You do realise that if it is his car, you cannot insure it in your name and have him as a named driver with most insurance companies, right?
It's his car, thus he must have his own policy.
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There are various advanced driving courses/exams which apparantly give young drivers some discount on their insurance. No doubt somebody who knows about that stuff will be along in a minute.
However, on the insurance side....
It doesn't need to be registered in the name of the policyholder, but life is one hell of a lot easier if it is. So much so that you might as well take it as compulsory.
You can insure it in your name with him as the main user. The policy will be rated on him, the same as if he was a policyholder. However, the difference can arise where an insurer is prepared to give an introductory discount on the strength of your record. Essentially the argument being that if you are a careful [lucky] driver then it is more likely that you will encourage him to be, and so an introductory discount can recognise that. Also, it means that some companies who have rules that the policyholder must be overt age x will still be able to quote.
However, quite clearly, he will not earn NCD in his own name and will one day have to make the jump. However, that jump will nto only be smaller for [say] a 24 year old than it is for a [say] 17 year old, it will also be chaper since by then he will be an experienced driver. Although another bad point is that any accident he has, and statistically that's probable, then it will count against your record, although not against your NCD.
You could register and insure it in his name. Expensive, but at least he's on his own and building his own record - which is a good thing. You need to shop around, consider which car to get, play with excess levels, and cover types and experiment with additional drivers. It can be cheaper if he adds you as an additional driver rather than insuring it solely for himself. The thinking being that you are likely to be an influence. Hwoever, that's not always so and you need to try.
In the end a good starting point is a high street broker who advertises for young drivers. Its likely to be a reaosnable deal but even if you can beat it, it will give you a yardstick to judge other quotations against.
In the end, a lot of footwork is the only way. And do include the advanced driving stuff....
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>>There are various advanced driving courses/exams which >>apparantly give young drivers some discount on their >>insurance.
I think you mean the Pass Plus Scheme. Have a word with his driving instructor or do a google.
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Many many thanks to you all so far. Again, it amazes me that there really are such kind and generous people, such as yourselves around even today.
With regards to the insurance - I have played around with a lot of websites, including confused. and the prices are no lower than £1100, Third party.
But we will definitley look into the Pass Plus course. Which should be useful anyway, just for the extra practise, if nothing else.
But another suggestion we will definitley look into is going into town, we have a couple of brokers, and we'll see what they can do.
Another possibilty that one of his friends told him about though was that if he could get a classic car that might help? Is that true? I thought a small cheap car was the right way to go, unless you can suggest anything else?
Once again thank you to you all.
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A classic car on limited mileage can work out substantially cheaper.
You might run into age restrictions issues and you might well have mileage limitation issues. Also you might find that increased maintenance will outweigh insurance savings.
Finally a young driver is pretty likely to have an accident - unless you have one of the [very rare] cautious and safe children, then you might prefer he was in the safest car possible which is probably a more modern one.
Who is the existing insurer on either your or your wife's car ? If it is one of the large composites, such as Norwich Union, and you have a good driving record then you could do worse than yo ring them and ask for a quote in your [or your wife's name] with your son as a named driver, do not forget to indicate that your sonis the main driver, and point out quite strongly that you are an existing customer with a good record.
For that neither website nor broker will help, you would need to ring the insurer direct.
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Many thanks for your response Sir.
I will definitley do that, and see what happens.
Again, many many thanks for your help, it is greatly appreciated.
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The problem with a real classic policy is that generally you don't accumulate an NCD. Not good in your case, but handy for others as you don't need one to get a decent price.
p.s. when I got my MoreThan renewal, it stated thay would match the NCD on a second car.
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I believe Norwich Union offer a 50% discount to new drivers who've taken the Pass Plus. They're also extremely competitive at adding people as a named driver. I'm 19 and they added me as a named driver on my dad's car so I can drive it from time to time for just 200 pounds extra a year. (It's a 2.5l Daewoo Leganza).
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Confused.com is the way to go. SWMBO needed insurance in her own name for the first time in about 10 years - quotes for a Focus 1.6 ranged from £235 to £600 ...
NU give 30% off for PassPlus (www.norwichunion.com/car-insurance/rapid-bonus-pas...m ), but they are very expensive to start with! Daughter #1 is with BellDirect.co.uk, who were >30% cheaper than NU.
{Link corrected by putting a space between the htm and close bracket. DD}
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There is no point in quoting insurance companies that that the cheapest as they all access risk in different ways. Many insurance companies will changes prices depending on the type of risks they have covered that day.
The only way to get a good price is by getting lots of quotes.
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I have found the Elephant/Admiral/Bell group the best for me.
I drove my mum's car on her insurance from 17-20, then at 20 got my own car with no NCD. So whilst not in the SAME position as your son, not hugely dissimilar either.
One key thing to do is to add both parents to his policy as second and third drivers - assuming your records are good, you could easily save a lot of money. I saved £160 like this in the first year i had my own policy. This also has the benefit that you can drive your son's car if the need arises without risking your own policy by doing so.
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I have found the Elephant/Admiral/Bell group the best for me.
I passed my test at 17 and Norwich union were the cheapest in my first year, chopping a good few 00s of pounds off the price just because I had done pass plus. However, they refused to give me a discount the following year, wanting exactly the same amount! So I rang admiral who gave me a £200-250 saving in my second year. Just got my renewal through the other day, and the lobbed another £200 off for my third year.
I have also heard that elephant is cheap too.
Personally I would recommend getting his own insurance once he has attained pass plus, so he then gets his own NCB. Mind you, I don?t know what the savings would have been compared to if I had been a second driver on my dad?s policy etc etc. NU were good in the sense that they give me a policy (albeit, expensive) so at least I was on the road, but then gave me a refund once I had attained my pass plus certificate. There were terms and conditions relating to time, I do believe.
Its up to you which car you buy, and there are many bargains to be had in your price bracket. One thing I will say is, avoid the Ford Fiesta. Time and time again, we were warned by insurance companies that these were expensive to insure. Not necessarily because of their engine size or power output, but just because of their trim specifications! You could be charged a couple of 100 pounds more just because one fiesta had different upholstery and a sunroof compared to the other.
I ended up with a ?93 Polo. Miles better than a Fiesta of similar vintage (IMHO).
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Following on from the classic car idea, I've done something similar but put the classic insurance on one of the other cars. So SWMBO has insurance in her own name & associated NCD, I insure one of the other two cars on a classic policy which doesn't earn an NCD (and is only £105 with breakdown cover included for 1500 miles per annum), and the third car that my my 18-year old son drives uses my own NCD. On the latter, my wife and son are named drivers, and I'm the policy holder and main driver. This policy is with Norwich Union on a 1.4 Megane @ £460 with 5 years NCD protected.
One trap that I almost fell into with one company was that if my son was driving to work more than two days a week, even as a summer job, then despite the fact that I was using it the other five, and more than him, they would still class him as the main driver - but luckily I found this out just before accepting the quote of £360 as it would have been totally useless to me. A question worth asking if you get a cheap quote!
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