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?

@Shade17 Hee Hee, fair enough

You know what I mean though re a massive engine in a small car. Not physically sticking out the car, I’m just thinking of the likes of a 1.8sri corsa etc that have powerful engines in a lightweight shell. The power to weight ratio could be way different to what he would be used to in his driving school car.

Can you imagine the carnage of that in the hands of an inexperienced driver. Carnage.

@safariboot

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.)

You cant insure something if you don't have an insurable interest in it.

Insuring your teenagers car for them to obtain cheaper premiums is fraud - good job the OP isn't planning on it but this is terrible advice

Insurance for provisional drivers is very cheap, it goes up a LOT once they pass their test as they can drive unsupervised.

Use comparison sites to look for the cheapest option. Add another adult as a second driver, who has a long history of driving, with no points or claims. This should bring down the quotes a bit.

"Fronting" is clear fraud, but if the teenager isn't a named driver and isn't driving the car, is any fraud being committed by their parent insuring it, because somebody has to insure it to have it parked on the street? (Though I understand insurers might not believe such a story.)

Because young male drivers who are now able to drive without supervision are a MASSIVE risk on the road.

I used to work in insurance and we used to have mothers phoning up to get quotes etc and then claim that their son is a super responsible driver

It used to be that young women were a lesser risk but then people started campaigning for male young drivers to be treated equally to females. They got what they asked for - the premiums for women young drivers went up in line with the male ones.

@IceCreamAndCandyfloss

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.

Exactly this. And they don't want them as future business if they drive irresponsibly and get into accidents which cost the insurers a lot of money

Having worked in insurance, a hike like that means they really don't want to insure him and hope he will take his business elsewhere. One of my employers even used to do this with staff (& we had a staff discount too)!