Active discussions

Meet the Other Phone. Only the apps you allow.

Meet the Other Phone.
Only the apps you allow.

Buy now

Please or to access all these features

Talk
Teenagers

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

Original poster

£4,400 quoted for car insurance once dd has passed her test. Advice and recommendations please.

258 replies

LimitIsUp · 18/07/2019 10:30

Posting here since as parents of teens you may have had the car insurance problem.

Okay, we weren't expecting a cheap insurance given dd has a 2018 VW Polo Beats, so the replacement cost of the car is quite high. Also, whilst it is a 1 litre engine it is turbo. However dh has been given a quote of £4,400 from the brokers. We had been anticipating (a still eye watering) £2K perhaps, but £4,400 Shock? If she had previously driven and been banned for drink driving her insurance would probably have been less!

Fortunately she has only just started to learn to drive so we have time to work on this. Any advice please re getting a better deal?

OP posts:
lovelyupnorth · 18/07/2019 12:28

I had the older version which had 5*s

Speed limiter will make no difference. Black box tracks speed anyway.

zippey · 18/07/2019 12:28

Well, if you can afford a new car for your kids, then why not? It’s like when Walter a white buys his kid a new car (albeit from drug money.

Personally, I wouldn’t be encouraging young kids to drive. They often make wrong decisions or show off, which can result in injury or a fatality. I’d encourage them to wait till they are 21+

Gatekeeper · 18/07/2019 12:28

Have you tried doing a quote for multi car insurance and putting yours, your husband';s and your daughter's cars on?

Also , if you have any type of insurance with Aviva they will knock a good chunk off a new policy- I got 20% discount because of life insurance- They aren't included in site comparisons so you have to go onto their website to get a quote

YesQueen · 18/07/2019 12:28

Pass plus and black box I would say
I'm older now but I had a fiat uno and I remember that was £900 to insure third party only. Interestingly I then had a punto and my last three cars have all been VW polos, they are nice cars

Original poster
LimitIsUp · 18/07/2019 12:32

Anothertempusername - eh? How so?

"Personally, I wouldn’t be encouraging young kids to drive. They often make wrong decisions or show off, which can result in injury or a fatality. I’d encourage them to wait till they are 21+" - I kind of get this - however we live rurally so driving is more important

OP posts:
QforCucumber · 18/07/2019 12:41

What annual mileage are you basing her on? Driveway is cheaper than garage parking for a lot of policies (because, so many people claim for things like paint falling off shelves, missing a pedal and driving into a garage wall for examples) When I worked in insurance (3 years ago i left) this was the case.

Having yourself as the policyholder but then listing your DD as a named, main driver of the vehicle is not fronting. However saying you are the main driver when it's actually her is. (policies ask you the specific question who is the main driver of this car) Main driver and policyholder are 2 completely separate things, however if you were the policyholder and she has an accident it is your No claims which would be affected, and she would not be accruing her own.

newmomof1 · 18/07/2019 12:45

@LimitIsUp I know you can have a secure driveway, as I do. What I meant was you can't select this as an option when buying insurance

Original poster
LimitIsUp · 18/07/2019 12:54

Okay newmomof1 - thanks, didn't realise. She will use the garage then and we'll state that as an option

Annual mileage probably around 6000 miles

OP posts:
ashvivienne · 18/07/2019 12:56

Newer cars are cheaper to insure as they’re easier to fix and generally don’t have issues as often as older cars.
Say it’s parked on a drive way not a garage (garage actually increases policy as anything can happen in a garage eg a shelf of paint falls on the car)
Put an adult with no claims or points on the policy
Hastings are generally a pretty good company for no box and for a box Tesco insurance is pretty good. Honestly brokers use more expensive companies so don’t let that put you off

Original poster
LimitIsUp · 18/07/2019 13:13

Thank you - more good advice

OP posts:
lpchill · 18/07/2019 13:18

Once your DD passes her test she could do pass plus. It will help along with a black box reduce the insurance premium. Also some insurers also ask if you have a dashcam (that they would use in a event of a crash) fitted which also will reduce the insurance.

Failing that it depends on how the car is used. If she is the main driver then your best paying the premium (if a crash occurs and it's found she's the main driver and it's in your name they don't pay out)

If she's only just started you could insure the car and have her on which will reduce the premium for this year. Once she passes it will increase again. Also the value of the car will reduce year on year so you need to check how much the insurance has the value listed as.

I don't blame you for getting the safest car for her! I'm sure if people could afford to they would do the same. My DD is only 3 but when she starts driving eventually I will pay as much as I am able to ensure her safety.

nandaandm · 18/07/2019 13:32

We used Marmalade for my sons first year. We found it to be the cheapest.

