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Young drivers
JC - 26/9/14 at 08:43 AM

I know there are some industry professionals on here so here goes!

My son (15 1/2) has, unsurprisingly, caught the car bug! He would love to own a kit car - preferably built by the 2 of us - when he has passed his driving test.
Anecdotally, I have heard of classic cars being cheap to insure for young drivers, is the same true for kit cars?

If so, what would be the suggestion? He really fancies one of the Z3 re bodies (the tribute 250SWB) and the lowest power 1.9 would be a good start for him - how would this be seen for insurance!

Many thanks

JC

killerferret666 - 26/9/14 at 09:02 AM

1.9 as first car in his name for insurance...that would be a lot, if its a rebody wouldn't the insurance still be for a Z3?

However when I was 20 I bought a Toyota Supra Mkiv 3litre. Rather then insure in my own name it was insured in my dad's (on a 2nd policy) and me as a named driver for a yr or two. -- yes he doesn't build up no claims but does get experience which helps and it kept my insurance costs much lower.

my path was;

2yrs insured on my own vehicle 1.1 fiesta (£1.5k)
2yrs named driver on high performance (sub £1k)
back on to own insurance policy to build up no claims. (£1.3k)

We worked out based on quotes it saved me around £3000 in insurance over the two years and insurance was not bad when switched back to my own policy because of yrs experience and being over 21.

This was only 10 yrs ago, but insurance changes all the time obviously.

nick205 - 26/9/14 at 09:11 AM

I did the same with a policy in my mum's name and me as a named driver when I first passed in the early 90's. I think insurer's have wised up to this now and it's not as favourable as it was.

Best place to start has to be some of the more kit friendly insurers like Adrian Flux. IIRC there's is a Flux employee on this forum who is happy to help with queries.

cliftyhanger - 26/9/14 at 10:12 AM

The classic insurers went off young drivers a few years ago. Now they are as expensive as modern cars.
I hope your lad plans on a good job, I doubt he will get a 1.9 car insured for less than 2-3k
(put it this was, our 1.7 diesel zafira, £190 for me and the mrs. Just adding 19 year old daughter, 2 years driving, took it up to £750.The wifes car, classic, unmodified mini 1000, costs £380 with daughter, who is away at uni, on. just us would be £80)

mcerd1 - 26/9/14 at 10:26 AM

insurance companies are wise to folk using the car every day when they are only a named driver on someone else's policy:

quote:
While the idea of a named driver car insurance policy may sound very appealing - and significantly lighter on your wallet - you need to tread very carefully, or you could fall foul of the law.

If you are the main driver of a vehicle the insurance for that car must be in your name. If it isn't you are breaking the law and committing a crime called fronting. Your motor insurance is effectively invalid and if the insurer finds out, you are likely to have any claim turned down.

In some cases, you could even find your cover is cancelled altogether. This could leave you stuck struggling to get car insurance in the future, as you would then have to declare the fact you had fronted to other car insurance companies - who may then refuse to cover you

As a younger motorist, the repercussions can be even more severe, because if you make a claim and the insurer then discovers you are the main driver - and not the named driver - you could find not only that your insurance has been invalidated, but that you have also god six points on your licence for driving uninsured.

For young drivers, six points means an instant ban; this, in turn, could make it a great deal harder to get affordable cover further down the line


I started off with the car in my dad's name as he had a spare policy with full NCD (way back in the year 2000...)
but they let me be a named main driver - this makes everything perfectly legal (even today), later on they even let my brother do the same and keep the car a separate address
then as a bonus they let us earn our own NCD and provided letters to prove it so that we could even use with other companies
(that was the NFU btw - they just seem to be far more flexible than most)

back then a 1.1 fiesta cost £350 third party only with full NCD - it wasn't worth much more than that as it was 21 years old

a couple of years later I put in my own name for £450 with only 2 years of NCD which seemed like a lot then, but it looks very cheap these days


as for kitcars you really need to ask around but lots of brokers have over 21 or over 25 policy's only which limits your choices

[Edited on 26/9/2014 by mcerd1]

DAN@ADRIAN FLUX - 29/9/14 at 11:42 AM

Hi,

A kit car as a first car is an interesting choice! I like his style!

I would certainly recommend trying to find a kit car with the smallest possible engine, and if possible something FWD, just until he has built some No Claims Bonus up and had some road experience.

It's certainly not impossible for him to insure a kit as his first car, and as you quite rightly say some classics do offer cheaper insurance than the every day modern vehicle.

By all means PM me some details nearer the time and we can see what we can offer.

I hope this helps

Kind regards
Dan.