Well our youngest passed her practical test on Thursday, first time around, so she is really chuffed. Only turned 17 this Feb and started taking lessons in March.
Well I approached our insurers (we have 2 cars, both Land Rovers I know) and was told they wouldn't insure her on our policy until she was over 21. Not surprised really but I was only asking for them to insure her to drive our older Freelander, which is now 11 years old, and hardly boy racer material. BTW she will be able to handle this, she's a natural.
Then started shopping around for quotes, as obviously we will need to change insurance companies to be able to put her on our polcy as a named driver and WOW the premiums are ridiculous. Over £1300 to drive a car worth less than that!
Any suggestions as to what is the best way forward. She's so pleased at having passed the test and now seems faced with a brick wall as far as the costs are concerned, not buying a little "runner" car but the cost of insurance. Help.
Try the Co Op, ask about a Telemetrics box, and curfew.
My daughter is learning and originally had a WaggonR with them, with me added as a Named Driver. Even Fully Comp, it was just over £500, and because she stayed in the Green for all monitored sections, she got a £105 refund after 3 months.
She's now got a 02 Corsa, and that was just £480, she's still on a Provisional Licence as well
She's older than your daughter is, but the Insurance company, having real time monitoring of driving and location, means they charge to suit the Driver, not the perceived Risks due to age. They can increase or decrease the cost of the Policy over it's life, subject to how the vehicle is driven.
I have a 06 Seddona, and one company wanted £13,000 to put on the Policy as a Named Driver (and that was in writing)
Dave
------------- 2015 Dates
April Llyn Rhys Farm
August Barleylands Essex
September TBA
Halloween field in Bala sharing with Birds of Prey
Once they pass, the premiums skyrocket. It's cheaper to insure them on a provisional when they are learning, as they need a qualified driver to supervise.
Because of her age we enquired with her instructor if it would be worthwhile doing the Pass Plus course but it makes such a little difference to the premiums, it wasn't worthwhile.
After all the effort of taking lessons and passing the test, it seems such a kick in the teeth. She's not even being given the chance to prove she is a safe driver because of her age (so the insurance companies are telling me).
The premiums go up with cheap old cars as they assume that they won't be looked after as carefully as newer more expensive cars. Its the third party costs of accidents that they look at more than the value of the insured car.
Girls used to be cheaper to insure as they are less of a risk, but sex equality has stopped that.
I know someone whose son has one of the boxes installed in his car and it brought down the price. Also when involved in a slight accident at walking pace, the occupants of the other vehicle tried to claim for whiplash. The insurance company knew exactly how fast the car was travelling and it was too slow to cause whiplash.
I thought £1300 seems quite good compared to some people's quotes,
You may be better off going with that until she gets a bit older,
It's such a shame as there are some brilliant young drivers but the idiots have spoiled it for the safe ones.
Congratulations to your daughter though, well done, a skill gained for life.
Good luck
------------- Never take life seriously. Nobody gets out alive anyway.
I thought £1300 was not bad for a land rover. The value of it is irrelevant. She could potentially do £millions of damage with it.
It's about statistics and equality sadly. Statistics show that young male new drivers have most accidents. In these days of gender equality boys & girls must be treated the same.
There is no easy answer. Get numerous quotes, try the limited hours or mileage type policies. Also consider a small car where she can start clocking up her own NCB. Some companies do give discounts for pass plus but that apart there is a benefit in the extra experience gained.
When my daughter was young we used Tesco, who were far and away the cheapest for a young driver when learning, and took her accident free period when driving our car after she had passed her test into consideration when she got her own.
Our first thought was to buy her a small runner, Corsa, Kia or such like, so that she could start building up her own NCB but the cost runs into thousands because she is only 17 and has just passed her test. Then we thought we should be the registered keeper but put her down as the main driver but this made little, if any, difference.
I know newly qualified drivers are high risk and expect they should pay more but these premiums are just way off the scale.
Now looking into what is involved in having the black box fitted ... Co Op scheme seems to be about the best we have looked at so far.
We paid £1,400 for Tesco Bank Box policy for our newly qualified 17 year old son. That was for a 2007 VW Polo 1.2 - fully comp.
The box was fitted after a few days. He is limited to 5000 miles in the
Policy year, but is earning bonus miles for staying in the 'green' on the monitoring system - which should also give him a better quote next year, if he stays claim free.
Apparently, if the box detects a significant impact, a call centre attempts to contact him and may even decide to send help out to him. Plus, of course, if the car is stolen, they can track its whereabouts.
I do log into his portal and look at his driving stats. As a parent, I find it reassuring.
It's horribly expensive, but that's just the way it is.
I think the black box scheme helps a lot of new drivers but be wary if you use a lot of single track roads. Quite a few of our young drivers have the black box scheme but it doesn't translate well with the normal rules of using passing places; at least two lads' parents have taken this up when they kept getting penalties. The curfew is also an issue. One young man (who has to drive to get to his work)had his fish farm shifts changed which meant leaving before the curfew ended and, despite having told them and having the company he works for provide all the details, the insurance co. got nasty. So, if someone may be working changeable shift patterns, worth checking.
Well done to your daughter and best of luch.
------------- " When I die I don`t want my life to flash before me in an instant, I want it to be a 3 hour epic !"
Looking at all the options, seems best that we buy her a little car as a runaround and then get a black box fittted...Co op seems best deal so far.
Question now is, what is the chepaest little car to insure? We have quotes on Kia and Corca but any suggestions from anyone with past experience on here would be appreciated.
Her ideal little car would be a classic Mini but the premiums are prohibitive.
hi try looking at more of a 'family car' ie ford focus or similar as they tend to be cheaper. Small cars are dearer as they are seen as higher risk due to being car of choice of younger people. If shes getting her own car might be worth looking at Admiral multicar with her as main and you as secondary driver. We pay just over £1500 for me, my husband, my 19yr old son and my just turned 18yr old daughter (four vehicles) and they ar einsured in their own right and have already got noclaims bonuses.
Go for something more unusual for a young driver fiestas, Kas , corsas are usually more expensive,
Have a look at things like hyundai accent 1.3 and suzuki ignis ,cheap to buy and run , and cheap on insurance (well as cheap as it can be for a newbie)
My ex drives a suzuki alto, paid £600 for it on a 03 plate, £30 a year to tax, she has had 3 of them as they are cheap to fix and rarely go wrong,
------------- Never take life seriously. Nobody gets out alive anyway.
Well done to your daughter!
When I added my daughter as a learner driver to my insurance, it put up the premium by a little over £200 (I drive a 10 year old Zafira). I warned her that her driving days were over when she passed her test, because of the increase in premiums.
When she passed her test (age 18) I rang the insurance company to tell them: no additional charge. So warned daughter this was a sprat to catch a mackerel and that the premiums upon renewal would be too humungous to contemplate.
My renewal date was July, and my premium - for OH and myself, both with business use, and DD for social domestic and pleasure only - was just over £450. So DD has stayed on the policy.
A day of all things motorhome and campervan. The show is held both in the main indoor arena and across the grounds. Catering, hot drinks and food options are available. Easy access to the site and free parking included. Win one of five pairs of day tickets
Topic: Driving Test - Passed!!
