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Original poster

teenagers and car insurance

51 replies

strictlycaballine · 26/10/2012 15:31

I'm asking this on behalf of a family member ...
(didn't know whether to post under teenagers topic or here)

If a teenager (aged 17) has just passed their driving test in the UK and is no longer eligible for reasonable car insurance (with adult in car) are there any affordable options thereafter?

As I understand it, it's going to cost over £4000 to buy fully comprehensive insurance for their ordinary family car and that's prohibitively expensive for the family concerned. He would be willing to carry on driving with a parent in the car (to continue to gain experience) or to drive within certain prescribed hrs (not after 6pm for example) but not sure if those sort of options exist in the motor insurance world?

Does anyone have any advice/ideas please?

OP posts:

QuickLookBusy · 26/10/2012 17:46

Yes we are just doing that Quite.
Dd2 has just started driving lessons and I although I dont intend to take her out in our car until she's very confident with the driving instructor, (I'm not brave enough!), I'm going to add her to my policy ASAP so we miss the Dec hike. It's only costing an extra £350 for her as a provisional driver and if she had just passed her test it would be £450.
This is with Admiral. They seem very good with newish drivers.

A £4000 quote sounds really excessive for a family car/not main driver. I'd recommend using a comparison website to get the best price.

Milliways · 26/10/2012 18:37

It doesn't matter if they are the main driver or not - if they can drive they are the main RISK and so the policy has to be in their name.

We have been told that when DS passes the policy can stay in my name until renewal, which is just before he goes to Uni (hopefully) and so he will be removed from insurance totally.

We had to argue like mad to get DD as a named driver when she passed, and they allowed it (4 years ago) but same company (Admiral) have now said Teens absolutley have to be policyholder. Crazy when I take the car to work every day and it's my no claims that loses a year if we did this.

QuickLookBusy · 26/10/2012 19:02

Millways that has not been my experience at all.

And afaik it invalidates the insurance to say someone is the main driver of a car when they aren't.

Who gave you that advice?

hellhasnofurylikeahungrywoman · 26/10/2012 19:09

Isn't there a difference between being policy holder and main driver? We've had a policy in the past where I was the holder but DH was down as the car's main driver.

bureni · 26/10/2012 19:10

I have found that car grouping nor engine size make any difference when it comes to teenage insurance quotes, when my nephew passed his test he bought a cheap saxo with a tiny 1 litre engine, the insurance was around £1100 for his first year. He then bought a 2.2 litre espace which only cost him just over £800 to insure fully comp. Your postcode alone dictates the biggest difference in insurance quotes from my experience and not the car nor the engine size.

Liskey · 26/10/2012 19:14

Insurance companies are very aware of "fronting" where a parent claims to be the main driver but its actually the child who's the main driver - done to reduce premiums. Saying the teen has to be the main driver may be a way of avoiding this perhaps? I'm sure most insurance companies don't insist on this though. (If fronting is found out the whole insurance policy can be voided though).

QuickLookBusy · 26/10/2012 20:00

Yes Liskey you're right, I was mixing the two up.

But I've been doing some research this week to put dd2 on my car and I haven't heard anything about her having to be the policy holder.

outtolunchagain · 26/10/2012 20:14

I am the policy holder , ds is the main driver but the advantage is that ds is building up his own no claims . Also the saving you get from fronting would not be worth the pain and suffering if they have an accident, are injured and the insurance is deemed invalid.

Milliways · 26/10/2012 21:12

I have made it VERY clear it is my car and I drive it to work every day. Admiral still insist the policy be in DS's name when he passes, with it noted it is my car etc - but as he is main risk it has to be in his name. I check they are recording when I tell them the facts. They are still cheaper than any other quote I had.

It is diffferent if you just add them for a week/month at a time in the holidays.

DD is now 21 and was it was only an Admin fee to have her added as a named driver this year in case she needs to use it.

QuickLookBusy · 26/10/2012 21:18

I would double check Milliways.

We are with Admiral and have been for 3 years. I am the main driver, Dd1 has been on the policy for that time, as she is at uni she only drives it in the holidays and now I'm adding DD2. They have never said that the policy has to be in their name.

Milliways · 26/10/2012 21:52

I will - he hasn't passed yet! We had DD as named driver only but they are saying there has been some change this (or last) year that affects new drivers. They are always tougher on the boys too.

I also think when they are at Uni you have more of an argument. DS is at school . Believe me, when the time comes I will check as if we are paying silly money you may as well be properly covered.

Original poster

strictlycaballine · 26/10/2012 21:57

ooh - lots of new responses - thanks everyone. Will be forwarding this information on to our godson.

Milliways noted about group 1 insurance car - thank you!

Quiteoldgal and Liskey thanks for info about change of law at end of year - v. useful to know

outtolunch great tip about looking on Ebay - thank you - and about engine size (noted!)

Quicklookbusy he will definitely be comparing quotes and thanks for Admiral tip

Bureni v. interesting about one's postcode dictating the quote! Will investigate ...

Will also investigate about issue of who has to be main policy holder

Thanks again everyone - really useful info! Mnset is brilliant for this sort of thing!

