How on earth do young drivers manage to afford their insurance premiums? I have just been looking at cover for my 17 yr old son on a £250 run around and got quotes in excess of £ 4000 for comprehensive cover.

We had same issue with 17 yrs old daughter, we used Veygo while she was learning and practicing in our own car, and now we use it to insure her once a week to drive to school. It is a pay as you go type insurance. You can insure them for little as 2 hrs or 24 hrs or 1 week. Probably wont suit everyone but works for us.

Example, a 2hr insurance for her to practice on provisional licence only cost approx 4 quid.

12 hr insurance on full licence cost approx 18 quid.

This is for 2014 VW polo.

ETA I think this only works for cars that the driver does not own.

[Edited on 24-1-19 by Slater]

richwill

I wonder the same!

Lad who lives opposite us paid out over £3k insurance on his first car - the car cost him something like £900.

His insurance premiums have slowly come down, but it's taken a few years.

Many years ago now, but when I first drove my car was registered and insured as my mothers car with me added to the policy. I don't think you're allowed to do that anymore as the insurance companies have become more and more aware.

Seems to vary a lot on area.
my daughter bought a Fiat 500 (any surprises?) at age 21, 3 years full license but it was her first car to own. (borrowed ours every now an again up to then)
for Brighton, insurance was £650, but Wimbledon, where she lives as a student was £950. She jokingly checked on an Elise that was for sale at the garage, just £250 extra!

Friends daughter bought a Swift Sport to commute 60 miles a day. Aged 19, recent pass, was under £1k. Goodness knows how, maybe she got lucky.

But buying a cheap car rarely seems to be the cheapest overall solution. I wonder if the Swift is not a popular choice with youngsters, therefore accidents rates lower=lower premiums? Worth running quotes on a variety of cars. Except my daughter. She wanted a 500. With Blutooth. In white. Nothing else. Still, her money

My son in a little Renault Twingo got his down to £1600 with a black box. It's coming up for renewal and it's come down to around £1000 without.

A lot is to do with the car. Not all cars are equal. And it's not necessarily the smallest cars with the smallest engines that are the cheapest.

As new style 1.4 vw Beatle was by far the cheapest thing we could find to insure but he refused to drive one.

It's nor just the young ones. My brother having just passed his test at 41 is paying £750 for an old Citroen 1.6 petrol.



[Edited on 24/1/19 by big_wasa]

I found its circumstances and the car that play a big role too. Brand new car is cheaper to insure than a 20 year old banger. Less chance of it having worn out parts, poor service history etc. You might find its more expensive paying for a new car AND insurance....but at least they have all the latest safety tech protecting them too. Equally, getting a saturday job means you go from unemployed/student (aka no income) to employed (aka an income) as I found that they also put risk on you actually being able to afford repairs/maintenance and also assume you're driving to interviews when unemployed so therefore unfamiliar roads. Its all BS but gives some more insight.

I remember a company offering new car deals that also included insurance, Marmalade? I can't remember and will end up looking at new cars myself if I check haha. Something like that may be worth a punt? Even getting a quote on a brand new or nearly new car may prove less daunting than insurance over 1000% of the value of the banger

Slightly off topic but having built up maximum no claims over the years I stopped running (and insuring) my own car about 3 years ago as I cycle to work each day. I'm a named driver on my wifes car - but am wondering what will happen if/when I come to have my own car and insurance again one day?!

They afford it the same way we afforded it. My FIAT Strada in 1987 was over £800, I had a motorbike in 1991 and 3rd party insurance was over a grand. It's not a new phenomenon

[Edited on 24/1/19 by UncleFista]

My man at work just insured his lads first car at 17 for 1500 with mum and dad both named drivers with Direct line, down from around he £4k mark

Got my lad insured on his first car 18 months ago 1.4 Hyundai i30 for £1350 with a black box fitted and then moved to a different insurer for his second year and was down to £900 with no black box.

Both me and the wife on the policy too which does drop the price for some reason even though we never drive it. Worth shopping around and I do think the car type does make a difference.

I've just had a look at average incomes and they have gone up from around £13750 to £27500.

Over the same period, insurance has gone up to a couple of grand, whereas I paid (for my first car, with no no claims and with my sister as a learner driver) £144.


Something has gone drastically wrong with car insurance over that time!

For first time drivers, black boxes are unavoidable, but bring the costs down and give you as a parent some reassurance about how things are going...

My Son paid £1100 on a Toyota Aygo for the first year with insure the box 2 years ago.
My Daughter is currently paying slightly less on an older, 1.3 Yaris - can't remember who with but all the quotes were similar.

Based on Lincolnshire, car on drive overnight with me and the wife as additional drivers - this bought it down a bit.

Agree, black box insurance is the only way. We used drive smart iirc which set an initial score and then if you better it they give a refund, did a deal with my son that he got the discount. Gave him an excuse not to be stupid with his mates in the car I.e. I can make money here. Also put yourself on the insurance, no idea why but that reduces the premium.

Thanks for the replies.Having shopped around I've managed to get quotes down to around £1800. I will be adding myself and the wife to any policy we decide to take to help reduce the cost.

quote:

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Originally posted by Ugg10
Agree, black box insurance is the only way. We used drive smart iirc which set an initial score and then if you better it they give a refund, did a deal with my son that he got the discount. Gave him an excuse not to be stupid with his mates in the car I.e. I can make money here. Also put yourself on the insurance, no idea why but that reduces the premium.

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The insure the box policy gave bonus miles for good driving, no penalty for bad driving - until the next renewal that is.
My daughters is the same.