wife has been a clever girl and passed her test first time yesterday. i can now spend the rest of my life waving goodbye to her as she packs the shopping bags for the supermarket 😀

however, she has informed me i need to contact the insurance to tell them as our premiums may go up. really??
ive had a quick look at the policy which just has our names on it, nothing about full or provisional licences (altho i probably would have stated she had a provisional when i did the quote)
also, why would a premium go up when shes just become a safer driver in the eyes of the law?

is this something i can ignore? does it vary between insurers? if they charge a silly admin fee and put the premiums up can i spit my dummy out and go elsewhere? (j fear the answer to that is yes of course you can sir, thatll incur an admin fee for cancellation).

thanks

Come on, you can work this one out.

No, it’s a change of circumstances and you need to tell them. The premiums will probably go up as she’s now a greater risk (she’s driving unsupervised).
If she has an accident and you’ve not told them they can refuse to pay your claim.
Ring first thing this morning before she drives.
Best wishes
Rich.

When you get the insurance you tell them what license you hold and how long you have had it for. Might not be listed but it’s asked for. Simply call and tell them, they will expect learners to pass at some point so it won’t exactly be a difficult thing to fix.

Statistically she’s less safe now. According to Department for Transport, 1 in 5 newly qualified drivers have an accident in the first year.

ok thanks chaps, ill get onto it this morning. good job she said something cos id never have twigged.

just a quick question then thats come to me as i type…… if its cos she’ll be driving unsupervised, would she still be insured properly if i was always in the car with her still?

That info wouldn’t normally be detailed on the certificate, but normally is on the schedule or similar (the bit with all the vehicle details, claims/convictions etc.)

if its cos she’ll be driving unsupervised, would she still be insured properly if i was always in the car with her still?

The information you provided them has changed. Tell them, it’s as simple as that.

im on it. thanks 😉

I would doubt it. As the supervisor with a learner you have a responsibility for their actions. So, if she speeds, you can be prosecuted for the offence as well. Also, you’re not allowed to use a mobile phone whilst she’s driving, must wear your corrective glasses if required etc.

Now she’s passed you have no responsibility for her so can phone and text away to your heart’s content or let her do so and not be responsible for it.

The insurance would possibly be valid in terms of the insurance company’s responsbility for 3rd party protection but they would probably declare the policy null and void and claim any costs incurred back via the courts. Also, you’d have the situation where she’d have to declare that she’d had a policy cancelled or declared void which would not be helpful in future attempts to get insurance.

Rich.

But there is a very good chance that your premium will go up hugely. Not £10 or so, but hundreds. I’m presuming your wife isn’t 17, so probably not a massive issue, but don’t be surprised.

How many learners write off cars full of their friends and kill them all? How many new drivers…?

It’s not that your charged more with a full licence, your wife was discounted as provisional licence holder for all the reasons explained above.
Not all companies do this, so if you say added her to your existing policy they may not be one of those companies and the premium could be same.
If however you searched around for a premium with you and your wife as a provisional driver and selected the company on price you probably chose one that was given a provisional licence discount. When you tell them she has passed and is now free to terrorise others unsupervised the premium will reflect the added risk.

ive had a quick look at the policy which just has our names on it

Look harder. On the statement of fact/proposal form it will show the licence type. Likely won’t have this info on the certificate.

She is no better at driving that she was yesterday, she just has a slice of paper saying she now no longer needs to have an experienced person to sit with them. That experienced person was darn handy and spotting road issues that your good wife may not have encountered or can expect.

Statistically, this is the time she is likely to have an accident.

sorted thanks. £76 increase. pleased i asked on here first as ordinarily i may have spat my dummy out in defiance, cancelled the policy then spent the next 3 days getting quotes and finding out i couldnt better it 😀

looks like £76 is reasonable considering…..

I’m presuming your wife isn’t 17

she might be. you saying im not capable of pulling a young bird any more?? 😀 (youre right, shes 41)

thanks

just an add-on to this, wife has just mentioned PassPlus. being a dinosaur id never heard of it.

are these generally considered a good idea? £130 for 2 X 3hr sessions i believe, motorways, rural etc.
its nothing i couldnt teach her myself to some degree, but obviously not to instructor standard, much as id like to think im ace 😀

thanks for any experiences of these PP jobbies…..

I’m an Instructor and Pass Plus is good.

When it first came out about 20 years ago, it offered massive savings on premiums but that seems to not be the case anymore with online comparison sites etc.

On the other hand if it prevents a student having a bump, it will pay for itself.

What I do is a brief on the rules of motorways, breakdowns etc, get them on motorway settled in then a few on and offs so they get experience joining and leaving and a couple of service areas etc. Then off the motorway to some fast A roads then find their way home via city centres.

I tend to do it in one 7 hour day with a 15 min break morning and afternoon and half hour for lunch. £130 is a good price, I charge £150……

Professional motorway instruction is a good thing, once committed to the slip road you have little choice but to join. With dual controls and an instructor a student is less likely to panic at the sudden increase in traffic volume and speed, small gaps between LGVs in lane 1, etc
Some local councils offer a discounted rate too

Motorway instruction is useful if she’s never seen a dual carriageway but in such cases it’s probably fairly certain there isn’t one any closer than a motorway. Personally I’ve never seen an issue but that’s just me and can’t speak for your missus.

What I would say is wait a while till shes settled into it before getting instruction, this can help correct any bad habits she’s picking up after passing once they are developing but before they become habit. I did an AA course a few months after passing my test (and wrecking my Clio) that was good for learning efficient driving techniques and such that I woud probably have picked up less on if I was still in the freshly passed phase.

Sounds like you’ve done okay with the premium, but if it had been a massive hike it might have been worth getting new quotes once she had 6 months experience

thanks for the advice, and for that link timba, ill contact them see if theres a discount available.
we dont really have any motorways near us (lincs) but her instructor does PP, so i think we’ll get christmas out the way and look at where our finances are. gut feeling is we’ll probably go for it as it seems a good idea.

thanks again

sadexpunk,

If you are in Lincolnshire, the council website for pass plus is worth a look:
Lincolnshire Rad Safety Partnership Pass Plus

From their blurb:
They offer a half day theory session, then a minimum of 6 hours practical driving, for £150 reduced to £50 if the client submits an annual driving history questionnaire for a minimum of three years. Various venues are available for the theory (I know Lincolnshire is a large county), and the practical can be one or more sessions depending on the client’s personal needs and availability.

That seems very good value to me.

Jingle

sadexpunk,

Sorry – just read the Lincolnshire Pass Plus page again – unfortunately, they say their course is available to recently qualified drivers aged between 17 and 24, so she wouldn’t be eligible.

I still think she might find some more training such as Pass Plus useful, but like squirrelking said, maybe after a bit more experience and opportunity to start developing bad habits.

EDIT – posted at same time as you. Agreed, still worth asking them (and yes, I’m a beginner at posting links, or indeed posting anything).

Jingle

linky didnt work for me, something about chrome OS protocols and external applications, but i got there via google thanks 🙂

however……

This course is available to all recently qualified young drivers aged between 17 – 24 yrs, it can also provide benefits in insurance premiums but more importantly, it reduces the risk of young drivers becoming victims in a fatal or serious road collision.

mrs expunk is 41. seems a bit ‘ageist’ to only allow a certain age group, but ill contact them and have a chat.

thanks again

EDIT: posted at same time as you ^^^ 🙂