SlowMoFuckingToes · 18/07/2019 13:34

I'd look into pass plus or a defensive driving course. Those tend to take some money off. And good for you, OP for calling out the aggressive nasty posters. You should be able to ask a question without the veiled and not so veiled judgemental bullshit. It should get called out more on MN.

karala · 18/07/2019 13:39

We used A Plan for my niece's insurance and they were amazingly helpful and reasonable. Good luck

fatandshattered89 · 18/07/2019 14:07

This thread is bloody brilliant.

MN BINGO Smile

MsWarrensProfession · 18/07/2019 15:02

I don’t think it’s true any more that new cars are easier to fix. The latest cars come with all sorts of eye-wateringly expensive and sensitive stuff so for example a minor bumper crunch which would previously have been fixed by the garage, or just ignored now involves replacing all the cameras that run the parking visualisation - and you can’t send off to Amazon for a replacement: you have to pay whatever VW want to charge you for them.

VirginiaCreeper · 18/07/2019 15:39

What an odd thread. "Car insurance for my teen" crops up about once a month on here and is usually full of sensible advice and tips. Such venom because a parent has chosen an expensive car!

I've driven a 1 litre turbo and they really don't feel that powerful, I would say the turbo gives you the ability to boost speed in a situation where it's needed but it's really not a boy/girl racer car.

Anyway my advice OP. You may find oddly that the insurance quotes change once she has actually passed her test - which you might reasonably expect her to do within 3 months depending how much practice she gets.
You mention a broker? Have you tried comparison sites? Direct Line and Admiral came out well when I was insuring DC. We obviously put ourselves down as additional drivers which can take the price down a little.
Beware of the Ts&Cs of black boxes. Some have curfews, some ramp up the price if the driver does something they don't like. A friend had issues with the box thinking her DD was speeding when in fact the speed limit had been changed on the road in question. I bit the bullet and opted for higher premium and no box.

VirginiaCreeper · 18/07/2019 15:42

Not one insurer quoted me a reduction for Pass Plus. However it's worth them doing from a safety point of view.
We also live very rurally and every 17 year old round here learns to drive asap.

Mrsjayy · 18/07/2019 15:44

Personally, I wouldn’t be encouraging young kids to drive. They often make wrong decisions or show off, which can result in injury or a fatality. I’d encourage them to wait till they are 21+

My dds had full time jobs by the time they were 21 Dd1 worked until 1 am somenights how would she have got home if she didn't drive?

Paramicha · 18/07/2019 15:45

Do they have to drive? One of my brood didn't find it necessary so when passed their test still used the bus and public transport for a few years.
The the insurance started to come down.
Either that or find the most economical car with lowest insurance, or a scooter for a while.

Cerseilannisterinthesnow · 18/07/2019 15:52

I can’t get over how expensive insurance is now! I passed my test in 2007 and paid £54 per month, own insurance policy on an N reg Clio that my parents bought me. They bought me the car but I was expected to pay for upkeep, insurance, parts etc but I worked full time. No way would they have paid for my insuranx

Cerseilannisterinthesnow · 18/07/2019 15:54

Sorry pressed post too soon

I have a while before my kids get to this stage but if they are going to uni or whatever they won’t need a car if they go away to the city or whatever but if not they will be expected to find their own cars, we will hopefully be in a position to get them a first car but it won’t be brand new and they will be expected to cover running costs, if they can’t they won’t be able to driver it

XingMing · 18/07/2019 15:58

DS has had insurance in his own name since his first lesson. He has always had (still has) a black box and limited miles (7000). We insured it first via our broker (£1300); went to More Than for year 2 after PassPlus, at about £950. In year 3, we stayed with More Than for £500, but he has built up three full years no-claims. This year, they've quoted him £425. He drives an old Corsa.

notacooldad · 18/07/2019 16:08

I have a while before my kids get to this stage but if they are going to uni or whatever they won’t need a car if they go away to the city or whatever but if not they will be expected to find their own cars, we will hopefully be in a position to get them a first car but it won’t be brand new and they will be expected to cover running costs, if they can’t they won’t be able to driver it

So to sum up, you don't have any useful advice?

Cerseilannisterinthesnow · 18/07/2019 16:14

Haha no that’s pretty much it! Other than what others have said about being crazy with a new car and I also think the OP is crazy wanting to cover insurance costs as well as buying a new car. An older car without the turbo would be better

Swipe left for the next trending thread