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Paid childcare

Discuss everything related to paid childcare here, including childminders, nannies, nurseries and au pairs.

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Original poster

Yikes! It will cost half the price of the car to insure our nanny to drive it!!

29 replies

BoffinMum · 18/09/2009 21:49

I am wondering if there is anywhere that gives a reasonable rate for nannies' car insurance - I have rung around and also done a search on GoCompare, and we are looking at a four-figure sum, thanks to her being under 21.

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nannynick · 18/09/2009 21:53

Are you trying to get nanny on your policy as a named driver, or a policy in their own right?
Have you spoken to your current insurer - as you have a policy with them already, they may be able to give the best quote.

AtheneNoctua · 18/09/2009 21:55

ouch (sorry, not helpful)

Milliways · 18/09/2009 21:57

Admiral are pretty good for adding Teens, so may be worth a try?

Millarkie · 18/09/2009 22:04

I have a 20yr old au pair insured as a named driver on a high power car with Elephant for £500 (it's my car but she uses it during the day - I guess it would be a lot more if she had sole use of car).
Others were recommending the tesco basic insurance.
Elephant have a scheme where the excess charge decreases as the driver gets older so our excess is currently £350 if she's driving but will go down next week when she turns 21.

sazm · 18/09/2009 22:14

you are best off adding her to your policy as a named driver,but will also need to make sure she is insured for business use,as when she is driving the car she will be working,

frakkinpannikin · 18/09/2009 23:00

Endsleigh? They did me when I was a student and younger.

FantasticMissFox · 19/09/2009 13:47

Does your nanny not have her own car she can drive the children around in? You would have to pay her petrol but it would be a cheaper option.

Oligo · 19/09/2009 14:46

Some companies, if fully comp on your own car (can be cheaper than third party quite often) insure you to drive any other car. If yours is fully comp any other driver can be insured to drive it without being named- hmmm, maybe if they have their own insurance from their car though. I know there is some clause like that in mine. Check you policy wording; the people on the phones (especially sales) don't always know/won't make it easy for you to find out.

sarah293 · 19/09/2009 14:53

This reply has been deleted

Message withdrawn

nbee84 · 19/09/2009 16:03

Oligo - I think if you do it that way the nanny (or anyone else that drives the car) is only insured 3rd party, so if she has a prang that is her fault she would be liable to all repair costs to the car that she was driving - the insurance company will only pick up the costs for the 3rd party. And she also may not be covered anyway because of the business use.

I had this sort of trouble when I was trying to insure my daughter on my car a couple of years ago. The insurance companies are clamping down because so many parents put the insurance in their own name with their child as a named driver, when in fact the car is not theirs but their childs. In my case, the car was definitely mine and I had been driving it for several years, but lots of companies were giving quotes of 4 figures. I eventually got it down to £600 per year through Barclays Insurance.

Original poster

BoffinMum · 19/09/2009 17:15

We are buying a little runaround for her to drive the kids to school (and for us to do errands in from time to time). Current insurers are Direct Line and they initially quoted a mad amount of money even if it was insured in one of our names, and then when we said that she would be the main driver (driving a mere 2 miles up to the school and back twice a day, so under 1000 miles a year with us probably doing 500) they refused to cover her. We then asked if we used it more than her so one of us was the main driver, would they cover it then, and they still refused (didn't seem to be able to make their blardy minds up, tbh).

Many others won't cover for business use at all.

Maybe I should go to a broker? I will certainly try all the ones mentioned below.

It really makes it hard to be honest when insurance companies mess you about like this.

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nickschick · 19/09/2009 17:19

What if you buy an older car and insure it on a classic policy?

By older I mean G reg??

Danthe4th · 19/09/2009 17:31

Most companies cover for class 1 business and don't charge any extra, I would have a ring about and mention a minimum usage it may be cheaper. But if you were to go shopping at the weekend and drove 25 miles would that make you the main driver?

purepurple · 19/09/2009 17:32

It was cheaper for DS to get insured if he put his dad down as a named driver.
Can you not do the same?

Oligo · 19/09/2009 17:37

insurance companies smell.

