Young driver's car insurance?

[DanceswithUnix]

In the past there was the option of having an old banger to keep the insurance down, not sure that saves much now. My first car (about 15 years ago) was a 20 year old 1.6 chrysler avenger. the insurance was around £300.

I think the insurance for my first car was around £400, the value of the car. That was for a mini estate, with 45bhp of 1.0l A series engine. Allowing for inflation over 25 years, I don't think much has changed tbh.

[chrismarriott66]

Yup I agree, my first car 6/7 years ago wasn't worth the cost of the insurance to be honest... but it was a car and it gave me more independence. Plus it meant that I was building up no claims; here's what I paid:

Year 1 - £2,000 (17 years old)
Year 2 - £1,500
Year 3 - £1,100
Year 4 - £750 (newer car - worth the insurance now!)
Year 5 - £600

It has stayed about that for the last couple of years because insurance has been going up... I have considered it staying the same to be a good thing in comparison to others i've spoken to

[Smudger]

I think it's worth going for an 'un-obvious' car the first time - ie not Fiesta, Astra etc. I was insured of my folks' cars for 4 years, (was away at uni so didn't need a car) then my 1st car was a Vauxhall Cavalier at 21. I paid £600 for the first year on that, mainly because in those days NCBs for named drivers didn't exist in those days.
You're hit twice really - young driver and first policy.
Another thing which might reduce costs is to insure a parent on the car as named driver - having a second person usually reduces premium, and an old second person is double bonus... They can nag at you when you're driving wrong.

[heinkeljb]

One way to get insurance premiums down is to go down the "tracker" route. The Insurance company fits a GPS system to your car, you abide by some rules like, not driving after 10pm, or before 6am. Like not travelling more than a set number of miles per month etc.

The rules are quite strict, but I think you are allowed to bend the curfew one a couple of times with out a penalty.

John

[dave87]

Getting older does have its advantages, and insurance costs are one of the main ones (well, until you get too old, then it goes back up).

I bought this when I was 20, and the insurance was something like £1200 for a year:



2006 (so two years old at this point) 140bhp 2.2 iCTDi Civic Sport.

Much like Finlay was saying, it is a statistical thing. How many people of my age group had one of that model, how often did they crash it, how much did it cost when they did? Based on that, it was cheaper to insure than a Saxo/Fiesta/Focus etc. At this point adding named drivers actually pushed the premium up, so it was only me on that policy. Kept it for two and a half years, when I changed for this:



2001 e39 530i Sport Auto.

First years insurance (at 23 years old) was just under £1k with Sky Insurance. Adding Mum to the policy as a named driver dropped the policy a couple of hundred pounds, so worth doing.

This year, adding both parents and an extra years NCB (now 6 years) meant a policy of £640.


What have I found through this:

• Passplus makes a difference. Not a big one, but better than nothing.
• NCB is key - named driver ncb second best if you've not had your own policy
• Named drivers - Mum/Dad/Aunts/Uncles - anyone that you can foresee driving the car and has a clean history (no points/accidents/convictions etc). Don't have them insuring the car with you as a named driver - that is more than likely fronting - which breaches the utmost good faith which the insurance contract is based on. Having them as named drivers is fine though.
• Miles a year - sometimes more miles/year doesn't increase the cost - so find out.
• Where is it stored? Road is sometimes less than on driveway, which is usually the same as garaged. Depends on the area.
• What car? Choose something not many people your age own - and go from there. You might well be surprised (a neighbour of mine is currently restoring a MkII Escort for his son - insurance was a major consideration afaik.)
• Compare all the insurers - then ring them individually and play them off against one/another. You'd be surprised how much they can move when they are beating someone elses quote. Only works once you've decided what car though.

Hope this helps

[[GSV]Trig]

They are all robbing bastaids, government says it wants people to start spending money again yet the local government is banging up speed camera's, changing parking bays to disabled and sticking people with tickets (stealth tax) and insurance companies are whacking up premiums, last year I was paying £48 a month over 10 months, this years renewal they want £70, I'm a year older, the cars still the same everything is still the same, other than this year the insurance has decided they want to get back some of the money they lost during the resession and drivers have to suffer..

[666moe666]

Getting older does have its advantages, and insurance costs are one of the main ones (well, until you get too old, then it goes back up).

I bought this when I was 20, and the insurance was something like £1200 for a year:



2006 (so two years old at this point) 140bhp 2.2 iCTDi Civic Sport.

Much like Finlay was saying, it is a statistical thing. How many people of my age group had one of that model, how often did they crash it, how much did it cost when they did? Based on that, it was cheaper to insure than a Saxo/Fiesta/Focus etc. At this point adding named drivers actually pushed the premium up, so it was only me on that policy. Kept it for two and a half years, when I changed for this:



2001 e39 530i Sport Auto.

First years insurance (at 23 years old) was just under £1k with Sky Insurance. Adding Mum to the policy as a named driver dropped the policy a couple of hundred pounds, so worth doing.

This year, adding both parents and an extra years NCB (now 6 years) meant a policy of £640.


