Car insurance for newly passed 17 year old

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Fri 19 Apr 2024 19:38
Car insurance for newly passed 17 year old - johnnyrev

This has been much discussed before but it seems that quotes for my son are particularly high at the moment. He is taking his test next week so in a spirit of optimism I am tentatively exploring options for insurance.

Last summer we bought a project car for him on his 17th, a 2002 Fiat Seicento and since January I’ve been taking him out for practise in addition to his lessons. Insuring him as a learner was through Adrian Flux for £257 for 4 months (I’m also insured to drive it on a cheap classic policy).

I’m waiting to hear back from Adrian Flux and my classic policy for quotes, but using the usual comparison sites the quotes range from £4k to £17k, which seems slightly excessive!

Does anyone know of any cheaper options? I’ve tried Marmalade who offer drive by mile options, but they wouldn’t even quote. So is the vehicle an issue here, is it too old/unsafe/rare for a new driver?

Even doing a quote with me as main driver and son as named driver the quotes were still £4k and rising. If he passes he is only going to be driving locally and to his weekend job, not even to college (bus is easier as it’s up the M6!).

Does anyone have any experience and/or words of wisdom?

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Fri 19 Apr 2024 20:57
Car insurance for newly passed 17 year old - mcb100
I got the best quote from Admiral (direct, not through a comparison site) for newly qualified daughter in a Clio of identical vintage.
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Fri 19 Apr 2024 21:16
Car insurance for newly passed 17 year old - SLO76
The country truly has gone mad. The inability to insure a car is block to employment for young people, having a car can open up so many more opportunities and it grants them freedom. The government need to step in here and investigate why it’s next to impossible for young people to insure a car. I agree that they’re a higher risk but asking £4-£17k to insure a car that’s worth as much as a pair of my socks is nuts. As is always the case when prices are out of control there clearly is an issue with a lack of competition. Cars were expensive to insure when I was 17 but it was manageable.

Not that I’m knocking the wee Fiat btw, I quite like small Fiats.

Edited by SLO76 on 19/04/2024 at 21:18

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Fri 19 Apr 2024 21:47
Car insurance for newly passed 17 year old - daveyjp

Our daughter passed about 5 weeks ago. We had a Marmalade add on learner policy which was reasonable, but now she has passed she hasn't driven as the insurance quotes have been out of reach.

We were going with a Marmalade 500 mile policy on my wife's Yaris, which worked out at about £1200, but then we read the small print She couldn't drive more than 50% of the monthly mileage for the vehicle. Considering we wanted her to use the car to drive to school and work to gain driving experience it becomes a severe restriction as the car only does about 400 miles a month, mostly taking her to school and work!

She also has two part time jobs. As soon as these were added the policy quote went through the roof. She will also have a few changes in her life in the next few months and every policy change usually means an admin fee so we are holding off.

I do however understand the higher risk issue. Her friend passed third time, turned up to school in her parent funded car, wasn't too hot at manouvering and buried the car into the side of a new Audi.

Edited by daveyjp on 19/04/2024 at 21:53

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Fri 19 Apr 2024 22:26
Car insurance for newly passed 17 year old - bathtub tom

Do policies still exclude driving to and from a place of education (schools, colleges and universities).

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Sat 20 Apr 2024 10:03
Car insurance for newly passed 17 year old - Andrew-T

Her friend passed third time, turned up to school in her parent funded car, wasn't too hot at manouvering and buried the car into the side of a new Audi.

Call me a fuddy-duddy, but I hate the idea of newly-passed drivers driving to school, not least for the question of where they expect to put their cars. I suspect some 'playgrounds' may already contain staff cars, without the addition of pupils'.

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Tue 23 Apr 2024 15:01
Car insurance for newly passed 17 year old - daveyjp

Her friend passed third time, turned up to school in her parent funded car, wasn't too hot at manouvering and buried the car into the side of a new Audi.

Call me a fuddy-duddy, but I hate the idea of newly-passed drivers driving to school, not least for the question of where they expect to put their cars. I suspect some 'playgrounds' may already contain staff cars, without the addition of pupils'.

