Extortionate increase in insurance after passing test

[Daisyhoney]

My son aged 19 passed his driving test recently - first time so really proud of him. But then came the kick in the teeth. He rang his insurance company to update them and (he had the phone on loud speaker) the man said and I quote ' it'll just be a little bit extra ' . How much extra ? my son asked only to be told £3002!!!
I thought I must have misheard but no that figure was correct and the monthly payments would go up by £350 per month 🥴
I feel so bad for him, he's done so well buying his first car and passing first time. I know he's now deemed as a higher risk but surely this just isn't fair on the youngsters. Why can't there be a cap on how much insurance companies can charge?

Look around for best deal. My son got his first year's insurance for £1,130 with a black box.

I guess you didn't understand the whole thing because you are not a driver, but this whole thing, passing your test in covid, and the price of insurance after, has been a constant chat topic of all the mums of A'level student boys for me, for ages.

But now you've had good advice. I bet you can get a better quote. We managed to get £1600 for Ds1 a few months ago.

My DS bought his first car when he was 17 and had just started learning. He bought an 8 year old very basic Renault Clio. I seem to remember we paid about £800. When he passed his test (two months before he was 18) it went up to £1400, with a black box.Your son's quote does seem incredibly high. Definitely shop around.

Also meant to say that was fully comp insurance.

Shop around.

The car engine size has a bearing on the price. Although to the uninitiated a corsa looks small and not luxurious, the engine could be massive.

A massive engine in a small light car gives you lots of power. Lots of power and limited driving experience leads to crashes. Crashes cost the industry lots of money. Hence they charge more to insure once test passed as the kid will be alone in his/her car with no voice of reason in the passenger seat.

Even a medium scratch on a car can cost hundreds to fix as the whole panel needs prepared and resprayed. It’s expensive. A light cluster (ie headlights, indicators etc ) can be hundreds excluding fitting. As can bumpers. It’s dear.

If his car does have a large engine over a litre (I’d suggest 1 litre cars are fine for a new driver) it may be cheaper to sell the car and buy a smaller engines one.

Black boxes defiantly lower premiums.

As does having another driver on the policy. My ex is still on mine. Must put someone else on instead!!

I found Hastings to be the best insurance company when both of my DS’s passed their tests, also put another adult (or two)with years of experience on the policy

He's a typical impatient 19 year old

And that is why insurance is so high for him to drive without an experienced driver at his side.

I can't believe you don't understand that.

Definitely shop around.

DS1 passed his test at 17 and has his own car. It is only a 1 litre, and around 6yrs old. He had a black box fitted. The first year his insurance was around £950, but it fell to around £700 after the first year.

The black box really incentivised him to drive more carefully. He got an update each month with a percentage score for his driving and feedback on where he'd lost points.

I'm pretty sure that a telephone purchase has a 14 day cooling off period so if he cancels it asap he may not be penalised.
I've had two DC go through this. Insurance comparison sites are useful, we always put both parents on as additional drivers. Admiral came out best for one and Direct Line for the other. It's also worth checking with your own insurer as sometimes there is a family / multi care discount. To be honest I paid for lessons and insurance because we live in the sticks with no public transport and I wanted them to have independence.
They didn't have black boxes as worked evenings though I instigated a few strict rules during the first year such as no passengers, no driving to parties. I also paid for motorway lessons though I'm not sure if that isn't in the test now.
DS1 is now 25 and his car insurance is now normal!

Although to the uninitiated a corsa looks small and not luxurious, the engine could be massive.

You can’t get a massive engine in a Corsa!

They're telling you to fuck off. But they're not actually cancelling the policy themselves because that would drop him in the shit by him having to declare it for life.

Cancel it (and demand a reasonable refund for the unused policy). If he can't insure the car immediately, he either SORNs it or if that's not possible (ie no off-street parking) you insure it yourself. Then shop around.

But depending on whether you live, you could still be close to 2 grand for the best quote. Though apparently teens actually cheaper insurance than drivers in their twenties now? (All else being equal.)

Location's a huge factor so you really can't compare with prices people post online with no idea where they live.

I used drivelikeagirl.com for DD on the advice of MSE. It’s not as sexist as it sounds - when the rule about not being able to insure girls for less came in they set up an insurance based on the reasons girls have fewer accidents. You get a black box which monitors your driving and if you drive in low risk ways (no extreme acceleration/deceleration, no high speeds etc) they refund you some of the policy after a few months. They really do, too - DD had the refund. They also used to have a gizmo in the box which would alert them of a collision, whereupon they would phone the insured person’s mobile and if no answer call the emergency services to the location which I found very reassuring, it I’m not sure if they still have that.
This only helps if he can cancel the existing policy and reinsure though.

Are you aware that insurers make no money on young drivers? They pay more because they cost insurance companies more.

If there was a cap, who would set it? The number of young drivers would proportionately increase as a lot that have been priced out would take it out.

