After trying to get my 19 year old son some car insurance i can see why we have so many un-insured drivers ! i am 40 as is my wife we drive a £16000 4x4 and can get a fully comp quote with protected no claims for £400 or just under . My 19 year old trying to do the right thing ( ie: insure ) a 15 year old ford fiesta value £200 is getting quotes of close on £2000...stop think for a minute ...... to insure or not to insure that is the question what is he supposed to do break the law or go into debt to insure a relic ? any suggestions welcome. No insurance company i have spoken to wil insure under 25's on my 4x4 so thats that out the window

Motor insurance for younger drivers certainly is becoming costly. Your son can help reduce these premiums he's being charged and still build up insurance in his own name by adding yourself on as an additional driver. By adding a parent or older relative onto the policy, our research has shown that this can reduce the premiums payable. Your son may also want to consider paying a higher excess in the event of any own fault claim being made against him, again the more excess he's prepared to pay, insurance companies will reduce the premium further. Again, if you have a garage he may also want to park the car in their as this in turn will assist in reducing the premium. We recently carried out some research which illustrated that by adding an older driver, increasing the excess and parking the car in a garage reduced the premium payable by up to 23%

You may want to consider insuring your sons car in your name and having him as a named driver on the policy, I believe that direct line will give no claims discount for named drivers (though you will have to check)

Gareth Whilst this option is viable, a named driver on a policy does not accumulate any no-claims bonus. If his father insured his sons car under his name with his son as a named driver and the son drove the car for 5 years, when he applied for insurance under his own name he would not have any no claims bonus so he insurance would still be expensive

Pingu, I have checked with direct lines' T&C's named drivers on a policy do earn a no claim bonus for each year they are on the policy, the only stipulation is that the no claims bonus is not transferable to another company, i.e. if at some point in the future they wish to take in to accoun the no claims bonus they must take a policy out (in their own name) with direct line. This saying though I would imagin that after 12 months they could then transfer to another company and take the full bonus with them (they don't mention whether you can do this though, a phone call may be needed). I think this is a good option.

sorry reply is late but as someone mentioned adding an adult can reduce premium but always do quote with and without an adult on just incase as this does not always work. My big tips for young drivers are as follows 1. you have the right car but many dont car at least 3 years old and under 1.3 engine size. 2 wait until the calender month after you pass your test tp start the policy if you can. Think about it logically. the systems work generally on you or an advisor inputting a month and a year into the system. Whilst this may not show a great deal in first year on renewals for those with one or two years driving history the saving is immense. but if you dont show the system you have a full years driving history how can you expect the discount. 3.the above applies to birthdays as well . eg if im 21 on 30 march and my pol starts on 31st march i will not get extra discount for being a year older as it only works on month and year wait until 1st april the system will realise and i get cheaper premium. most people can keep a car off the road for a couple of days and i have seen this save over £100 on some policies. 4.search engines and internet quotes are great but make sure you have full details before you start. put in exact information as changes of details or ringing a call centre can resut in you losing your 10% online discount. think on your sons £2000 premium thats 200 quid. 5. Some companies offer starter discount but require the policy holder to be working. often students miss out on better premiums by not declairing the have a part time job. 6. Most sales advisors on the phone realise the premium will be high and try and get you the price asap and get you off the phone as they dont think they have a chance to sell it. Try and be nice and appeal to their better nature and they will mirror your attitude and do their best. afterall they want their commission too. Be honest tell them your price and if they think they can beat it theyll try. its a common myth that you should not tell anyone your price but most companies dont price match anyway!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!! thAt way youll feel happier about the experience and feel your getting a good deal which is half the battle. 7. prices are high but he should get something between £1200 and £1500 min tesco's endsleigh and elephant and quinn all have decent name sin the industry for insuring younger risks and i dont work for any of them!!!!!!!!!! 8. to justify why 1500 is not too high rember about ncd how it reduces premium.. see below how 1500 would reduce without allowing for driving history or getting older. £1500 0 years 0% £1050 1 year 30% £900 2yrs 40% £750 3yrs 50% £600 4yrs 60% £525 5yrs 65% £375 9yrs 75% i did this in my head so if maths is wrong sorry just a quick rant hope its useful i'll post some more info and details my website soon

Although insurance cost is influenced in some ways by the type and cost of car, remember that this is not the only factor that is being insured.