Daughter is fortunate that the school has plenty of parking, it is never full. Teachers and staff have their own car park, other areas are free for all.

However pupils do require permission to drive to school and park on site. In reality its only a few 6th form pupils who have access to a vehicle.

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Tue 23 Apr 2024 17:33
Car insurance for newly passed 17 year old - bathtub tom
Daughter is fortunate that the school has plenty of parking,

But would she be insured? I posted a few days ago: Do policies still exclude driving to and from a place of education?

Have you read the policy?

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Fri 19 Apr 2024 23:17
Car insurance for newly passed 17 year old - Andrew-T
I agree that they’re a higher risk but asking £4-£17k to insure a car that’s worth as much as a pair of my socks is nuts.

But you aren't really insuring the young driver's car, you are covering the cost of him smashing up someone else's nice new EV, not to mention the risk of damage to any of his passengers !

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Sat 20 Apr 2024 09:01
Car insurance for newly passed 17 year old - Bromptonaut

But you aren't really insuring the young driver's car, you are covering the cost of him smashing up someone else's nice new EV, not to mention the risk of damage to any of his passengers !

That. Exactly.

Liability if you cause permanent disability to someone, particularly if they're young with a promising career ahead is literally millions; lots of them. Friend of ours is a GP trainer and occasionally takes a dozen or so out to places in a hired minibus. He had a dicky fit when he contemplated the possible liability....

If you want the car out of the equation try getting a quote for third party.

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Sat 20 Apr 2024 09:13
Car insurance for newly passed 17 year old - Adampr

At the risk of being shot for being a socialist, there are counties (Australia and New Zealand, I think) where this party insurance for any driver is included in a car's annual tax. It's a brilliantly simple system which keeps everyone on an equal footing, eliminates uninsured drivers and means that you can drive each other's cars (for practical or fun reasons).

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Sat 20 Apr 2024 10:36
Car insurance for newly passed 17 year old - Ethan Edwards

I think the question is incorrect. There's no difficulty in 17yo getting insurance. It's the cost. And in that we all suffer to some extent.

I'd like to understand what's actually driving the ramping up of the cost. I refuse to accept that as a society we suddenly decided to have 50% more accidents year on year. There has to be underlying causes.

My guess is the usage of credit hire companies doling out overpriced hire cars. But I'd really like to know what's going on with insurance at the moment.

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Sat 20 Apr 2024 11:08
Car insurance for newly passed 17 year old - corax
My guess is the usage of credit hire companies doling out overpriced hire cars. But I'd really like to know what's going on with insurance at the moment.

Raising the cost of insurance by so much is going to encourage more people to drive without it.

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Sat 20 Apr 2024 15:16
Car insurance for newly passed 17 year old - Andrew-T
My guess is the usage of credit hire companies doling out overpriced hire cars. But I'd really like to know what's going on with insurance at the moment.

Raising the cost of insurance by so much is going to encourage more people to drive without it.

This is the analogy to the idea that by reducing the rate of taxation you will collect more tax because there will be less evasion ? Unless you think that insurers should provide cover as a charitable service without balancing the books. I think there are enough insurers competing for cover to keep premiums at a 'correct' level (in the sense of reflecting the cost of repairs and replacements).

As you say, more drivers should be buying, instead of avoiding, insurance. I suspect the costs of repairing EVs may have a little to do with it ?

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Sat 20 Apr 2024 16:15
Car insurance for newly passed 17 year old - daveyjp

To understand part of why insurance has increased look how the value of cars has increased.

If our 7 year old Yaris was written off it would cost almost as much to replace it as it cost at 1 year old.

When I bought it 5 years ago a 7 year old Yaris was in bangernomics territory.

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Wed 24 Apr 2024 09:53
Car insurance for newly passed 17 year old - focussed

I'd like to understand what's actually driving the ramping up of the cost. I refuse to accept that as a society we suddenly decided to have 50% more accidents year on year. There has to be underlying causes.

My guess is the usage of credit hire companies doling out overpriced hire cars. But I'd really like to know what's going on with insurance at the moment.

Apart from all the usual reasons such as rising costs in the repair industry, the primary reason is that virtually all insurance companies nowadays are no longer mutuals, they were bought out by investors who have shareholders who demand a return on their investment.

