Well, the younger version of Blue is now ready to start driving, but it seems that all of my knowledge of which insurance companies are any good has totally evaporated as the cheapest quote I can get him on a 1.4 Escort is £2400.
Has anyone got any ideas of where to look for cheap younger drivers insurance, I've tried the usual suspects, Direct Line, Liverpool Victoria etc.
He needs a larger car like an Escort as he will be using it to travel from the south of the country back to the north east on a reasonably regular basis.
If anyone has any bright ideas about what other car might be useful then feel free to share them, it should be commonly available for less than £500.
Blue
|
Blue,
I'll say what I always do - Tesco were the best in my first year although still expensive!
Norwich Union were the best in the second - I include Tesco in that statement. I'm driving a bigger car now so maybe worth trying NU first.
Hope this helps
--
Adam
|
|
|
He should do Pass Plus and then insure the car with Norwich Union. Unless you live in the Bronx, this will allow him to insure the car for well under £1000.
Friend of mine took this route and insured a 2.5 V6 Omega for £1195 TPFT @ 17.
|
|
|
I passed my test six months ago, and I can't explain just how good value Pass Plus is. It doesn't take a lot of time (6 extra lessons) and - with Norwich Union at least - knocks premiums almost in half (about 48% cheaper). Also, the lowest sector-C (Escort/Astra/Golf) cars for insurance I'm aware of are the 306 and Megane.
Hope this helps...
|
|
|
Hi,
I found that Norwich Union were the cheapest in my first year, undercutting the rest by a good £250, and Pass Plus does lob a good %45 off their original quote.
However, Admiral gave me the better quote in the second year, a good £200 off what NU were going to charge for the second year.
Tesco were no help to me, but it depends upon your circumstances. Endseigh are also supposed to be good, but I have no first hand experience of their quotes, as I didn't try them.
As for the car, its a real shame the insurance companies put such emphasis on the size, as it can really stop you getting the car you want. Personally, I wouldn't bother with Fords just yet, as when we tried for quotes for a Fiesta, one very honest insurance company basically told us that these were expensive to insure. He went on to say that a change in the spec can add 100s on to the quote, even though the oily bits were identical. So if you really want an Escort, then it might be worth going for a poverty spec version, just so you can save some money.
If you dont mind me asking, why an Escort?
Hope this helps
|
My first car was a Citroen Xantia 1.9TD. Cheap to run, cheap to insure, comfortable, reliable and safe.
Loved that car.
|
Try CIS.
Never any drama. All open and above board. No unspecified loading. Everyone is assessed on a points system which I'm sure CIS would be prepared to disclose to you.
--
L\'escargot by name, but not by nature.
|
CIS are only much good if the insurance is in a parent's name from what I have seen. That is how I insured my first car, based on their own rep's recommendation.
I've tried Norwich Union but they don't seem to have an option for Pass Plus, their quote was something like £3,000. Do you have to call up to get them to accept Pass Plus?
The reason that I've suggested an Escort to him is because I work in a Ford main dealers and so have good access to cheap part exchanges with the opportunity to test drive them overnight etc. before committing to buying one. I would recommend anything else to him though if something decent came up, it's just I see a lot more Fords than anything else.
Blue
|
|
Yeah, you have to call them, you can work out roughly what it'll be though, if you select 1 years NCB (since that's what they give you).
|
|
|
Hi again,
"do you have to call them up" Does this mean you have been trying the internet? I tried the online quotes for all of the major insurance companies, but they were very inaccurate. The quotes that I got were sometimes £250 off what they would quote over the phone. Even though you supply the same information, you get a different quote over the phone, usually cheaper. How does that work?
Excellent idea suggesting an Escort then, if you work at a Ford dealer ;-)
|
|
|
|
|
