Car insurance for young driver

[masona]

My eldest son is 17 yrs of age and just has his first driving lesson last week.
If & when he get his full licence, what is the best way of insuring the car ? Will be looking at insurance group 1 or 2. It's best for me to own the car with my son name on it ? or start straight off and reduce the no-claim bonus as quickly as possible but will cost approx £3000 ! or get a old banger with third party which I wouldn't be happy about.

Once passed his test he will be having a "Driving Plus " test on the motorway for 6 hrs, which should reduced his insurance approx 30-40% !!!

 

[AdamW]

Definitely do the Driving Plus (used to be called Pass Plus). It pays for itself and then some. Plus means they get proper motorway tuition.

The best thing to do is to ring around insurers (or use the beauty that is the internet) to try different cars. You will find some are surprisingly expensive to insure because statistically, they are driven by unfortunate souls who wrap them round trees.

Elephant seem to specialise in younger men, so try them (as well as every other insurer, of course.)

To give you an idea of cost, I got my first car at 21, with 4 years of licence but no NCB (due to it being my first car). Group 5 car (I think), fully comp, £900. At the same time I knew an 18 year old getting his first car, probably a group 2 or 3 (J-reg Polo 1.3 coupe) , also no NCB, I think that was £1200 or so. Now, whilst it will be considerably cheaper to get it insured in your name, and have him as named driver, in the long run it will cost more. With 2 years NCB my insurance is now only £425. Better that he gets a Saturday job and insures it in his own name from the outset.

Make sure that whatever he gets has a decent handbrake; we all do silly things in cars when we're 17, better that his silly things are done in a car park at 2 in the morning than on the open roads Then you realise girls aren't impressed by that and you get it out of your system.

 

[AdamW]

THey also all seem to do 10-month insurances now, where you get a years NCB after 10 months.

 

[david and julie]

Sorry to think the worse, but if he was unlucky(it may not be his fault) what would happen to your premium next year.

My wifes car was written off about 3 years ago, it was not her fault. She had 3 witnesses including 2 policemen! When we got our renewal it had gone up from £400 to £700! I questioned this as she had protected NC discount. They said we still have that, but the premium had nearly doubled due to the accident. Talk about all peeing in the same pot.

As you don't sound interested in an old car, are there any deals with the new ones with insurance included? are there age limits on these?

Never seen 10 month deals. Metric Years? sounds like another Brussels scam.

 

[waran]

I would have to agree that it's probably better for him to have the insurance in his own name as then he can accrue his NCB. Premiums don't really go down all that much until he's 25. And by then he'll want a higher group car anyway and without any NCB it's really pricey.
If you are thinking of a new car (and even some used from a dealer) they often come with a years free insurance ( although check the fine print about age). If you figure this into your calculations you can surprise yourself on how much you save.
What might help bring the cost down is if you are added to his insurance as a named driver.
Endsleigh did some pretty good value insurance for young people as they seem to insure a lot of students and used to do the 10mth for 1 years NCB.
The only caveat to him getting his own insurance is that some insurers will take into account if he has been a named driver on their parents insurance. More often this is only a years NCB but I do know two people who managed to get many more NCB years. I think it helps if you are going to the same insurer that you have been for a few years. Worth asking and getting in writing.

 

[waran]

D&J

Has your wife's case been settled in her favour? Because if it is still outstanding then they presume that its your fault until the other insurer admits full liability. This happened to me recently as I had an accident which wasn't my fault but the other party contested it. Eventually with photo evidence my insurers threatened court action and the other insurers paid up. But until then I had to pay an extra £1000 on my renewal premium!!! They refunded this when the solicitors wrote to them of the verdict and my premium for the year actually fell!
Although if you have more than about 2 no fault accidents in 2/3 years they do increase your premiums. I think I read somewhere that statistically the mean number of accidents for a lifetime of driving is between 3 and 4.
If they are still charging you extra because of the accident shop around and most will not.

 

[masona]

Definitely do the Driving Plus (used to be called Pass Plus).

No, you're right, I got it worng, it's called " Pass Plus "

As you don't sound interested in an old car, are there any deals with the new ones with insurance included? are there age limits on these?

Yes, minimum age 21, I've got nothing against old car as long there're roadworthy, who can you trust these days ?

 

[2scoops0406]

Also, bear in mind that If your son is the main driver of the car, then you cannot insure it yourself and have him as the named driver, he has to be the policyholder.

 

[AdamW]

Depends on the manufacturer. The reason the Saxo and 106 sold so well amongst young people is because their offer went down to 18 years old. But I think the MG and Renault offers only go down to 21.

Some will offer it at an additional premium of £100 or so, which is still worth considering. 3 years ago, MG were offering this on the ZR: under 25s had to pay an extra £100 towards the "free" insurance.

It is worth considering holding off on his own car until he is 18, insurance for 17 year olds is equivalent to butt-r*pe.

The 10-month deals, I didn't bother with one because you pay more per month than with a 12-month deal.

 

[2scoops0406]

It dosen't matter, if you are the main driver, you have to be the policyholder, regardless of who owns the car. The premium is charged accordingly.

 

[masona]

It dosen't matter, if you are the main driver, you have to be the policyholder, regardless of who owns the car. The premium is charged accordingly.

Would it help if you know, if I was a named driver on his policy as well ?

 

[2scoops0406]

Sorry, didn't understand that last post

 

[AdamW]

It dosen't matter, if you are the main driver, you have to be the policyholder, regardless of who owns the car. The premium is charged accordingly.

Here is where the quote button comes in handy!

Yes, minimum age 21, I've got nothing against old car as long there're roadworthy, who can you trust these days

I was replying to what Masona said, above.

 

[AdamW]

Would it help if you know, if I was a named driver on his policy as well ?

Depends. A mate of mine put his mum on his insurance, it went down because the assumption is that a proportion of his miles will be driven by a middle-aged woman.

I tried it, the quote went up.

Can't hurt to try.

 

[2scoops0406]

No I didn't understand what masona said, maybe I'll just leave it