I would be very very careful. Last year when I got my first car, the plan was to put Mum on and then me as a named driver. The insurance company said if we did this, I could only go on 2 journies a week and neither of those could be to a place of work or education. This sounded strange so when we queried it with other insurance companies, they all said the same (and I'm talking about main ones). Prior to that, I was insured on Dad's car from when I first started to drive but only as a named driver so I was in pretty much the same situation as you are now.
Essentially, you know and they know what you're trying to do so you can see why they do it. If you crashed (which statistically you are more likely to) then you're really in trouble because then I would presume they start looking into who drives the car mainly.
Dad has told me they even go so far as looking at CCTV at places of work to see how many times the car is parked there.
Sorry
Adam
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God only knows why I've spelt journeys like that. It's been a long day.
Adam
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Thanks for your advice, does not sound like such a good idea. You know what money is like when your a student though, it doesn't grow on trees.
Is there anything i can do to make my insurance lower? Like i said i think its too late for me to do pass plus.
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though, it doesn't grow on trees. Is there anything i can do to make my insurance lower? Like i said i think its too late for me to do pass plus.
Shop around and then shop around some more!
Liverpool Victoria/Frizzell (same company) have a good reputation and are often good for inexperienced drivers. When I started driving (albeit at a much later age than you) I found they beat the nearest quote by several hundred pounds and still offered better cover.
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Really?
My Mum swears by LV but they were...not the cheapest shall we say, for my first car, and the one I've just got. My first year I went with Tesco which hands down were the cheapest. The second, oddly enough they were one of the most expensive so I left.
Give Tesco a go online. 10% discount as well.
ALSO, if you insure it in your name, you're building up no claims which you have to get sometime.
Good luck
Adam
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Just remember that headline price is not the only thing that counts.
I am with Frizzell and always find them very competitive and in particular really helpful and realistic when you are faced with a challenge. That latter point is worth a lot more than saving £50.
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Thanks guys, you've given me some really good advice. Tesco do look very cheap. Looks like its going to cost £1000 to insure me! I'll let you know how i get on, in the mean time if anyone else has got any more suggestions then i will be happy to hear them.
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One web-based insurance site is www.confused.com - they claim to do a search of most of the insurance companies in the country (97%?) in order to find the cheapest quote. I don't know whether that's a gimmick or not. I've heard of another company that do something similar, but can't remember their name. I found elephant.co.uk pretty reasonable when I was getting high quotes after a claim a few years back, and they have a "bonus accelerator" scheme whereby you pay for 10 months' insurance - so long as you're claim-free during that period, they'll give you a full year's no-claims bonus at renewal. You can do that till you've got a full five years, but it may not pay for itself. I did it for a couple of years, but then their renewal costs started to become uncompetitive.
Endsleigh claims to specialise in providing cover for students, so they might be worth a try. I've also seen a company called Club 17-40 (or something like that) which claims to provide cheaper insurance for younger drivers. Adrian Flux is another like this, although I think they target younger drivers of fast/modded cars. Can't do any harm to check them out.
If you're a member of the AA (or, presumably, another organisation such as RAC, GreenFlag), they'll give you a discount on their insurance. That's what I did last time around. I clicked on their popup ad on this site to get the quote, which generates some income for this site and helps to keep it going - hint, hint ;)
Many banks are now offering insurance to their customers and it may be worth checking out whether any of them have offers/discounts for those who lodge their student loans in their bank.
If either of your parents is in a union or professional body, they may have access to some kind of deal whereby their family can access whatever discounted offers the union has secured for their members.
And yes, whatever you do, get it in your own name. Might still help if your mum is on as a named driver.
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andymc
Vroom, vroom - mmm, doughnuts ...
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Thanks Andy, elephant.co.uk have quoted me £529 for 10 months. Not bad.
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Do you think this car meets my requirements?
snipurl.com/90ku
Thank you
{Link shortened as it had screwed up the page width. See notes on how shorten long links in the Announcements forum. DD}
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50k miles since 1993? I'd make sure the service book backs that up. It says "service history" in the ad, rather than "full VW service history", which is not necessarily the same thing. Plus, I've seen a few Mercs of a similar vintage for that sort of money on Autotrader! Admittedly with nearly treble the miles, but you get my point.
The ad says that all their cars come with a 6 month warranty, but that's pretty much down to the lemon law that came in last year, which means that if you buy a car from a trader and it goes wrong within the first six months, the onus is on the trader to prove the problem did not exist at the time of sale. If the trader can't do this, I can't remember if the only requirement is for the trader to fix the problem FOC or if there's also something about partial refunds/rejecting the car. Perhaps someone else can help here. Regardless, what I'm saying is don't let this be used as a selling point - all traders operate under this condition.
I'm not saying it's a bad car - it might be in sound condition. That's a very high price though. For comparison, near me there are a couple of examples of the same model you're looking at, one the same year with 68k miles, but for £450, another one a year older, for the same price, both being sold by traders. Another trader has a 1995 model with 56k miles and full MOT for £850.
Try searching for a Nissan Micra or Toyota Starlet, see what you come up with.
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andymc
Vroom, vroom - mmm, doughnuts ...
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Thanks Andy, your input is much appreciated.
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