Please or to access all these features

Add post

Watch this thread

Save thread

Start a new thread

Flip thread

Hide thread

My feed

Active Unanswered threads

Getting started FAQ's

Unanswered threads Acronyms Talk guidelines

Hide shortcut buttons

Talk

Teenagers

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

Flip

1 2

Original poster

17yr old learning to drive / lessons / insurance

33 replies

NanaStrikesAgain · 11/01/2026 14:48

DS turns 17 next week. He doesn’t need to learn to drive really as he doesn’t go out much. He’s very happy to start learning to drive but isn’t desperate or super keen.

How many lessons did your 17yr old need to be test ready? DS has some additional needs so i expect it’ll take him longer than most to get confident.

I need to look into insurance options / buying a car too.

What did you do for your child?

He could be insured on DH’s car but DH needs it for long days at work so he’d be limited when he could use it which I don’t think will be a big problem.

Ive seen some learner insurance policies which look a lot cheaper.

Does it work out cheaper to buy DS his own cheap car and put my DH as a named driver on there?

Ive no idea where to start with this. DS will be learning in an automatic as he won’t cope with a manual (dyspraxia) so I think that will make insurance and cars more expensive.

OP posts:

Original poster

NanaStrikesAgain · 11/01/2026 18:30

Octavia64 · 11/01/2026 17:17

We could not insure our 17 year old on our Volvo xc90.

you’ll find that some cars are simply uninsurable for learners - small not powerful cars are pretty much the only real options.

it wasn’t even that it was expensive, no-one would do it.

we bought an i10 as a second family car which each in turn learnt on and drove when passed.

get on one of the insurance websites and look at quotes for various cars.

An i10 is what I was thinking might be a good option to look at. Thanks!

OP posts:

Original poster

NanaStrikesAgain · 11/01/2026 18:31

dementedpixie · 11/01/2026 17:34

We decided against a black box for ds. He has a Citroën C1 so not sure he could speed if he tried 😆. His insurance dropped a lot on his renewal after his 1st year of driving it.

What made you decide against the black box?

OP posts:

Original poster

NanaStrikesAgain · 11/01/2026 18:36

mondaytosunday · 11/01/2026 17:46

The average amount of lessons is 45 plus 22 hours practise. I’m sure my DD is about close to the 45 but only about four practise hours. She failed it a week ago - she had a major fault and four minors but it was a done deal either way the major. She is learning in London and was VERY nervous, if she could calm her nerves she’d do much better.
The theory test is quite hard these days and that’s the first step. My DD passed that first time, but my son, who passed the practical first time, took four goes at the theory.
Driving really does require a lot of practice and the more of that you are willing to do I guess the less lessons. Frankly my stress levels were through the roof when I went out with my DD which didn’t help (plus my car is a lot bigger than her lesson car).
For insurance I used Veygo (part of Admiral) which was very reasonable.

Anxiety is going to be a challenge for DS too! I can’t imagine having to go out practising with him somewhere like London!! Thankfully we’re in a large town, busy enough to learn to deal with traffic but not city traffic. I think (hope!) he’ll be fine with the theory test but he needs to spend some time revising for it.

OP posts:

jackstini · 11/01/2026 19:43

We bought a dirt cheap car for his 17th and took out learner insurance for £206.
Unlikely he will pass for a year (he will be taught & take his driving test as part of his apprenticeship later on) but it means when he does pass, he will have a full year of no claims which will bring his insurance down by around 30%

MillsMollsMands · 11/01/2026 21:14

Does driving then waiting a year really reduce the cost of the insurance hugely? DH and I bought our first car when we were in our 30s having had a license for over 10 years, the insurance was still far more expensive because we had no previous no claims bonus to put in. I would run some comparisons on that to see if the cost comes down significantly, I would consider not driving for a year after passing to significantly increase anxiety & make for a less safe driver tbh so would want to save a lot of money to make up for that!

I will make my kids learn at 17 but I think they will all be motivated to learn as we live fairly rurally. My eldest is 17, she had 30 or so lessons I think and a fair amount of practise with us. Insured on our polo with Hastings young driver for £950 (I paid £250 the previous year to insure me & DH on the car…).

Zaichik · 11/01/2026 22:21

We found Collingwood much cheaper than all the others for learner insurance. An annual policy was cheaper than 9 months with Marmalade.

HostaCentral · 11/01/2026 22:33

I just insured DD on my car as a learner. It was pretty cheap even though it's a high power mini!

She took about 40 lessons in total over three years..... COVID.... Failed once at home, then had more lessons at Uni and passed in her Uni town.

When she passed she bought her own car, a Fiat 500, and drove it down to uni in her final year. It then had a year in the drive as she couldn't, take it to her master's uni.

Insurance has come down by a few hundred every year. It doesn't really matter what age you are, it's the number of years you have driven, so waiting a year makes no difference. We didn't do black box, just added her and the car to a family policy. Cheaper that way.

Anonimiss · 11/01/2026 22:47

My daughter had about 12x 2 hour lessons I think.
Plus about 15 or so hours with me in my car - my insurance don’t do under 21s so we got marmalade learners insurance.
It was about 6 months after passing test that she managed to buy a car - we struggled to find anything as cheap little cars are in such demand but the delay meant her insurance had come down quite a lot ( she’d been getting quotes since we started looking to buy a car)
It worked out not much more expensive to buy a car and insure herself with me as a named driver than it was to put her on my insurance! She has a black box.
Her insurance has just come up for renewal and she’s delighted that its dropped considerably even with just 1 years no claims.

Flip

1 2