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.

I know this isn't very helpful, but there's no way I would have wanted my parents (now deceased) driving at the age of 90 or more. And I won't be doing it myself either. My dad was getting increasingly scatty by 75-76, and his driving was dangerous. Mum passed her test at 45 and stopped driving at 72 because she knew herself that she was struggling with it for various reasons.

Dad was having none of it though, and refused to stop driving. He was convinced he was OK.

My dad's younger sister (15 years younger) ended up taking his car away when he was 78. And she reported him to the DVLA as he had several bumps, drove around traffic islands in the wrong direction a number of times, and knocked a cyclist off his bike and drove off, (only doing 12-15 mph and the cyclist was OK but still...) . My dad was fuming when his sister reported him, because in his head he was still 35 years old, and his driving was fine. His driving was not 'fine' and it's a miracle that no-one was actually hurt.

There's a reason why the insurance is so expensive for much older people @KingscoteStaff

We took FiL's car away when he was diagnosed with dementia. He could not get to the assessment centre to test he was still fit to drive, got lost and had to be rescued.

We said when he could renew his licence, insurance and sort out an assessment himself he could have it back. There is no chance of him doing that.

He still asks for his car saying there are people older than him driving. We just say well they may not have a dementia diagnosis and really should they be driving at an advanced age - cannot imagine how they would cope in an accident and their reaction times. Sometimes you just need to stop for everyone's benefit.

Taxis are also a dirty word in their house. He has a bus pass and catches the bus.

Is it lack of thinking ability? Or just that they value the freedom (or the thought of freedom...) more than the money? We all do things that on a £ basis don't make sense to others!!

Sounds like a great outcome - and good for her!!

The province of Ontario in Canada has a competency test at 80. A road test is required only if the senior fails the competency test. I'm not sure what other provinces do. (Driving is a provincial responsibility, not federal)

Why do people think ops dm has dimentia just because she's 90? I wonder how they will feel if they get to that age and busy body children are trying to take their freedom away. Looks like they managed to find a good deal anyway

I am sure the age people become less able to drive varies enormously, I know of someone who had to give up in their early seventies. They went out with an Advanced Driving Instructor for a safety assessment due to family concerns and were turned round and back to the car park they started from within five minutes, they nearly ran over a group of pedestrians on a zebra crossing and said they hadn’t noticed them 😮

@ElvieP I completely agree with you, and the attitude of many posters on here about older drivers makes me very angry. My mum was still driving in her early 90s, and was completely safe until just before she decided to stop. She had been driving for almost 60 years and had never had an accident. The day she gave up her car was one of the saddest in her life, and it was essentially the end of her independence. Like many people of her generation, she was not happy using taxis, despite having a London taxicard, and while she did use dial a ride occasionally, it wasn't the same for her as being able to go where she wanted, when she wanted, and took all the spontaneity out of her life.

As someone else said, by far the most dangerous car drivers are young men who haven't been driving for long. Some of the people on here who seem to think thst anyone over retirement age is automatically developing dementia and becoming incapable of childcare and playing just as valuable part in society should be ashamed of themselves.

Trouble is, elderly drivers tend to drive in places where it's very easy to injure or worse someone else. Local driving to the shop, doctor etc with zebra crossings and traffic lights to stop at, parking to manoeuvre around, pedestrians to watch out for.

I'm not usually driving during the daytime as I work full time but yesterday I walked with my child across a Morrisons car park halfway through the morning. Scary experience - several drivers weren't looking where they were going. One went the wrong way in a one way bit.

Did you notice they were all elderly or did you just assume? I usually find elderly drivers much slower and more careful than young and middle aged men.

They were all very elderly! That's the thing, at that time of day the majority of people there were elderly, very elderly or a parent with children. I've already seen one crash in a supermarket car park (that was half term week) and I can imagine a lot of scrapes and near misses. Yes, low speeds so less likely to kill, but you could still have a badly injured person who can't get out of the way quickly.

It's not that I think teenage boys are any safer. But the few that I know either can't afford to learn to drive at all, are anti-car (environment awareness) so don't want to learn or have that box insurance that records what you do which limits what they can get up to.

I'd prefer to see assessments done regularly (3 yearly?) on everyone who drives as we can all get into bad habits or not realise eyesight is altering. And increase the frequency of those after a certain age (80 ish?) - look at the threads on here where someone is desperately trying to get their parent to stop driving but the parent insists they're fine!

See post above about the mum who was still driving in early 90s and was completely safe until "just before she had to stop driving".

That makes me wince - what happened in the "just before"?!

By that age there is no way your reaction times, eyesight etc are as good as someone younger. Our ex. neighbour was still driving into his 90s and was "absolutely fine" until the time he misjudged it and took out a brick gatepost! You can rebuild a gatepost but not someone's life...

