Car insurance advice please - better to have large or small excess for cheap car?

[Ponders]

DS2 is taking over his sister's car, which is probably worth about £1000 (that's the asking price for similar cars on autotrader). She'd had it for 6 years so we know its history & it's a good car.

The 2 best quotes we have so far are for similar amounts (£1100-£1200) but one has an excess of £400 & one only £95

I was inclined to go for the £95 one, but then I wondered if that would mean the insurer would be more likely to write it off in case of a bump - I know bodywork repairs are expensive, so quite minor damage could require eg £1000 of repairs - the higher excess company would only have to pay £600 but the lower excess one would have to pay £900.

otoh, if they did write it off, we could still buy the damaged car back from them & have it fixed ourselves? (rather than going out & buying an unknown quantity)

it will be written off if so much as one panel gets stove in, whatever the excess. 'proper' insurance repairs are insanely expensive, all a bit of a stitch up.

Provided that the damage is repairable, you can buy the 'wreck' and fix it yourself. We did.

go for the lower excess. BTW as your son is a high insurance risk (even if he is the most careful driver in the world, his peers make him so) have you considered a black box to get the premium down?

oh thanks, specialsubject

At least one of the quotes includes a box - it's \link{https://www.hastingsdirectsmartmiles.com/about-smartmiles\Hastings Direct Smart Miles} which is "The only Defaqto 5 Star Rated telematics policy" - this is the one with the £95 excess.

The other is with Endsleigh - slightly lower premium, but the much bigger excess.

Compared with what we were quoted when he first passed his test 2½ years ago, c £100 a month seems cheap! Hastings quote also includes Personal Accident & Legal Advice cover so it seems very reasonable all round.

He hasn't really driven since he passed his test so I'm insisting he goes out with his instructor before he drives it alone, first of all in the dual control car & then in what will be his car (well our car...)

ooh! I just discovered that the box acts as a tracking device if the car is stolen. that's useful!

go for the box. And also investigate options for limited time driving - if he accepts a curfew he may be able to reduce the premium.

as I said, he may be the most responsible chap in the world but young men have a 1 in 4 chance of a BIG crash each year that they drive. I also thought that the premium was quite good.