That is what your inflated insurance premium is paying for - the big city spivs and money shufflers.

Note - A mutual is owned exclusively by its customers, known as members, and run for their benefit. So, unlike most financial services organisations, which are run as PLCs (Public Limited Companies), mutuals have no shareholders to pay. Mutuals serve the interests of their members.

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Wed 24 Apr 2024 10:32
Car insurance for newly passed 17 year old - Xileno

Doesn't explain why LV aren't as competitive as they were. There have been members (including me) who have switched from LV.

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Sat 20 Apr 2024 11:24
Car insurance for newly passed 17 year old - John F
The country truly has gone mad. The inability to insure a car is block to employment for young people, having a car can open up so many more opportunities and it grants them freedom. The government need to step in here and investigate why it’s next to impossible for young people to insure a car. I agree that they’re a higher risk but asking £4-£17k to insure a car that’s worth as much as a pair of my socks is nuts. As is always the case when prices are out of control there clearly is an issue with a lack of competition.

All very wise, apart from thinking that the present system of 'government', a bunch of legislators with no money, can do anything about it. Also, the 'competition' seems to consist of making cars which are easy to damage and expensive to repair. A clipped multifunction wing mirror can cost hundreds; a minor frontal collision damaging radiator, lights and condenser could be thousands. The sky's the limit for jurocracy-inspired damages claimed for outrageously magnified effects of transient sprains and bruises.

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Sat 20 Apr 2024 16:29
Car insurance for newly passed 17 year old - Terry W

Some sobering statistics about young drivers - particularly the male variety:

Majority of all fatal collisions involve young male drivers | RAC Drive

Age and motor insurance - Aynsley Insurance

Young male drivers (17-24) are 4 times more likely than those over 25 to be KSI.

The average18-20 year old claim is ~2 times that of the middle aged. They claim 50% more often.

Some insurance companies quoting £10k+ simply don't want to provide insurance. Premiums of £3-4k reflect the fact that statistically young blokes are very high risk.

Not helped by the fact that even a veery minor dent can cost £1k to put right and light fittings can cost £00's every time they tap another vehicle.

It is not a conspiracy to keep the young off the road. Telematics systems can be fitted identify young drivers and reduce premiums for those who are demonstrably safer.

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Tue 23 Apr 2024 14:22
Car insurance for newly passed 17 year old - johnnyrev

Thanks everyone. The good news is that my son passed his test this morning with just two minor faults- very impressive!

We are no nearer to finding a reasonable quote for insurance. A helpful person at one company suggested the age of the car was an issue, but even with specualtive quotes for a 10 year old Citroen C1 or Toyota Aygo were much the same.

So it looks like we are going to be stuck paying nearly £4k to get him on the road.

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Tue 23 Apr 2024 14:46
Car insurance for newly passed 17 year old - movilogo

Congrats on your son's passing.

My own renewal coming in 2 months. Our of interest I ran a quote and having hiccups since then.

It is nearly 3 times higher than last year - with no claims!!

When only 3-4 weeks left in policy I shall start searching seriously for a better quote.

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Wed 24 Apr 2024 16:03
Car insurance for newly passed 17 year old - johnnyrev

I've had a play with the comparison sites and moved the goalposts around a bit. The chnage that made the biggest difference was moving the start date of the policy to three weeks time, which has saved us around £800. So I have now bought a policy for a fraction over £3k, which is still a bit scary and is now Son's 18th birthday present! He is very chuffed however and looking forward to getting on the road.

I had an interesting conversation with someone from Adrian Flux insurance this morning who said that a lot of underwriters won't even consider black box insurance in London, Birmingham or Manchester as the risk is considered too high.

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Wed 24 Apr 2024 16:20
Car insurance for newly passed 17 year old - Terry W

Money savings expert link - usually decent quality advice:

How to get cheap car insurance - MoneySavingExpert

Key take-aways:

  • optimal time to seek quotes is 3-4 weeks before policy start date - shows you are serious and organised
  • with high risk drivers (eg: young) adding someone with much lower risks (eg: parent) with good good driving record can seriously lower premiums
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