My dad is 92 and was driving until a few months ago. My brother said he was very good (and he's very critical so would say if he fell not safe)

Dad stopped whilst waiting cataract surgery and the day before he was going to start driving again he had a seizure...first one ever.

So he's given up and even if he never has another one I think it was the time to stop. He can get the bus anywhere or a taxi.

My father in law spends about £50 a month on taxis still cheaper than a car...he's 96. We have a contract with the taxi firm so the bill just gets paid monthly.

Often with driving though the right time to stop is well before you become a danger to others and that is difficult. My dad reluctantly made the decision to stop but also consciously made the choice not to be stingy with taxis. He’s found a company he trusts and has an account with them so he can pay monthly by invoice rather than each time. It does reduce freedom a bit but financially he sees the money he got for the car plus annual savings on petrol/insurance as his taxi pot and he’s not any worse off at all.

Sorry to play devil's advocate but reading this yesterday https://www.theguardian.com/uk-news/article/2024/aug/05/man-found-guilty-death-by-careless-driving-london?
about a 28 year old who was driving at 48mph in a 20mph zone and who stopped and raged at the partner of the woman who he had just killed because they were crossing the road unexpectedly (!).
We all drive differently and it is ageist to think that someone is a dangerous driver because of age. Where I live in the beloved (yuck) Cotswolds, it's the clearly young people in Mercedes, huge Range Rovers and similar who speed, tailgate, don't signal, cut across and into roundabouts and generally behave as though the road is their personal territory.
Also, our cities are rife with people driving under the influence of street drugs. Someone has a cataract and someone else is high on coke or the latest smart drug, never mind a stomach full of beer, who is safer???

I agree, it's ageism pure and simple.

Who would object to the Aus system?? Seems so so sensible to me (pretty easy to get a licence for local driving; further driving requires a short test)

Also - if this DID happen, then there would be so much more demand for buses that the bus system, even in semi rural areas, would be transformed - another win for society.

I assume you're referring to my post. My mum hurt her back badly. She was driving until then but stopped because it was too painful.

Difficult, just getting quotes for my dad, he is 92. As sharp as any 70 year old. i have come across many old drivers, some absolutely shocking as it is obvious they are having difficulty (like not driving above about 15Mph). Giving up that independence is a shocker for anyone who has been driving for around 70 years. I have had all the same conversations as all the messages above. There should be a test to prove that you are still competent say every 2 years after the age of 90 in order to get cheaper insurance. 40 years no claims should count for something.

I am more concerned by the number of parents I see on their phones on the school run, and their selfish / dangerous parking than I am about an elderly driver maybe driving into a gate post. Because reaction times are no use at all if you’re not actually paying attention to the road! Everyone’s different, and age alone is no barrier to driving.

My granny never liked driving and effectively gave up when grandpa died, when she was only 60. But my grandparents on the other side were driving well into their late 80s perfectly competently. My parents are late 70s now, and again perfectly competent drivers. I agree that the self certification every three years post 70 ought to have some form of eye test as a minimum, but as my parents have their eyesight checked every year I’m not concerned about them. Each of their cars does around 10k miles a year without incident.

Taxis feel expensive, at £50 per hospital visit. And they’re not a complete solution. How can one get one’s garden rubbish to the tip? A taxi driver won’t want it in his nice clean car. What about all the 80+ cavers I know - how do they get their gear up there? And what do they do with their travelling clothes without a car to lock them in? We all think about the frail elderly who probably shouldn’t be driving, but age related bans affect the competent and active elderly too.

Exactly! I know for sure that cost isn’t a barrier to my parents, and they still run 2 cars (in their late 70s) because the flexibility and freedom is worthwhile to them.

They like walking, and to get to lots of scenic walks a car is the only practical solution. Likewise, if my mother wants to go and see a friend who lives a 2 hour drive away, that’d be almost impossible and certainly impractical on a bus. Sure, on paper they don’t need one car. Never mind 2. Waitrose delivers the food. The wine merchant delivers the wine. They pick up cheese , fish and meat from the local town and veg from a farm shop, but I expect they’d deliver for a price.

But, they are still very active, live 10/15 miles from the nearest (small) city and go out for lunch locally together or with friends a couple of times a week. As well as 2/3/4 day breaks all over the county most months (less often in winter obviously) While they can still safely drive, which they can, I encourage them to keep doing it - although to be fair, not much encouragement is needed! Indeed, my mums main complaint is that the satnav in her car is a bit outdated (it’s a 2017 car, so not new but not an old banger) and so she needs to change the car. So it shouldn’t be as binary as age alone, and I only hope I am as active in 25 years time as they are now!

my mum is 92 & her insurance has just renewed ( with Admiral I think. One of my brothers deals with that side of her life). Around £900 for the year. We did have a conversation about her potentially stopping driving but she's got all her faculties (and her own teeth which is more that I can say and it maintains her independence.