Insuring Teenage Drivers

[Aragorn]

The insurance market is full of quirks as well, it pays to shop around in more ways than one.

A friend of mine got banned a few years ago, and when getting back on the road bought a 1994 1.2 Corsa, thinking cheap old car with a small engine would be cheap to insure.

When he started getting quotes, they were insane money. Obviously he expected that due to the ban and wasnt that surprised, however after a lot of playing with comparison sites, he began to discover that old and cheap wasnt actually a good idea. A 2005 Clio was about 30% cheaper than an otherwise identical 2000 model and both were significantly less than the Corsa. A 3 year old Citreon C2 VTR (which you'd imagine would be really expensive due to its "sporting" attributes and bigger engine) was about half as expensive as the Corsa. If i recall correctly, he even found a Volvo C70 T5 cost the same as the Corsa to insure!

I can only guess some statistical analysis shows that cheap old cars are used and abused whereas a 3 year old car is much more likely to be treated well. They're possibly also more likely to get into incidents due to the lack of ABS/ESP etc.

I've also found some companies make fairly substantial premium corrections for adding named drivers, but in random directions. Some firms adding a younger driver as a named person to a older persons policy makes it MORE expensive than if the young person was the only driver. Other firms make the policy cheaper if you add some older experienced people, and some put the price up when you add drivers regardless of their relative experience.

So for instance with our current insurers, i'm not named on the wifes policy, as adding my name put the price up by a decent chunk. I dont drive her car much, and have third party extension cover on my own policy, so just use that whenever i do need to drive it. Shes named on mine however as it made no difference.

[Happyoldgit]

A slightly different perspective. Financial implications being favourable, it should really be a decision based on your knowledge of your kids, their own feeling on the matter and an understanding of the car. Personally I see aiming at something modern with ABS/TC/ESP as subscribing to the ever growing over caution the world seems to be coddling itself with. We all got on just fine in proper pieces of carp with no leccy gubbins or safety outside of seatbelts. My first proper car of my own was a classic Mini which I've kept and my children will learn to drive in it if the law will allow - because I know it'll put wiles on them and I'll rest easier knowing I've reared good solid knowledgable drivers rather than hoping ABS/ESP/TC will sort them out when they have no idea how to react to a given condition. I taught a GF to drive in that mini and she became a brilliant driver, and I'd love to take credit but really it's because being so small on the road she had to be aware, defensive and in tune with the car because it wasn't going to be too forgiving if she became complacent. She made that car tiny or huge depending on the situation and it was a joy to see her go. I say stick them in a Defender, it's a gift for life both in the physical sense and in the skills they'll learn if you open their eyes to the depth of skill that driving can be. Cars without knacks breed drivers without knacks.

Our lad would have been quite happy trundling around and dealing with a Series or 90 but with an 80 mile round trip and some shift work thrown in, running costs aside, the insurance would likely have been daft. He has been far from mollycoddled [i can see him now sat in an open cab hauling a muck trailer in the dead of winter] and there will be no problem with him going back to basics when the premium reduces as he builds up a bit of NCB and experience on his own out on the roads.

[Shackleton]

[i can see him now sat in an open cab hauling a muck trailer in the dead of winter]

Good country lad. I'm just in from ferrying a trailer of water back and forth to a new hedge.

RE tax; ours is based on engine size pre 2008 and on CO2 post '08. It means my D2 is €1080 a year, the RRC €1800. Classic kicks in at 30 (I hear it's 40 in the UK?) and then tax is €56 per year. Classic insurance here can be on a car as young as 20 years old. Which is why when my standard renewal came in last week at €1450 3rd party only (I'm 38 with a full NCB ffs) I reached for the phone and got a quote for less than €600 for a fully comp policy with a mileage cap of 10k, windscreen and roadside, open drive for me and I can put my other classics on for <€100 when the time is right. The feeling of relief is only bettered by the happiness at the possibilities.

Btw, and again RE our road tax system, it'd be fine if the management was upheld. Our roads are generally pretty poor for the money.

[pigster]

couldn't agree more. - I learnt in a volvo 340 hatchback - no power steering or electric anything, you actually had to drive and pay attention. the car was top heavy and sluggish. However - brilliant to drive around in, as it was quick enough to have fun but not go too wrong in the same process. moved on to defenders after 2 years I think and never looked back. Modern cars are false confidence givers and I reckon they create more accidents than solve. But thats just me.

[Happyoldgit]

couldn't agree more. - I learnt in a volvo 340 hatchback - no power steering or electric anything, you actually had to drive and pay attention. the car was top heavy and sluggish. However - brilliant to drive around in, as it was quick enough to have fun but not go too wrong in the same process. moved on to defenders after 2 years I think and never looked back. Modern cars are false confidence givers and I reckon they create more accidents than solve. But thats just me.

Sure, my first car was pretty much as basic as they came, safety and driver aids were not the computer designed thing they are now and the motor only cost me 30 notes a year to insure but that isn't the point.

I suppose we could have got him a pre war Austin 7 so he could learn how to cope with cable brakes, skinny tyres and double de- clutching while trundling to work on shifts at all ours of the day and night, winter and summer ...and maybe even raised the stakes a bit by fitting a 6" spike to the steering wheel but again that's not the point.

Of course people used, and still use vehicles without power this or that or few if any safety features but in conditions, policy terms and sky high premiums young new drivers nowadays have the insurance stakes firmly loaded against them.