What have I found through this:

• Passplus makes a difference. Not a big one, but better than nothing.
• NCB is key - named driver ncb second best if you've not had your own policy
• Named drivers - Mum/Dad/Aunts/Uncles - anyone that you can foresee driving the car and has a clean history (no points/accidents/convictions etc). Don't have them insuring the car with you as a named driver - that is more than likely fronting - which breaches the utmost good faith which the insurance contract is based on. Having them as named drivers is fine though.
• Miles a year - sometimes more miles/year doesn't increase the cost - so find out.
• Where is it stored? Road is sometimes less than on driveway, which is usually the same as garaged. Depends on the area.
• What car? Choose something not many people your age own - and go from there. You might well be surprised (a neighbour of mine is currently restoring a MkII Escort for his son - insurance was a major consideration afaik.)
• Compare all the insurers - then ring them individually and play them off against one/another. You'd be surprised how much they can move when they are beating someone elses quote. Only works once you've decided what car though.

Hope this helps

Sorry if this slightly de-rails the thread but how did you find the Civic diesel in terms of feel?
I'm in my final year of uni and could really do with my own car when I finish in the summer and have been briefly looking at these because they're known for being reliable and I really don't want to have to spend a lot on repairs.

More on topic I'm 22 and it cost my sister an extra £1000 to put me on her insurance for a Focus 1.6
She is almost 30 and it would've cost her about £350 without adding me but £1350 with, in a low risk area parking on the road with little mileage per year. Playing the insurance companies off each other definitely helps in reducing the price.

[Golden Dragoon]

Sorry if this slightly de-rails the thread but how did you find the Civic diesel in terms of feel?
I'm in my final year of uni and could really do with my own car when I finish in the summer and have been briefly looking at these because they're known for being reliable and I really don't want to have to spend a lot on repairs.

Haven't driven a civic sport with the diesel*, but have driven an accord tourer with the same engine, and it is a very good diesel, prob the best I have tried very quiet, almost as smooth as the vtec petrol engines and plenty of low down power with as far as I could tell no spots in the rev range where it wouldn't pull and with the civic being a bit lighter it should feel even better.

*I have driven a civic sport though, a petrol one, and the ride is a little hard, road and tyre noise is ok and you can barely hear the engine, which I imagine will be the same with the diesel as it is just as quiet, the biggest downside is rear visability, it's ok for general driving, but reversing needs the use of the force (or parking sensors) and it's not like I am bad at reversing, I can reverse the old XJ-S in the garage with a couple of inches on either side and that has a terrible rear window, but it is a lot lower than the civic.
I do like the civic though, but I do think the space age looks, and especially dash will age faster than other cars and I'm pretty sure the rear view would have been better without that stupid optional spoiler.

[Mutley]

One way to get insurance premiums down is to go down the "tracker" route. The Insurance company fits a GPS system to your car, you abide by some rules like, not driving after 10pm, or before 6am. Like not travelling more than a set number of miles per month etc.

The rules are quite strict, but I think you are allowed to bend the curfew one a couple of times with out a penalty.

John

This is something to think about. A friend of mine's daughter is about to start driving. I think they were looking at insurance from the Co-op, which had these kind of rules. Brings the price down a lot.

I think the last stat I read on accidents was something like 35% of motorists have an accident in their first year of having a license, and for most that first year is before you are 20.

[jim]

This is something to think about. A friend of mine's daughter is about to start driving. I think they were looking at insurance from the Co-op, which had these kind of rules. Brings the price down a lot.

I think the last stat I read on accidents was something like 35% of motorists have an accident in their first year of having a license, and for most that first year is before you are 20.

I would be interested to see what happens with that. IIRC the Co-Op system is even more strict, gauging the price on things like g-forces while you turn corners.

Thing is, it says the price may go up as well as down, and didn't specify how likely it was that you would experience the latter, as opposed to the former. The idea of entering into an agreement that permits one party to arbitrarily raise the price by any degree of their choice is more than a little offputting.

If she does go for it I'd be very interested to know how it pans out... or if anyone else on here has tried it.

[dave87]

Sorry if this slightly de-rails the thread but how did you find the Civic diesel in terms of feel?
I'm in my final year of uni and could really do with my own car when I finish in the summer and have been briefly looking at these because they're known for being reliable and I really don't want to have to spend a lot on repairs.

More on topic I'm 22 and it cost my sister an extra £1000 to put me on her insurance for a Focus 1.6
She is almost 30 and it would've cost her about £350 without adding me but £1350 with, in a low risk area parking on the road with little mileage per year. Playing the insurance companies off each other definitely helps in reducing the price.

Sorry Moe, I missed your post.


I genuinely liked the Civic I had, but it didn't turn out to be the most reliable of cars. There were a number of niggling bits that went wrong, and some fairly major (power steering, the person I sold it to had a new clutch & dual mass flywheel). That said mine was under warranty, and the warranty company were very good, (except on transferring it to the new owner) but you really don't want that additional hassle.

Whether or not mine was a friday afternoon car, I don't know (bought at 2 years old as an approved used Honda) but other than reliability problems I faced, it was a good car. So if you find a good one, then I think you'll enjoy it, if you don't....well with the diesel especially, the bills can get very big, very quickly.

Start a thread with what you're looking for, and I'm sure people will suggest things you've not thought of