Blush

Alwayscommuting · 27/07/2018 16:18

It's apparently cheaper to park it on the road as insurance companies imagine there are more hazards on personal property such as gates or garden equipment. Doesn't make much sense to me either but I ran 2 quotes and there was quite a difference.

dangermouseisace · 27/07/2018 16:26

Nope my 1st 4 years ago was about £650, with tracker. Weirdly, fully comp worked out cheaper than third party fire and theft/third party, so that's worth looking into.

It did come down rapidly in subsequent years though.

BackforGood · 27/07/2018 17:03

Well, I'm glad I've read this thread now. I will mention the road next time I renew Grin