OP posts:

Doilooklikeatourist · 26/10/2012 22:09

DS (17) had passed his driving test , and his insurance ( as a named driver on my 7 year old Mini ) would be £1900 a year .
This is unaffordable ( to his disgust ) but is according to the insurance broker quite reasonable , as it can be up to £10,000 a year , and many insurers won't insure men under 25 .
We used provisional marmalade when he was learning , and I took him out to practise I was a nervous wreck it was about £80 for a month , with the L plates on

Doilooklikeatourist · 26/10/2012 22:11

Ps . When they're 18 , you can insure them for 90 days ( I believe ) as this would cover the holidays from Uni .

outtolunchagain · 26/10/2012 23:27

We also had a very competitive quote from LV and I know others who have good prices from NFU

Original poster

strictlycaballine · 29/10/2012 16:10

DoIlooklikeatourist thanks will pass on info about 90-day insurance possibilities - I'm sure that will come in useful

Thanks for tips re: LV and NFU Outtolunch - much appreciated!

OP posts:

charlearose · 29/10/2012 23:41

This reply has been deleted

Message withdrawn at poster's request.

BackforGood · 29/10/2012 23:49

er - it's not really "unlucky" to get points on your licence. As a driver you choose to offend or not.

the point about the value of the car having little influence on the price of the insurance has been made above. The vast majority of the premium is for the risk about them damaging someone else, not their own car.

bureni · 29/10/2012 23:49

charlearose, have you tried insurance companies in N.I, some of them will insure mainland adresses. Also try online but give different postcodes and try to avoid the "boy racer " type cars that teenagers want. As already posted my young nephew could insure a 2.2 litre 8 seater Renault espace cheaper than a stupid 1 litre Citoren saxo simply because the saxo was a boy racer special, the grouping made no difference as the espace was much bigger as was the engine.

hatesponge · 30/10/2012 00:15

Generally the lower the insurance group, the cheaper the insurance. However teen boys are the highest risk group for accidents -they tend to have more serious accidents and (because they are often driving cars with 3 or 4 passengers) the total cost to insurers of dealing with those accidents, and the various passenger claims is huge.

To clear up some comments made upthread, the policy must be in the name of the MAIN driver. This is to avoid 'fronting' (basically where parents say teen barely uses car, when in fact he is main/only driver), which is a way of getting a cheaper insurance premium as quote will be based on teen only using vehicle infrequently. I suspect what the insurers may have meant was that if there is any time during the year when teen IS likely to be the main driver, it's preferable to have policy in his name so as to avoid any suggestion of fronting.

custardismyhamster · 30/10/2012 00:57

I used to (til 6 months ago so this is still correct) work for an insurance company. Those asking about the teen being the policyholder-incorrect advice from your insurers. The policyholder HAS to be the owner of the car. So if it's registered in your name it's you, if it's DD's car then she is policyholder. The main driver is the person driving most and can be anyone-if that will be DD/DS the premium will be higher though. If your DC buys their own car and insures in their own name, putting both parents on as additional drivers will lessen th premium and it's ok to do this-you aren't breakig any laws. If you insured DCs car in your name though this is fronting and is illegal, and if discovered your insurance will cancel your policy ad you may not be able to insure elsewhere.

Hope that makes sense, feel free to PM me any questions

vj32 · 30/10/2012 15:34

If you are putting your DCs on as a named driver it may be worth paying more to go with a company that gives no claims credit to named drivers.

We had the problem last year that my DH has been driving on my insurance for 5 years, as we only have one car. When we went to get a second car and insure him as main driver on my old fiesta, most places refused to insure him, even third party and with me also on the insurance, because he had no no claims discount. And probably because he was a man under 30 didn't help either!

Original poster

strictlycaballine · 30/10/2012 16:59

charlearose backforgood bureni Hatesponge custardismyhamster vj32

Thank you all - very much - for taking the trouble to post. Will be forwarding all this information on to my godson right now. Much appreciated!

And thanks for clarification Custard very kind of you to answer possible pms on the matter too! Will get back to you if we are still stuck.

Thanks again everyrone!

OP posts:

Rachel130690 · 30/10/2012 18:26

The thing with those boxes being put in your car you might have to pay a monthly fee on them, I looked them up and there was a cost to having them in the car. Also if the driver goes over speed limit or brakes too late it can also increase the cost of insurance for next year.

My sister had her car insured on a policy stating she was only allowed to have it out 3 days a week so some might be able to limit hours in a day or between certain hours.

Also re: insurance prices. These are set to increase for females to match the price males are charged therefore no decrease in the amount males are charged. My mum told me today that for my age group (I'm 22) my insurance may increase by 32-34% next year. To match what males my age are charged. So don't hold out to see if the males is reduced as I doubt that will happen

Original poster

strictlycaballine · 31/10/2012 17:59

Rachel thanks for the heads about re: monitoring boxes... there was bound to be a snag somewhere!

Godson is investigating limited hrs option and noted about change of legislation not leading to reduced price for blokes - didn't think it would somehow!!

Thanks again

OP posts:

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