Car Insurance for 17 Year Old Newbie

Looking for feedback on how to reduce car insurance premium for my 17 year old son who currently has his provisional and is looking to pass his practical driving test imminently.

Quotes with me as main policyholder (full NCD and driving for eons) and him as named driver with a full licence circa £3,142 for a Ford Zetec 1400cc worth about £450.

Feedback appreciated!

A very difficult situation this, and something that affects many people.
First, 1400cc is too high - try for a one litre car.
Choose a non boy racer car (Micra etc).
Be prepared to accept a large excess payment (and hope there are no crashes)
Shop around.
Best of luck - apparently all our insurances are set to rocket this year, due to non insured drivers.
John

thanks mate. I'll re-input the information with a larger excess. The car is one that my is being passed down to my son from my late Father. Trying to explain to my son that driving is an expensive hobby......

It is a crazy situation as not all 17 yr olds are lunatics - but the insurers don't see it that way!
I can't comment if on line insurers are the best way here, but they certainly are for me. Maybe a few phone calls to the more private high street insurers could be worth while - if there are any left.
John

I have recently changed insurance companies because the charges to change details were getting ridiculous, I have just managed to insure my wifes car for £100 less than I was paying last year by going on to Confused.com, the ridiculous thing about it is that I am still insured with the same company, just a different broker.

Both my wife and I have had accidents in the last couple of years after a long period of incident free driving but my insurance is still only about £250. I appreciate the frustration of young drivers trying to get insured but the few lunatics spoil it for everyone else. A call to one or more insurance companies to find out which are the cheapest cars to insure might be benificial.

Peter

worth taking a look at the pass plus course too. It may get a reduction in the insurance but check first.

Shop around that might help you

Insure in his name and put yourself down as named driver and also wife if she drives, insurance is based on time in vehicle so the more named drivers the less it is expected he will be driving.
First time driver needs a car below 1litre to get reasonable rates.
Insurance has never been based on accident rates, it's purely down to risk assessment.

Certainly shop around. That is the best way to get the cheapest quote. Also, it is worth bearing in mind that the insurance companies are craking down on parents being the main driver when in reality the son or daughter is. It may effect/void the insurance if you have to make a claim so it may be better to state that your son is the main driver and have yourself as a named driver.
Personally, I would sell the car and get a cheap 1 litre, or less, car for at least the first year before moving up to a larger engine size.

also might be worth looking into either a cheap van,or a classic car.

shop around and compare, go for fully comp, with the maximum excess you can afford, then drive very carefully.

Wotan

if your son is the main driver then its illegal to say he isn't its called fronting and they are cracking down on it
http://www.independent.co.uk/money/...arents-on-car-insurance-fronting-1991714.html

your policy may be nul and void and you may face criminal prosecution just depends iff they find out or not

When I passed my test about 10 years ago, I bought myself a 10yr old 1litre VW Polo for £300. I found an insurance company that offered a new drivers deal where you could insure for 18 months, but only paid for the first 6 months at first, then after 6months (assuming you were accident/claim free) you got a much more reasonable premium for the remaining 12months. I think I paid £700 for the first 6 months and then £500 for the other 12 months - a total of around £1200 for 18 months compared to the £1500+ for 12months I was getting quoted elsewhere. Don't know if this kind of policy deal is still available?

As others have said, try and find a car with a smaller engine and I'd also advise against the named driver idea. Not only may it void your insurance and get you in a lot of trouble if they find out, but he wont be building up his own no claims bonus and so you'll have the same problem every time you come to renew. In my experience, insurance companies will try and find any way they can of getting out of paying up if you need to make a claim.

Find the smallest car, the cheapest policy for him and get him building his no claims as soon as possible. And make sure he drives sensibly!!

Also, have a look at topcashback.com or quidco.com - it wont make a massive difference but you might be able to get a bit of money back from some insurance companies when you take out a premium through these sites. Worth a look!