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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:
notacooldad · 18/07/2019 16:16

I think some people think this is AIBU?
They are throwing their weight about other their judgemental attitudes when a simple question was asked?

There are many reasons why people don't need to pass their test early for eaxample door transport links, live near college, what ever but there are equally valid reasons why it's a good reason for young people to drive. In our case DS2 went to college that was 32 miles away. Sometimes he would only be in for 2 hours sometimes. He would go in early and stop on for the club afterwards and not finish until 9.pm. He is 19 and works 43 miles away. We all would prefer it to be closer but he has been given a fantastic opportunity with a global company.

We made the right choice paying for him even though it made money a bit tight for a while All, in all it cost about £8,000 for the first year for lessons, car and insurance. Not great for us but we e all got through it.

pelirocco123 · 18/07/2019 16:18

The insurance isn't high JUST because of the value their car , It's high because the accident rate for newly qualified drivers is unacceptably high ( obviously the type of car pushes the premium up )

I would like to see a law passed that limits the type of cars newly qualified drivers can drive , its obvious from that this post that making the insurance premium high doesn't stop inexperienced drivers being given what is in effect a lethal weapon

notacooldad · 18/07/2019 16:20

An older car without the turbo would be better
We went down the old car route initially with DS1 but was astounded in many cases it was a lot more expensive to have an older car! We looked at an old Golf but the insurance was touching 5,000 including limited miles, black box etc.

I mentioned earlier about one quote we got for £12,000 and I can't work it out. It seems like they don't want the business fr what ever reason so price themselves out of the mark on purpose.

wishing4sun · 18/07/2019 16:24

Have just used priveledge insurance on a 1.4 polo but it is 12 yrs old got a black box and insurance was £1004.00 and we added my mum on the insurance not as named driver just as additional.

Laquila · 18/07/2019 16:29

OP have you tried using Quidco or any of the other cashback sites? When I passed my test I think I used Quidco for insurance for a few years - it’s good for things like that. Also breakdown cover.

Troels · 18/07/2019 16:35

Ds drives a 12 year old Fiat, no black box, me as a named driver and costs way less that your are getting quotes at.
He has Hastings direct and has done since passing, he checks it annually and it's still comes up cheapest.

notacooldad · 18/07/2019 18:02

OP, your post code plays a huge part in the price they offer. When we were doing the insurance merry go round Ds1 did a dummy quote by putting his information in but the only detail he changed was the address. He put his gf address in and time and time again it was significantly cheaper. I mean by 100's of pounds. Ds2 did the same as a trial and it was heart sinking to see if we lived over the boundary 400m from our house we would have a substantial saving!. Unfortunately we just had to roll with it.

ivegotthisyeah · 18/07/2019 18:08

Try online the brokers for a young driver will be more expensive. Try a family policy where all the cars in the house are on one policy think Avila do it family fleet. Defo put mum or dad on as regular driver. Try Nfu as well

EmmaGrundyForPM · 18/07/2019 18:13

DS2 passed his test 3 years ago when he was 17. He had a 7 year old Fiat Panda with a black box fitted and insurance fir the first year was £900 with Admiral. Dh and I were both named drivers which made a difference.

The following year it came down to just over £600 and this year it's £330.

askingformyfriend · 18/07/2019 18:26

There are many problems with the car you mentioned, especially for a brand new driver :

  • The insurance classification of a Polo is often inflated due to it being in a large number of accidents. Not due to it being unsafe or difficult to drive, but because it is very popular and driven mostly by younger drivers who are more likely to have accidents. I wasn't aware of this until I got one. It's all statistics based.
  • This particular model has a very "boy racer" type image due to having a good and very powerful stereo, a standard polo would probably be much more reasonable. Insurers attach this type of style/stereo combo to the tuner/racer scene and bump up the premiums accordingly. Something more sensible would be cheaper.
  • Almost everyone has bumps/dings in their first car, so the decision to buy that for her was obviously more image based than rooted in practicality. Even if you pass your test you're still a learner for many years. You will pay for image factor unfortunately.

