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Teenagers

Parenting teenagers has its ups and downs. Get advice from Mumsnetters here.

Original poster

Car Insurance

23 replies

Minx179 · 25/03/2011 02:39

Not sure if this is the right place to post.

DS (19), has been using my car as a named driver. Unfortunately my car blew up and is not worth fixing, so need new car, which requires insurance renewal.

This year company are saying he cannot be a named driver, as he's the youngest he will have to go on insurance as main driver; helps to stop fronting www.easier.com/66846-drivers-risk-invalidating-insurance-by-fronting.html

Wouldn't mind so much but car insurance went from £330 in 2009, for DH and myself.
to £1240 in 2010, for DH, DS and myself
to 2011 where quotes are in the region of £3000- £5000 for DS to be named driver.

I thought last years was expensive but this years is going to be unaffordable.

What do you pay for your DC's, and if cheaper who are your DC's insured with?

OP posts:
MedusaIsHavingABadHairDay · 25/03/2011 08:05

My DS1 is 18 and still a learner (and named driver) but we went with Quinn Direct www.quinn-direct.co.uk/ who were by far the cheapest for us.

Another suggested was marmalade, but I haven't checked them out as we renewed for £750 with Quinn (nissan micra). We had an accident last year (Not our fault) and they were fab at getting it sorted.

chopchopbusybusy · 25/03/2011 08:15

Is he the main driver of the car? If he isn't then surely other insurance companies will quote on that basis. Hope so, because I'll be doing this soon when DD passes, but she won't be the main driver.
One of DDs friends has a good price from Admiral as a named driver on her parents car, her brother is also named on the policy. They quoted me double though when I called for a similar quote. Not sure what was more risky about us though. It's all a bit of a minefield.

Original poster
Minx179 · 25/03/2011 11:02

I will check out Quinn and Marmelade, thanks Medusa.

I was informed by current company that even though we use the car 50/50 and it is in my name, DS would have to be main driver. They reckon that due to new rules to prevent fronting the youngest driver will be required to be the main driver.

Some of the companies offering 'young driver' insurance also require the young person to also be the registered owner. These companies are tending to fall into the £3000 range, where as the traditional companies are veering towards the £5000+.

It is frustrating and prohibitively expensive.

OP posts:
dreamingofsun · 25/03/2011 12:02

just got an online quote from quinn for my 18 year old son and its 4.4k for a £750 nissan micra. how anyone is expected to be able to afford that i do not know. i hate motorbikes but have gruddingly agreed to my son having one as we live in the country and its the only way he can get about bar his cycle

dreamingofsun · 25/03/2011 12:07

actually he's not 18 for a few more days so the 4.4k was for a 17 year old. for an 18 year old it would be 3.3k BARGAIN!! 3rd party fire and theft for a car worth 750

Original poster
Minx179 · 25/03/2011 13:06

Dreaming - We're in the same position; looking for a cheap car, low insurance group, but it's their age which ramps up the price.

Unfortunately DS also has 3 points coming his way, which will put quotes up even more probably. grrr

DH suggested to DS we buy him a motorbike, but he's not too keen, I think he has got too used to driving round in a car.

We will just have to hope DS was successful with his interview yesterday and gets a new job. At least then he can contribute as he'll be earning significantly more than he does now.

OP posts:
notsweatingthesmallstuff · 25/03/2011 14:15

My 18 year old DD is insured with Elephant. Her older sister was also with them as a new driver. Have just had renewal quote for her punto of £1200, not too bad compared to others, but still £400 up on last year.
On subject of insurance, does anybody else think that if charging girls less than boys is illegal on grounds of sex discrimination, charging young people more should be age discrimination? Just a thought.

Original poster
Minx179 · 25/03/2011 17:04

Certainly do, DH and myself were having that discussion yesterday.

OP posts:
dreamingofsun · 25/03/2011 18:14

they say its all down to risk. but how can you cause on average 3-4 k's worth of damage on average a year - thats for each 17-18 year old boy. and this won't be damage to your own car since this is so cheap in comparison anyway. maybe there are a few bad boys out there - but seems unfair that they all suffer and have to compensate and pay more on their behalf

unitarian · 25/03/2011 18:31

Watch out for the cheap online ones. They might go up dramatically when DCs have passed their tests.

