Car insurance for your new driver kids

Travisthedog

My lad is 17 in a few weeks and is starting to learn to drive

I have to buy him a car to learn in as I drive a company car (auto) and his mum has an auto car too so he needs something to practice on 

Obviuosly car insurance for his demographic is lunacy so are there any routes to cheaper car insurance that any of you folks in this situation have managed to find 

Thanks 

Lodious

We used Marmalade. You insure the car for yourself and pay Marmalade for the cover of the learner. This was about £160 for 90 days on a Peugeot 208. The cover is not valid once they pass. 

No idea how good this is, but everything is crazy expensive for young drivers at the moment. 

ICBM

You need to get a Group 1 or at most 2 car as well - the premiums go up rapidly after that. It’s perhaps surprisingly not so bad when they’re learning - because there’s a qualified driver in the car - but it will go through the roof once they’ve passed. They’re generally not cool or the sort of thing a 17-year-old boy wants to drive, but that’s really the point…

We got a Kia Picanto (group 2) which we bought from our in-laws after their kids had both passed. It’s on its fifth learner now! Great little reliable and safe car.

JEM

In my experience a Peugeot 106 / Citroen C1 / Toyota Aygo is the cheapest to insure for young drivers. Get a few quotes before buying anything though as you can get a nasty surprise. My eldest got a 1.2l Fiesta after passing their test and the premium was eye-wateringly expensive.

I found it wasn't too expensive while they're learning. The premium goes up like a rocket as soon as they pass though ;-(

TTony

You might find that insurance for him as a learner is expensive, but that's nowhere near as expensive as it'll be if/when he passes.

As a learner, there's always a qualified driver in the car with him, so some level of supervision/control, hence premiums are not as high.  

Once qualified, look at the "black box" (or app) insurers.  Those will recognise his driving style and habits (times of day, etc) in the premium, so if he's a careful driver who's not out with a car full of mates late at night, his premium should be relatively lower.  Still painfully expensive, but relatively lower. 

Kebabkid

Lodious said:

We used Marmalade. You insure the car for yourself and pay Marmalade for the cover of the learner. This was about £160 for 90 days on a Peugeot 208. The cover is not valid once they pass. 

No idea how good this is, but everything is crazy expensive for young drivers at the moment. 

Another +1 for Marmalade.

Musicwolf

Kebabkid said:

Lodious said:

We used Marmalade. You insure the car for yourself and pay Marmalade for the cover of the learner. This was about £160 for 90 days on a Peugeot 208. The cover is not valid once they pass. 

No idea how good this is, but everything is crazy expensive for young drivers at the moment. 

Another +1 for Marmalade.

We've used Marmalade whilst my son is learning.  Prices are relatively low as a learner because the driver is under supervision and is sticking to the speed limit, being cautious etc.

Our next step, once he passes, will be to add him as a named driver on one of the existing policies - and that ain't going to be cheap

Lodious

My lad passed last week and it's about 1K per year increase on the premium to have him insured on the 208. When my daughter comes back from Unit, LV charge about £20 quid to put her on for a weekend (5 for the insurance, 15 for the admin fee). 

As to what cars to get for low insurance, I got some quotes before we bought a 208 and I thought it was OK. As stated above, Fiesta's were really expensive. 

I've read about some horror stories about black box insurance where the insurance has been cancelled mid policy (leaving the driver stuffed as they have to declare they had insurance voided). When I checked it didn't seem much cheaper. so I'd def. check before going down that route. 

benecol

A +1 for being very wary of black box policies; my son's friends have all fallen foul of some technicality or another, and seen their premiums overtake (no pun intended) what they would have been paying with a straight bite-the-bullet policy. They're also quite shit if mobile reception isn't fantastic in your area, apparently.

My experience (named driver on our policy) is: not as bad as I was expecting when he was learning > quite a sting when he'd passed > terrifying when it was time for our annual renewal (£90ish pm. on a 1200 Panda).

For those making changes for people home weekends etc., look at making the changes online rather than over the phone to swerve some of the admin fee.

guitars4you

Not an issue for me - Daughter working in London so tube etc

But as it happens just had my renewal notice today - No claim, no changes etc - Not looked around yet - Fully covered with protected full claims etc - Was £640 now £1015

ElectricXII

We're in Fife, so insurance is much cheaper than in many other places, and our younger son passed his test yesterday. To insure him on his Mum's Fiat 500 will increase the premium from c. £160 to c. £600 with her remaining as the principle driver.