Insurers would either go out of business or have to pass on the cost to other drivers. So everyones policy would go up.

It's a fundamental principle of insurance that you pay a premium representing the risk you bring to the pool. Ao you drive like a lunatic or have a load of claims or a really fast car, you pay more. If you want to stop this principle then it would have to be some sort of government run pool with everyone paying a similar amount and it would ultimately stop people trying to reduce their own risk.

Yes its shit that its expensive but it wouldn't be shit if so many young people didnt drive badly and have accidents.

He can do an advanced driving course and take out third party only cover and get a black box and shop around if he wants it cheaper. But expecting other people to indirectly fund it doesn't seem fair either

@Daisyhoney

I'll speak to him about the black box although I don't think he'll be that keen because of his working hours. As for paying 6 X what a low risk driver would pay, his quote for this year is well over 12 X what my dh pays for our car.

According to the stats up to 85% of serious and fatal accidents are caused by drivers under 25, so when the insurer has to pay out 10 large claims, 8 of those will be down to under 25s and only 2 from the entire rest of their customers, so that's why they need so much more money to insure the under 25 driver. It's tough on safe young drivers but it's hardly the insurers fault.

But the same applies if an older driver who's paid a lot less hits another car so your arguement is pointless. By your reckoning everyone should pay sky high premiums to cover both cars and injuries.

You aren't understanding how insurance works. Drivers who have big accidents cost the company far, far more than they bring in. The company is able to pay because of the premiums paid by the people who have no accidents. And a far (far, far) higher number of young drivers will have accidents than older drivers. So all young drivers pay more, because what they pay has to cover the collective cost of all drivers with their risk level.

@Shade17

I bought a wee turbo diesel Clio which was deemed the ‘hot hatch’ against my dad’s wishes as he felt it was too fast. He warned me if I bought it I would have to insure it in my own name.

The Clio wasn’t launched in the UK until 1991, the diesel was naturally aspirated, not turbo charged and made a whopping 63bhp. It was never a hot hatch in any way and at nearly 15 seconds 0-60 deathly slow even back then. I think your memory is playing tricks on you!

So my memory is a year out - 1991 and not 1990. Why does that matter? I’m talking over thirty years ago and you felt the need to correct me. From my memory. My fading memory - it was a special edition. I’m pretty sure 1900 diesel. When I shopped around for insurance I was advised that it was indeed viewed as a hot hatch and that is why the insurance was so expensive. What was the point of your response exactly. How odd. Not to mention rude.

surely insurance companies just shouldn't charge so much in the first place especially as these are their future business

They base the premium on risk they are covering. Very few people are loyal to one insurance company so they won’t recap costs on future business.

Most people do quotes based on being a learner and passing the test when looking at cars as it’s well known it’s far more expensive once passed as there is no need to have an experienced driver in the car.

I’m going to go against the grain here and say that while cost is a factor to be considered, the details of the policy and the service from the insurance company is also a huge factor for me when I look for insurance policies.

With a 19 yo driver, I would assume there will be an accident and would want to make sure that he’s protected as much as could be.

I’m pretty sure 1900 diesel. When I shopped around for insurance I was advised that it was indeed viewed as a hot hatch and that is why the insurance was so expensive.

Yes, 1.9 diesel, about as far from a hot hatch as you could get!

Car make and model is one of the few things insurance companies can use to determine risk, along with age, years of experience and address for crime type purposes. While you might think little cars like corsas should be cheap to insure all the models common with learner/new drivers will carry an increased premium as they are models that are crashed more often. My insurance went down significantly when I changed from a 1.6l hatchback common amongst ‘boy racer’ types who like to stick spoilers on their cars etc to a 3l 230bhp estate car. Boring old man car despite the engine size I reckon is claimed against a lot less. Not suggesting going for something mega powerful, but I reckon if you had something like an older Skoda Fabia/octavia in a smaller Diesel engine you’d pay less than for the corsa.

@Shade17

Why are you digging into @Orla1970's perfectly normal story??????

She's recollecting that she bought a car as a young driver that turned out to be really expensive to insure because it was more nippy than it appeared.

I don't think you need to forensically assess her story for inaccuracies now - it doesn't matter!!!!

Why are you digging into @Orla1970's perfectly normal story??????

Because it’s utter nonsense!

Renault Clio's we're around in the 90s... who could forget 'Papa?'!!

Renault Clio's we're around in the 90s... who could forget 'Papa?'!!

No one claimed they weren’t, however the 1.9D was gutless slug with 63bhp, no one would’ve considered that a hot hatch, in fact the hottest version at launch was the 110bhp 1.8RSi which was considered a warm hatch. Even the 1.4 petrol was a rocket ship in comparison to the diesel with a pretty sluggish 0-60 of 11.x seconds. I’m just calling out absolute rubbish.