Car Insurance for over 90s

[KingscoteStaff]

Mum’s premium renewal has just come in - up from 1700 to 5000!!!

Hasn’t had an accident or a claim for at least 20 years. Small car used 2 or 3 times a week to go shopping and to church.

Is there a specific insurer for oldies? Any advice gratefully received.

@twilightcafe

@LoctiteStuck
Okay...
If you would willingly be a passenger with someone you knew had dementia, then go right on ahead.

I have and I did. A bit of recognition and an apology for your nasty sweeping prejudiced statements treating everyone with dementia diagnosis as an incapable vegetable is obviously too much to hope for. You need to understand that a dementia diagnosis is trajectory downwards from ok but with a bit of memory loss to incontinent and unable to remember how to even swallow. That path can take years.

Look forward to the day when you get diagnosed with dementia and you are basically ok to drive but everyone around you treats you like that.

As ye sow so shall ye reap.

No apologies coming from me, @LoctiteStuck

'Look forward to the day when you get diagnosed with dementia and you are basically ok to drive but everyone around you treats you like that.

As ye sow so shall ye reap.'

I hope my children have the sense to bury my car keys in wet concrete.

Good on ya @twilightcafe

My mum is 89 and is both physically and mentally fit. She now only drives local journeys in her small town and to the next town 3 miles away - only in daylight. I’ve been a passenger with her a lot and I think she’s a very competent driver. She’s never had an accident ever, or points on her licence.

Your mum isn’t then in her 90s @Pacifybull & is very fortunate to be physically & mentally fit at 89, something that many people of that age do not have unfortunately. That is why I think elderly people of 80 plus say should be forced to sit another driving test to prove competency.

Someone that bright should be able to work out that uber or a local taxi co is cheaper and more efficient? I’m in my 50s and I know that taxis, buses and trains can be cheaper than paying for parking and petrol etc so I don’t always use the car anyway.

What do you do about someone who shouldn’t be driving at 80 but is no worse than when they miraculously passed their test at 63

shes a shit driver but always has been!

My mum and dad were just nearly killed recently by an 80 year old turning right into them and taking them straight out off their motorbike ... my Dad was given 20 mins to decide if he wanted his leg off after the accident and we found out this week he remembers himself looking down on his body so he died at the scene and got bought back ...
The police have charged the driver ...

There's a reason they want to change the law about older drivers and i fully agree now . I could've lost them both that day and the police have cctv that showed the driver just completely turn straight into them for no reason . No gap in the traffic , my Dad had 8 working lights on on his bike and the driver just mowed them down .

I fully support the way they want to get old people doing re-tests.
Let them enjoy their free bus passes !!

And I don't care how awful that sounds but no way do I believe a person of 75 has the quick response like a younger person.

make sure your quads/glutes are tip top, they are the muscles that will allow you to get off your chair and more importantly on and off the toilet unaided in your dotage.

What are "quads/glutes" @TorroFerney

My mum had dementia for 7 years before she died. My dad made her stop driving immediately.

You might feel differently if you were elderly and your world is already contracting and being able to drive yourself around is your one piece of independence.

Look I don't want unsafe drivers out on the road more than anyone else, but it doesn't take much emotional empathy to see that it's about more than just the logical argument of the cost of running a car versus taking a taxi.

Thanks for all your advice.

One if her neighbours’ son in law is a driving instructor, so she asked him to take her out this morning for his honest opinion.

Apart from one incident of over caution at a mini roundabout, he’s given her a clean bill of driving health.

Axa have quoted her 1200 with my sister as a 2nd driver.

And her team won the Sports Club quiz this evening.

I will happily stop driving when I know I’m past it and I am sure that will be well before 90. Im sympathetic to getting old but as there are other options to getting around this doesn’t need to be a huge deal

@Newgirls I will happily stop driving too, but that's because I'm not overly keen on doing it and it's only a way to get from A to B for me.
DM 85 seemed quite happy that her macular degeneration meant she is no longer allowed to drive.
But my Dad 90 is emotionally wedded to his remaining vestiges of independence, even though he goes no further than the local Morrisons.
It's easy to make rational, sensible choices about how we will behave when elderly, when we're not.
Which is why a nice impartial test would be such a good idea - on that I think most of us can agree.

Could someone from church not collect her?

Because 18 year olds are high risk for different reasons than 90 year olds, such as impulsivity, speed, risk taking, lack of experience.

If 18 year olds also had slow reflexes, poor eyesight or cognition problems they would be higher risk than 90 year olds.

My grandad is very lucky to be fit and well at 97
He still plays golf, I couldn't find him at my mums wake and found him carrying a bar tray, clearing away glasses in the next room. Never sits still. Stopped driving as "perhaps it's time"
He gets taxis now or one of his younger(!) friends picks him up
I know people on here say oh everyone looks their age but genuinely most people put him around 80

But, overall, the risk is still lower.

If we removed 18 and 90 year olds from the driving pool, another group would then become the highest risk. If we repeat and remove the next group of high risk drivers, eventually there would be zero risk. Unfortunately, there would be nobody driving either.

Well, of course 18 year olds are a high risk for different reasons. They’re still a high risk in the eyes of insurers.

It’s not a given that 90 year olds have poor eyesight and cognition problems. Slower reflexes, probably, but there’s evidence older people compensate for that by more defensive driving, eg leaving bigger gaps from the car in front.

Testing cognition and submitting a recent eye test result with the driving licence renewal might be a good first step, and perhaps less resource intensive than doubling (at least) the requirement for driving tests.

By that argument, and coupling the general desire to “do something” about older drivers but not younger, we’d start by getting 90 year olds off the road, then 80 year olds, then 70 year olds, then just simplify it by saying “no one over state retirement age”. Maybe that would be a good thing. Maybe it would make public transport more viable. Or increase the urge to self driving cars, which would be a good thing if people realised they could call a self driving taxi rather than keep their own car parked on the road so they could use it for an hour or so a day.

Regular tests every 10 or so years for all of us would make a lot of sense - could be rewarded with a lower insurance premium? Or over 60s or whenever the premiums start to rise/accident risk goes up

My dad lives abroad and is 73. He still has his lorry licence but has to take medical test every two years. It's medical and they do dementia test as well. (I don't know why he wants to keep his lorry licence because he is not going to drive lorry anymore.)
But it's good that he has these tests. They should definitely test over 80 year olds in regular intervals.

Because four or five 18yr olds in one car, in a catastrophic crash might spend 20,30,40 or more years needing round the clock care. A 90 yr old is most likely pottering about short distances, slowly on local roads, unlikely to have more than one passenger.

@KingscoteStaff she sounds amazing! My father (almost that age) is still a safe and careful driver. There's a lot of ageism at both ends of the scale, it seems.

I am in the same position being over 90. I am mentally and physically active and a good driver, so I am told. My reaction times are as good as many 60 year olds. My car is my independence. I voluntarily gave up driving for 6 weeks as I had a temporary problem and was so frustrated at not being able to jump in the car and take myself off. Taking taxis is just not the same. I would be happy to take a driving test at any time if it would bring these ridiculous insurance premiums down. It is just not fair that because we have reached a certain number of years we should be penalised.
It makes me see red when I read on this site people saying we should be banned from driving just like that. I think it will be a different story when they reach this age themselves. Certainly those not fit should not drive but not a blanket cover regardless of capabilities

Young men, newly licensed, awash with testosterone, showing of to mates are the real danger.