ICBM

benecol said:

A +1 for being very wary of black box policies; my son's friends have all fallen foul of some technicality or another, and seen their premiums overtake (no pun intended) what they would have been paying with a straight bite-the-bullet policy. They're also quite shit if mobile reception isn't fantastic in your area, apparently.

We refused to even contemplate a black box for our kids, especially since it didn't make much difference to the quotes.

rsvmark

A few years ago for us but we went Aygo and then Gogirl was consistently competitive for daughter and son when his turn came. I always used price comparison websites. We managed to steer clear of telemetry monitoring but I believe technology has now moved on and apps are the thing. Good luck 

ToneControl

what's the insurance cost like if the new driver is say 22, 23, 24?

ESBlonde

It’s a getting on for a decade or so since my lads learned, but there was a company called “drives like a girl” who installed a black box, but were very reasonable. Asking the driving instructor might yield some up to date choices. Marmalade only works as an addition to the insured and qualified driver.

Rob1742

My First UK is very good. My lad was £1600 first year after passing and then £1200 year two.

This includes a black box which is an amazing bit of kit as it really does help them learn to drive in the correct way.

I know a broker very well and he told me an insurer got taken out of the market, I think through a purchase so the premiums went through the roof and so our £1200 could easily become much more than that next time around. He did say though that the sale may well have gone through by June and so the market may well have stabilised and addressed itself.

When we first looked My First UK was by far the best and was the one our instructor advised all his clients to use.

i can’t recall what the premium was pre passing, but we used them before the test also and have been impressed with the service as well as the premiums.

Some moan about the insurer being harsh with regards to the black box, but if you stick to the limits there isn’t an issue, it’s only when you don’t that they don’t want you on their books 

ToneControl

I'm aware that the urge to drive like a knob declines after the early 20s (and is less prevalent anyway with females, but the law says no discrimination), so wondered what quotes are like after 22

Kebabkid

Musicwolf said:

Kebabkid said:

Lodious said:

We used Marmalade. You insure the car for yourself and pay Marmalade for the cover of the learner. This was about £160 for 90 days on a Peugeot 208. The cover is not valid once they pass. 

No idea how good this is, but everything is crazy expensive for young drivers at the moment. 

Another +1 for Marmalade.

We've used Marmalade whilst my son is learning.  Prices are relatively low as a learner because the driver is under supervision and is sticking to the speed limit, being cautious etc.

Our next step, once he passes, will be to add him as a named driver on one of the existing policies - and that ain't going to be cheap

Why not stick with Marmalade? My son did and he has his own insurance and no claims that doesn't affect my policy and he's driving my car.
You can buy mileage chunks and top  ups e.g. 500 miles = @£500

Musicwolf

Kebabkid said:

Musicwolf said:

Kebabkid said:

Lodious said:

We used Marmalade. You insure the car for yourself and pay Marmalade for the cover of the learner. This was about £160 for 90 days on a Peugeot 208. The cover is not valid once they pass. 

No idea how good this is, but everything is crazy expensive for young drivers at the moment. 

Another +1 for Marmalade.

We've used Marmalade whilst my son is learning.  Prices are relatively low as a learner because the driver is under supervision and is sticking to the speed limit, being cautious etc.

Our next step, once he passes, will be to add him as a named driver on one of the existing policies - and that ain't going to be cheap

Why not stick with Marmalade? My son did and he has his own insurance and no claims that doesn't affect my policy and he's driving my car.
You can buy mileage chunks and top  ups e.g. 500 miles = @£500

I didn't know that you do that.  Thanks, I'll look into it.

Haych

My lad passed his test last Friday, no insurer will touch him on a 20 year old Polo.

Even those with telematics who state they will insure him allow him to go through the motions and then when it comes to payment he's presented with a message that states they can't help him!

Others want between £7k and £21k + per year to cover him.

Not sure where we go from here.

He's been offered a job but can't get there without a car.

The only thing I can think to do is mothball my car, insure his and add him as a named driver, although that's not doing him any favours and means I'm taking a risk too.

It's a scam and a racket, I tell ya!

MikeC

I used Bell insurance for all 3 kids, but they've started having minor prangs / accidents now they've passed so premiums rising and NCD gone and now its too expensive to move!