If its not being driven much it's more at risk of being stolen?

What is that company that had the ad. about listening to how you use your car or something. Vague memory can't remember. guy in supermarket with security posse round car?

If you can do that driving another car thing for free and if it did include business use, is it maybe worth third party only and risk paying for prangs if they arise?

theoriginalmummypoppins · 19/09/2009 17:47

tescos are good. We had this with our first au pair.

paid £750 for the car and it was £800 to insure 3rd party.

Combination of age and that it was a 3rd car for the household and we had to star again on the no claims bonus.

No easy way round it. You just have to grin and bear it if you can. Now we have a car worth about 4k and its 250 a year to insure fully comp for our nanny though she is older than me !!

Original poster

BoffinMum · 19/09/2009 20:10

Well, progress to report - Admiral seem to be looking promising at £672.02 and £600 xs for a special 10 month 'accelerated bonus' policy (presumably 1 yrs no claims after 10 months?). We have also found a firm called Morton Michel that do special nanny car insurance and DH is going to ring them on Monday (they are closed at the weekend).

Interestingly we don't seem to save much at all going for Third Party or Third Party, Fire and Theft, and oddly some of the prices were actually HIGHER!!

We did try the low mileage route but that didn't save much either.

It would be nice if companies sold us what we wanted to buy, instead of what they thought we ought to have ...

OP posts:

MatNanPlus · 19/09/2009 20:35

BoffinMum Admiral also do a multi car policy and that saves DH & I a bucketful each year.

nannynick · 19/09/2009 20:51

Morton Michel does do specialist insurance, it does tend to be more expensive though. The policy is worded such that it provides cover for children as passengers who are paying to be transported (which is the case where a nanny is paid a mileage allowance).

Some insurers class Business Use (BU1 category) insurance as "use by the policyholder for their own business to travel to more than one place of work and between places of work". Such a definition may not fully cover a nanny who is driving their employers children around. Not sure if there have been any court cases yet... until a case goes before a court, I don't think we will ever know if BU1 insurance is sufficient for a nanny (or childminder) or if a higher level of cover is needed.

When I was a teenager, Swinton were good at finding me a policy - mind you, it was still more then the price of the car!

frakkinpannikin · 19/09/2009 21:17

Most under 25s can't get the cover to drive another car - you have to search for an insurance company to do it!

On the point about very old cars, they can often be expensive to insure because they're old, even if they're rust-buckets. My friend has an E reg Golf and it's more expensive for him to insure than his 5 year old Xantia!

And MM are heinously expensive, or were last time I looked, but Admiral are sounding good.

Make sure you've protected your own no claims bonuses though, because if nanny does (heaven forbid) have an accident, you would lose your no claims and that could work out very expensive indeed.

Simplyme · 21/09/2009 22:50

That's the problem with the younger nannies. As a general rule the younger more experienced nannies are cheaper in the wages front but more expensive on things like car insurance - but the older experienced nannies have higher wages but are a bargain on the car insurance front!! Think as an employer you are financially screwed either way!!

Simplyme · 21/09/2009 22:51

oops younger LESS experienced nannies

moseskoeln · 22/09/2009 14:02

try yes insurance, i got insured with then for first car, only named driver, at 17 with 0 years driving experince as just passed..that was beginning 2008, for £750

iv now driven for 18 months, in over 6 countries, both auto and manual, and the same company quoted me £320 if i want to insure with them now

Blondeshavemorefun · 24/09/2009 17:00

ouch - though guess as younger then wont have many years experience of driving

when i was 18 my car insurance was £800 a year - car cost me £750 - was an x reg fiesta

now im 36- insurance is under £300 for a car thats 5years old

as simply me said - either way you are screwed finanically when you have a nanny

Original poster

BoffinMum · 25/09/2009 23:41

Well DH got onto it ... it turned out she actually had a couple of years no claims after all, and Direct Line don't count nanny use of a car as business, but count it as Social, Domestic and Pleasure instead, so it doesn't cost extra. So we had to spend a mere £450 in the end!!! I am well chuffed!!!!

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