Hi I have held a full licence since April of this year and am finding it a nightmare trying to get car insurance.
I am thinking of buying a new car; a 'cheap-to-insure' Kia Picanto for use only by me. I have been driving a b/n Micra for 4 months and have had no accidents etc and consider myself a careful driver but obviously have no NCB. All quotes are creeping up on the £1000 mark which I cannot afford.
Can anyone suggest any better places to look?
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Sorry mate but I presume you're around the 17 years old age? Even if you're not, the first year is always going to be a pain. A grand is cheap to be honest in your first year - I'm paying more than that in my second! You may well be a careful driver but in the eyes of the insurer's...you...well....aren't.
I would try Tesco for the first year - they were very good for me.
Hope that helps
Adam
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Hey less of the assumptions! :)
You seem to have me down as some kinda boy racer scally mister - I'm 22 and female, but that doesn't seem to make any odds to the insurers anyway, as you say.
Thanks for the tip I've had a look at Tesco online but the Picanto isn't listed...
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lubbin,
My 20 year old niece has just passed her driving test and taken out an insurance to drive her boyfriends car. He can't drive at present.
Direct Line quoted her about £900. This is fully comprehensive, but the excess on that is a whopping £400 !!!! She has other girlfriends who own cars and they are all paying around this figure and with a similar excess.
So, I'm very sorry to say that you are looking at about a four figure sum. I know that Direct Line will accept payment by installments, that's what my niece has opted for, but, of course, it still does have to be paid.
I know things have greatly changed in the insurance world in the 34 years since I started driving cars, but I think my first ever car insurance was about £40.00. Even then, I found it impossible to get insured as a student, which I was at the time, so, at my brokers suggestion, I put myself down as a shop assistant, which was my weekend occupation.
I rather think you wouldn't get away with doing something like that today, with the much greater exchanges of information that we now have in connection with insurance.
Good luck, anyway.
Galaxy
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>I know things have greatly changed in the insurance world in the 34 years since I started driving cars
Not in terms of what youngsters pay.
When my pals 17-year-old was shocked, Dad said to him:-
"That's 6 weeks wages for you, Son.
Guess how many weeks wages I paid for my first car insurance?"
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Well its all dependent on your age, location, car etc but the cheapest quote for me was elephant.co.uk i pay around £750 for a group 4 car and with a claim against me and apparently i don't live in a good area according to one insurance company i phoned! They were very helpful and friendly sorting everything out and with my renewal soon i hope its cheaper again being that i'm now 20 and will have a years no claims behind me!
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Sorry to assume! It does seem to vary. Elephant for me in my second year were ridiculous but in Stu's case were very good! I'm not with Tesco now but like I say, in the first year they were very good. On a Fiesta in my first year I was paying short of 2 and a half grand but now with a Focus I'm paying considerably less with a company who in my first year quoted over £3000!
As Stu says, it does depend on your age location etc.. Being 22 and female I'm guessing would help a little but I'd start saving now!
Sorry
Adam
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Thanks I have recieved pretty competitive quotes from elephant (£850) and Endsleigh (£800). Just hoping next year improves the situation!
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My sons have had slightly more reasonable quotes from CIS and Zurich (Daewoo Matiz). Are there any cars in your price range where there is a year's free insurance perhaps?
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Yeah I did think about this Brambob - think the Peugeot 206 Zest has but don't know any more, and that's about 8 grand. With the Picanto being only £5500 for a five door thought that was quite bargainous.
As you can see I'm a bit dumb when it comes to cars cos I'm only a girl :) so I'll prob end up getting ripped off whatever I do.
Think I'll bookmark this site though because all you lot seem to know what you're talking about!
While we're on the subject, make your brains work clever-car-people and help me! I want a little city runabout style thing, not bothered about big engines and all that palava. Want it to look pretty, good value for money, low fuel consumption and cheap to insure. Have use of parents' new Micra at moment and that is fabulous - something along those lines. Something that's not going to need a lot of technical fannying-about because as you can see I'm a bit ignorant when it comes to that. Oh, and 0% finance would be good too...am I asking too much?
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On the free insurance theme mentioned earlier, if you look through the best deals for 9 July on the Honest John main page there seem to be free insurance offers on the Peugeot 206, the Ford Ka Collection, the Citroen C3 and the Vauxhall Corsa among others. Of these the Corsa looks as if it may be the cheapest at £6995.
Best of luck!
