Insuring the Car - young new driver - hootie
Many of you will have read my exploits getting a new car suitable for "The Princess" to drive.

Following on, trying to get insurance.

Some companies wont look at it unless she is the registered owner and keeper (not going to do that)

Some are picky over having alloys put on.

Some work out cheaper with her as the policy holder, and parents as named drivers.

It's a minefield.

Basically, she will be 19 when car arrives, a student (for the next 4 years) with no part time job, living at home (rural area outside of Tunbridge Wells - car needed)

Both parents have full UK licences since 17 years old, no convictions or claims.

I have my own insurance with a full NCD.

Mileage will be low. Car will be on drive or in garage at night.

Not sure it's worth the price of insuring her as main driver, so that she can build up her own NCD, as by the time she's paying her own insurance she'll probably be over 21 :( In any case, if she leaves home to go further afield next year, we may not let her take this car with her - we just don't know. After buying a car for her use, I do feel that she has to be on her own at some stage.

Anyway - I have found out that Tesco car insurance will let me have a second car discount and take my own NCD on my other car, into account (without giving it up on my vehicle)

Stand alone quotes for the 'Princess' come out about £1450 pa, but this one is £698.25, all they require is an original letter from my own insurer confirming the NCD. They don't even want me to change to them for my car! (£500 XS for her, £150 for us)

Have also found (girls only I'm afraid) Young Lady Driver, who do policies for 6 months only at just half the price of a full year (not slightly more for the 6 months) and will then renew with a 1 year NCD at the 7th month (at the prevailing cost) They say on their website she has to be the registered owner and keeper, but when I mailed them, they said if the car belongs to a parent, then that's ok. They also say no modifications, but confirm their policy on this - in the eent would exclude cost of the alloys for replacement value. This policy has both parents as named drivers too. (£150 XS for all)

Diamond also do (for girls) a Bonus Accelerator, which is a 10 month policy, after which you get 19% discount for NCD. This policy would cover me, but not sure about my husband. Works out at £873.95 in her name for 10 months)

It needs more investigation, and getting down to the nitty gritty - but I never knew about the potential of a second car NCD, and neither have most of the other companies I've talked to.

Maybe this will help someone else in the same boat?

Anyone else know any more bits of info please?
Insuring the Car - young new driver - novicejon
Have you tried www.elephant.co.uk? I am 20 and currently use them with my step dad as the policy holder and me as a named driver. I have two convictions and I found them the best. They give you the option of 10 month NCB accelerator or a normal 12 month policy. If you are going comprehensive then you can choose the voluntary xs but there is a fixed xs depending on the situation to add on. The policy holder has to be the named driver for all policies. My first insurance policy was with www.cis.co.uk and they were very competitive for first time drivers and they give any other car third party as standard though I am not entirely sure that they still do young drivers, I think they may only do over 25s now.
Insuring the Car - young new driver - TrevP
Here you go:-

www.honestjohn.co.uk/forum/post/index.htm?f=2&t=13...4
Insuring the Car - young new driver - Ben03
hootie,

beware of bonus accelerator policies, because the accelerated ncd may not be recognised by other insurance companies if you want to change in a year or two, effectively tying you in to that company indefinitely. Or at least, that's what happened to my wife when she went with one in the mid to late 90s. She bit the bullet and switched to a conventional policy (with 0 ncd) after the initial 10 month period was up. Worth asking them about (and possibly getting something in writing), anyhow.

i personally dislike admiral, elephant, diamond, etc because many (although not necessarily those three, i've not looked at them for a year or two and my memory's a little hazy) are the same company trading under different names, and giving different quotes for the same car & driver, pretending to compete with each other. Take a look at their websites; the forms you fill in are almost identical except for the colours. I guess I'm saying, make sure the quotes are genuinely independant.

Rant over,

Ben.
Insuring the Car - young new driver - colin-e
Has the "Princess" considered taking a Pass Plus course? Many insurers give discounts for novice drivers who have completed such a course.

Also, if the Princess is the main driver (or could be proved as being such), you MUST insure her in that capacity, otherwise it could compromise her if a claim was made.

(I assume by refering to the "Princess", we are refering to your daughter, rather than a wedgey Austin?).
Insuring the Car - young new driver - Phoenicks
I wish you well in trying to find insurance for your daughter. I know it can be expensive. It will be worth her building up a ncb as it will help when she's older and will drop quite considerably when she has her first year's worth. You will never be able to share a ncb between 2 cars, and if you put yourself down as the main driver with her additional it will take a lot more explaining if she has an accident. If you and your partner have a car each and then insure another car at the same time as insuring your daughter for the first time the penny drops pretty quickly about who's car it is.

My only rant about a lot of young driver insurance posts is when people complain that their insurance costs more than the car is worth. when will people realise that the cost is higher to account for the physical injury payouts that can be incurred in an accident, not necessarily for the car damage.

But good luck with your search.
Insuring the Car - young new driver - SprinterJK
I've found Directline and Tesco to be very competitive for young drivers. I'm only 22, and have always found them to come out with the best quotes compared to other insurers. Around £1500 is probably the best you're going to get, at least until your daughter gets older/gets a ncb. Wouldn't recommend using your NCB and having her as a second driver, insurance companies know what you're up to, and I think you would lose your NCB if you had to claim.