It sounds like they don't want you as a customer, try somewhere else. Often a sky-high premium is just to put you off as they don't want to deal with the very-likely claims from a new driver on such a fancy thing.

chzarind · 18/07/2019 18:33

Almost everyone has bumps/dings in their first car,

No, almost everyone does not.

WaxOnFeckOff · 18/07/2019 18:45

My 17 year old DS was under £700 for an almost new Citigo with a 1ltr engine - with black box and DH and I as named drivers. For 6000 a year with opportunity to earn an extra 100 per month for good driving. He turned 18 during that 1st year and we then had to add 17 year old DS2 to the policy and that cost an extra £100. Renewed for 2nd year for around £600 for them both (still 18 and 17). That's with Insure the Box.

WaxOnFeckOff · 18/07/2019 18:49

Don't, as has been said above, put it in your name with Dc as named driver unless you will be driving more than 50% of the time. that's fronting and can invalidate your insurance and also make it difficult to get insurance again.

Fibbke · 18/07/2019 18:49

The sixth formers at dds school have a real mix of cars, no brand new polos though unless you want the piss taken out of you. Definitely a few scrapes and dings.

Fibbke · 18/07/2019 18:51

But then a lot of them bought their own cars.

WaxOnFeckOff · 18/07/2019 18:53

DS1 been driving for 18 months and DS2 for 9 months and not a scratch on car so far - touch wood!

Elim81 · 18/07/2019 18:55

Hey So my son is 18 now and passed he’s test when he was 17 we brought him a brand new Ford Fiesta and he’s insurance was quoted £3800 on a comparison site so I went directly to more than smartwheels who got it down to £2200 with a black box he’s now just renewed at £1620. Me and my mum was also put on as names drivers and it made it cheaper.

KnittingForMittens · 18/07/2019 20:07

Get a banger for now. I got a saxo and my insurance was just under £1300 for the entire year, then went down to £600 a year after and that was with a minor accident I had a month after passing.

Original poster
LimitIsUp · 18/07/2019 20:33

"The sixth formers at dds school have a real mix of cars, no brand new polos though unless you want the piss taken out of you"

No piss taking from dd's group of friends - but then they are a nice bunch Smile

OP posts:
Original poster
LimitIsUp · 18/07/2019 20:35

I have read all the later posts since I last posted earlier today - just haven't had time to post again since then. Thanks for the continuing advice and tips (from the helpful majority). I feel we've got something to work with now to hopefully get the quote trimmed a bit

OP posts:
ContactLight · 18/07/2019 20:44

DD's insurance is about £1,200 (she passed in June) but her car is 9 years old. Having a named driver (me, full no claims and no points) on her insurance reduced it, as did having a black box thingy fitted.

Her friend the same age (21) has been driving for 2 years and with a much newer car, and her insurance this year was £800ish, so it does come down each year.

twattymctwatterson · 18/07/2019 20:45

That's what you'll pay for a teenage driver. The new car won't be helping but I'd be surprised if ANY insurance for a teenager will be under £3

Source: I work in the insurance industry.
Try Admiral black box

chzarind · 18/07/2019 20:49

The new car won't be helping but I'd be surprised if ANY insurance for a teenager will be under £3

Well £3 is low, but I did post already that Direct Line insures DD on a 19 plate FIAT 500 for £1300. That's without the black box.

coconuttelegraph · 18/07/2019 20:53

I mentioned earlier about one quote we got for £12,000 and I can't work it out. It seems like they don't want the business fr what ever reason so price themselves out of the mark on purpose

Clearly you can work it out, that's exactly what those type of quotes are Grin

notacooldad · 18/07/2019 20:54

No piss taking from dd's group of friends - but then they are a nice bunch smile
Same with Ds2 and his college mates.