What is being insured is the total risk that the 19 year old introduces, which with young drivers is very high.

The risk being paid for isn't just the replacement of the car, it is the risk of killing or maiming someone i.e. a passenger or a third party, or damage to third party property.

Hi There,

A very interesting post and an intersting read. The only additional advice I can offer is to select an extremely high excess (i.e. £1000), strongly consider a third party, fire and theft policy only and purchase a low risk vehicle such as a Corsa or an older Metro.

That said, I completely empathise with your predicament. The prices charged by insurance companies for young drivers is high but they are rating your risk on a plethora of different criteria.

We do have a number of providers who are sympathetic to your circumstances. In order to ensure you get the best deal, click here.

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Kind Regards

Andy Leadbetter MBA(Dist) BA(Hons) ARNO
Head of Motor and Home Insurance

well i can say is put yourself down as the owner of the fiesta and insurance putting your son down as another driver. some insurance the other drivers have to be 25 and over but there may be a few and thats maybe who will take you and your son on. not saying your son.but the youth today are going to pay more and more for the bad lads out there who are running around in solen cars.

mr leadbetter

i can understand your point about the high excess but why would somebody (unless rich)with a right mind select an excess of £1000

it just doesnt make sense.

Anyway most insurers nowadays are reluctant to offer low premiums to young drivers purely because they are and will forever be the highest risk group of drivers.nothing to do with boy racers and joy riders,most accidents involving young drivers happen because the driver just doesnt have enough experiance on the road.

The ones who do offer cheaper quotes like norwich union only do this because they know they can screw more money out of the experianced drivers to counter any losses made against young driver policys.

oemicros:

No insurance company i have spoken to wil insure under 25's on my 4x4 so thats that out the window

Anyone even considering letting a 19-year-old drive ANY 4x4 makes me shudder. A 4x4 belongs in the countryside with drivers who KNOW how to drive them properly and safely. By this, I mean that someone with experience and knowledge of the road and the vehicle. You seriously thought your 19-year-old son fits that criteria ...

SHARK!

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For every positive action, there's an equal and opposite government plan.

Dear “Andy Leadbetter MBA(Dist) BA(Hons) ARNO
Head of Motor and Home Insurance”

RE: “click here” - A very interesting thread and an intersting read.

Interesting developments at MS. Do I detect a re focusing on maximising income to the point of surrealism? Around the first appearance of ‘credit cards’ by the side of a number of heavily indebted members’ posts who had no chance of getting any credit anywhere in the present popularly named “credit crunch” was er… Egg’s announcement about terminating some customers spending.

What next? How about getting members to sponsor their posts?

Then there’s a theory that hit me about easy access defaulting on £100… 5 + 22 = 27 without duplication. On a different matter… well no that’s just in detail.

Hi there, i've just been reading about your insurance problems, i'm a 19 year old who has been insured on my Fathers BMW 3 series 2.5 TurboCharged £32,000 car since i was 17. my excess is only £250 and i'm Fully comp and paying less than £500 Per YEAR. this is with CIS Insurance....try them and see what they say. They've done me great deal and my vehicle is Insurance group is most likely higher than your 4x4's.

Mr leadbetter, Please correct me if wrong but I had the impression that you don't have "excess" on third party policies.

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Circumstances alters cases!!

BMW325TURBO:Hi there, i've just been reading about your insurance problems, i'm a 19 year old who has been insured on my Fathers BMW 3 series 2.5 TurboCharged £32,000 car since i was 17. my excess is only £250 and i'm Fully comp and paying less than £500 Per YEAR. this is with CIS Insurance....try them and see what they say. They've done me great deal and my vehicle is Insurance group is most likely higher than your 4x4's.

Hi mate,

Your excess isn't £250 when you're driving, trust me. Also paying less than £500 means there is a fault somewhere. No insurer will insure a 17, 18, 19 year old on a 2.5 3 Series valued at £32,000 for less than £500 a year, even if only a named driver. Either you're lying, mistaken or the insurance company have made a fundamental error in setting up the policy! I'd get it checked out!

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Kind Regards,

Vicissitude