When I passed my test, my instructor told me the Pass Plus was pretty pointless from a financial POV as the cost of taking the 6 (??) lessons was roughly the same or more than the saving you would get on your insurance. Worth remembering that not all insurance companies offer a discount for Pass Plus, and the ones that do might not be the most competitive. However, it probably is worth doing for the added experience of different driving situations and conditions.

Did you end up buying the Yaris without the Alloys? If you bought one without and want to have them added later, I would wait a while. I've managed to completely butcher the hubcaps on my car in the two years I've been driving, mostly due to inexperience. Could be worth waiting a few months or a year until your daughter has a bit more experience.

Anyway, good luck with the car!
Insuring the Car - young new driver - hootie
Hi again - sorry, I forgot to say, that in the phone conversations I've had with companies I have made it quite clear that we are aware insurance for young drivers costs a lot, and we're not trying to be sharp by pretending the car is to be in my name to get the cost down. They all know we have two other cars in the family, but the companies I'm on about say that as she's on a provisional licence it's ok to quote that way, with me as the policy holder and her as a named driver. Not all companies agree, it's just the ones I said so far. It's just not worth the risk of giving slightly inaccurate information IMHO, because in a worst case scenario you want to be sure of a pay out don't you, with no loopholes.

Anyway, trying hard not to forget anyone -
Thanks Trev., the site is still slow for me and I had used the
search facility, but not got anything up, so I will go and read that thread.
Ben, I will bear your comments in mind, am currently trying to work out the benefit of her building up her NCD now over the cost of insurance without a NCD when she is say 21 or 22, and has that much experience behind her (complicated maths coming up)
Colin :-D - her RL nickname is Dolly (but she is not a 2CV either) and her friends have just taken to calling her 'Princess' after learning of the impending purchase! She is in no way an Austin (no offence anyone) The most difficult car I've ever driven was an Allegro, vile thing, belonged to my M-i-L

BTW at this stage Pass Plus isn't an issue anyway, as she has yet to take her test, and we need the insurance before then.

I just never knew how much terms etc. varied. I thought 'full' NCD was an industry standard, not variable from company to company. The woman at Tesco said, when I asked directly, that my NCD on my car would not be affected in any way should there be a claim on the second car. Like I said, I'd never heard of this option before. I would have to get it in writing.


Sprinter, having duly passed on your advice re:alloys (which made perfect sense to me) Mr H stuck to his guns. Seems to be a thing with him. Seeing as this was the only contribution he brought to the decision, and seeing as how he gave us no grief over the make/model/spec./colour of car - I had to let him have some say.

Oooh, and he did the bartering over price too, and came away happy.

Of course, in the event of a little scratch on the kerb, I may well be tempted to utter ....................????

(noooo do you think those words would ever pass my lips?) LOL

Thanks for your good wishes etc boys, the search continues. I'll let you know how it ends up.

Insuring the Car - young new driver - eMBe {P}
hootie:

Tesco is in effect re-badged Direct-Line.

Named driver vs main driver : after Princess has passed her test and does really become the main driver at some stage, then as soon as THAT happens, you should tell the insurers to change the policy details. As Mark(RLBS) - who is an expert on these matters - has said before "you must be truthful".

Alloy wheels: When you ask about these being fitted, did you tell them they are "standard manufacturer factory supplied and fitted for that model"? (I am assuming that they are standard and not optional extras!) They USUALLY will only count as a modification if they are non-standard, not-factory-fitted, and post-delivery after-market items.

Finally, anything you say or do in connection with your final choice of Insurance that is not in their normal terms & conditions: make sure you write it down (names, times, who said/agreed what, etc.), and then send it to the Insurers via recorded or registered post, and keep a copy.
Insuring the Car - young new driver - eMBe {P}
hootie: also look at Volvoman's research for insurance for a learner driver (his wife) at
www.honestjohn.co.uk/forum/post/index.htm?v=i&t=12...2
Insuring the Car - young new driver - hootie
Thanks again - so much info and so little time. Strangely enough just after reading this had a phone call from a friend who's daughter turns 17 next week. They've bought her a 1998 (I think) Pug 106, and he was on the net at the time looking for quotes for her.

So, the wisdom gets passed on and on :)

In my time honoured way, I shall spend days scouring the net and the phone lines will be red hot.

As regards these alloys - what I have said is

"the list price of the car doesn't include alloy wheels, but these have been ordered from the manufacturer with the order for the vehicle, and will be the wheels originally supplied to us"

Insurer pointed me in direction of a clause which states they would only pay out for the vehicle's standard steel wheels as per list price.

Still much work to be done on this one!
Insuring the Car - young new driver - hootie
Am not just totally obsessed with my own situation - am posting this, just incase it helps someone else too.

Best quote so far

Diamond - they are happy that I will be the reg owner and keeper. Fully comp policy in Princess's name. Both parents as named drivers. Low mileage (it will be) quite a high excess (expected) Brand new 98cc manual Yaris.

£1000.65 for 12 months (adding Mr H actually brought the premium down £25 - even though Diamond is for ladies)

They also assured me that after a 10 month bonus accelerator policy they issue a proper 12 month certficate which can be taken anywhere.

The quote seems very good to me though? (also have a broker looking, after they told me they had an impressive quote (was £1,700 something!) that can't hurt)