Direct line doesn't go up on passing the test and dropped by £500 when DD turned 18. I phoned them - more reliable than doing it online. The final price was cheaper than the quote too for some reason.

To save you time....Sheila's Wheels won't touch them until they're 21, nor will Liverpool Victoria. Tesco is very expensive.

unitarian · 25/03/2011 18:34

Direct Line £1010 fully comp.

CMOTdibbler · 25/03/2011 18:37

You ask how the cost can be justified ? Because young drivers often drive around with a car full of their mates. One crash, and that can result in the insurance company paying out for the lifelong care of an 18 year old para/tetraplegic - payouts are in the millions for that.

the industry pay out something like £1.10 for every £1 they take in premium for under 21's.

jumpforjoy · 25/03/2011 19:28

unitarian is the quote with Direct Line for male or female?

This thread has interested me as my DS is 17 and just passed his test, and the cheapest comparison quote we have come up with is £4800, on a car worth £500.

How do they expect these boys to drive?

Also why do the driving schools not advise them of the huge costs before they take their money for driving lessons. It is criminal that on one mentions this until they pass their test.

memphis83 · 25/03/2011 19:34

i second quinn, i got 9 point when i was 21, my insurance went stupidly high went with quinn and it dropped a huge amount, my 21 yo nephew goes with them too

NonnoMum · 25/03/2011 19:34

Don't know if this is now irrelevant advice, but what I did with my DSS is just put him on as a temporary driver for a month here and there (say, over half term or a chunk of the summer)...

jumpforjoy · 25/03/2011 19:52

nonnomum that is some very useful advice. Thanks, I will try that for the Easter Hols.

Original poster
Minx179 · 25/03/2011 21:18

I do feel like teens, are being priced out of the driving market. There will be no teens on the road in a few years; unless they are driving with no insurance or come from a high earning family.

OP posts:
DilysPrice · 25/03/2011 21:29

The problem is as CMOT said, the insurance companies have found out the hard way that (roughly, I'm oversimplifying here) one in a thousand teenaged boys will lumber them with a 5 million quid claim, and they don't know who that one in a thousand will be.
You could make age discrimination illegal and share the cost out across the population (which would probably result in more teenagers driving and a few increased road deaths) but until then any insurer who breaks ranks and charges under the going rate for teenagers will end up attracting every teenage boy in the country and will go bust within three years.

unitarian · 26/03/2011 00:46

jumpforjoy That Direct Line cost is for an 18 yo female with full licence. It was £1566 before she turned 18. Ford KA, limited mileage.

Celestialstarlight · 26/03/2011 00:52

Adrian Flux are also really good for young drivers. That's who our DS(18) is with although he was 17 when he took the insurance policy out Smile

notsweatingthesmallstuff · 26/03/2011 13:12

Quick update, I said above that my dd had been quoted £1236 for renewal. I went onto a price comparison site and found a price of £670 with admiral! When i tried to take it out though it wouldnt let me so I phoned and found out they were related to elephant who she was with. Long story short, they cut the renewal figure from 1236 to £780! Well worth the price of an hour of my time and a phone call, I think.

Ponders · 26/03/2011 13:29

As you're going to have to get another car anyway, did you know Marmalade have a scheme to sell new/nearly new cars (oldest 2008 I think) with 60-month finance & do a package with insurance as well?

\link{http://www.youngmarmalade.co.uk/scheme\young marmalade}

We only have 2 cars, asked Aviva to quote for DS2 (still 17) as a very occasional driver on DH's (he drives 60 miles each way to work every day so DS2 would barely touch it) & it came in at £300 a month (current premium is £34 a month). It's absolutely out of the question for us Sad

Have suggested DS2 go out with his instructor for an hour now & again just to keep his hand in - it's deeply frustrating for him as he wants to drive on his own but he's just going to have to wait

Ponders · 26/03/2011 13:30

oh Nonnomum, I was wondering about doing that (a week/month here & there) but don't they charge an admin fee of £25 or so every time?

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