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Copy and past the link below. Trading as youngladydriver.com, I think. I have just insured my daughters Fiesta for £1150 for the year. They also do a six month accelerator policy where you can get 25% no claims discount on renewal. Not for everybody but way below some of the outlandish prices being quoted by Tesco, et al.
www.winsure.co.uk/cgi-bin/yld2/yld_call_ban.pl?ins...4
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Forgot to mention she only passed her test Friday and she is just 17.
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Thanks have just got a quote from youngladydriver, is no cheaper than Endsleigh but fact that you can get cover for 6 months then 25% off next 6 months is great. Hmmm...this is all getting very complicated..
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As far as cars go, what about the new Fiat Panda, small, cute (matter of opinion I know) and I think gp1 insurance
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Fiat had free insurance on the Panda Dynamic in May, they are offering 0% finance at the moment but in the future they may do free insurance again.
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Just had a reccy at the Panda and I think it's just a litle bit ugly...
It reminds me of a pensioner's car, or a vehicle adapted to fit a wheelchair with disabled access. Sorry and all that...
Maybe it's the fact that it bears more than a passing resemblance to the Sizuki Ignis that puts me off - cos that's the car my 80 year old granny tootles about in. Eugh.
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I'm surprised no-one has mentioned www.frizzell.co.uk/ or www.liverpoolvictoria.co.uk/ . It's the same company trading under two different names. Frizzell give discounts to members of certain organisations, including the CSMA.
They were by far the cheapest option (and offered the best level of cover) when I was looking for my first insurance last year.
As for car choice, the Toyota Yaris and Skoda Fabia were the favourites amongst the (many) cars I looked at at the time.
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Lubbin, Look at taking you Pass Plus test and what discounts Norwich Union and others will offer, a couple of years ago the Pass Plus cost £99 but gave a 30% discount for a 17 year old. Regards Peter
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Lubbin,
I notice you mention Endsleigh, and that it is expensive at £800. After extensive research my daughter, who is about the same age as you, found them to be the cheapest for her and her old Clio and then her new Clio.
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Sorry to repeat myself but I posted this in the wrong place.
On the free insurance theme mentioned earlier, if you look through the best deals for 9 July on the Honest John main page there seem to be free insurance offers on the Peugeot 206, the Ford Ka Collection, the Citroen C3 and the Vauxhall Corsa among others. Of these the Corsa looks as if it may be the cheapest at £6995.
Best of luck!
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I'm surprised no-one has mentioned www.frizzell.co.uk/ or www.liverpoolvictoria.co.uk/ .
Well, they like youngsters, and they apparently like the *cough* more elderley (sorry ND) gent in his souped up Sportwagon, but they seem to have something against 26 year olds. Wanted £900 from me! Twice as much as my renewal quote from Natwest!
Just goes to show, there's not a great deal of point in recommending insurance companies, as they vary so much from person to person anyway. On the other hand, at least threads like this give yopu ideas of who to try.
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>> I'm surprised no-one has mentioned www.frizzell.co.uk/ or www.liverpoolvictoria.co.uk/ . Well, they like youngsters, and they apparently like the *cough* more elderley (sorry ND) gent in his souped up Sportwagon, but they seem to have something against 26 year olds...
Well I'm 35 so it's not just young persons. They have topped some Which? surveys for new drivers. I seem to remember whether they were best depended on whether you lived in a high risk area or not.
The worst quote I had was with Norwich Union Direct, which was for over £1000 more. Presumably this was an example of a company deterring those customers who don't match their target market.
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Well I'm 35 so it's not just young persons.
Sorry to say, but from my point of view, you're in the elderley section with No Dosh ;)
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Thanks for all your help car brainiacs.
The best quotes I have are from youngladydriver.co.uk and Liverpool whatsit. However, after reading all your points of view on the 'First Car for 17 year old' thread I'm considering getting a cheap old banger to get from a to b. However I'm very wary that I'm gonna be ripped off with a car that doesn't even get me home because I have no idea what to look out for. Too many options for an ill-educated lady like me...
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A lot of the new car free insurance deals do not cover 17 year olds and moctly kick in at 21 years old. Regards Peter
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Yeah I know but that's ok cos I'm 22! Thanks anyway
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1. Buy an older car that doesn't require fully comp cover. With a huge excess & the loss of no claims, an accident will easily cost you over 1k if you're insured.
2. Buy a 25cc scooter & keep it in a shed. In 12 months' time you will have a 1 year ncb.
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