[Closed] 18 year old son and car insurance. Moon on a stick content.

On a similar quest for my lad who turns 18 in May.
There don't seem to be any old bangers about, I was told that this was due to the Scrappage Scheme. And also told insurance companies like newer small cars for young drivers. Did look at a Series II but no one would touch him. Seems that they work on the potential damage that could be caused to the other party in an incident.

If I can find anything over the next few days I'll post it up here, but suspect he will have to go on mine.

(He did find that an old beetle was cheap to insure but they are not the cheap first cars they used to be, mine was £150 and solid, learned all about cars and how they work from mine. Everything now is a bit too complex to tinker with these days)

Prices are high because 18y olds crash a lot, often killing themselves and their passengers. If you lie on your insurance application then you will indeed go to prison, maybe not die but hopefully get bummed a lot. HTH.

kingkongsfinger

but thought about him as a named driver if I take out the car insurance, will I go to prison and die?

Any ideas would be great, cheers.

I believe it's called fronting and is a criminal offence. I can see why a lot of people do it though since insuring younger drivers is a total racket. You're almost guaranteed to pay £1000+ and I know a few kids who've spent £1600-£2000 insuring 1.1 corsas.

It might be worth remembering that cheaper cars are sometimes much more expensive to insure.

Get him to take out insurance as normal and add you as a named driver. Will make some difference. Did it for my lass a couple of years back. Saved her about £95 on her premium. Was going to be about £300 without me being on her policy.

In the long run, I was very grateful to my parents for making me find and take out my own insurance. I believe it made me a more careful driver, made me research cars/insurance premiums in more depth, and generally exposed me to the reality of driving. I also racked up that all-important first yr NCB more quickly. Pass Plus knocked a chunk off at the time too, though this was about 14 years ago. Even back then I think I spent £500 on a D reg polo, and £900 on a TPFT policy... it about halved the following year.

I bought mine the cheap car they supplied their own insurance. So if they don't drive in a responsabile manner they will feel the appropriate pain. I'd suggest doing the same. limits your liability and puts the onus on the driver where it should be to drive carefully. Worked for my three.

[i]Prices are high because 18y olds crash a lot[/i]

And on the same line of thought: Don't encourage them to get a classic/banger...if anyone needs some basic modern safety items such as an airbag and belt pretensioners, side impact beams, abs and a decent crumple zone, its a young driver. No one wants to see the engine sitting where the passenger seat is meant to be either...

When you are standing there with them in intensive care, you can see how even a boring but modern laminated windscreen would have resulted in not being covered in tiny cuts.

P.S It was a classic Mini. Not any more.

[i]Get him to take out insurance as normal and add you as a named driver[/i]

This. Saved the best part of a grand for my eldests' insurance, plus comp was cheaper than TP/TPFT.

Also the car is pretty irrelevant at this age, as the premium is so much - eg my old 2.0i Passat that I gave him was the same premium as an old Ford Ka.

My youngest is now getting to the point, current favourite is a leased Fiat 500 with a 3 year insurance deal (google) - cheaper than buying an old car and insuring separately.

Searching too for my daughter, 18. Perversely most of the insurance companies insist that she is on the policy as the main driver, even though she [b]definitely[/b] won't be. The car will be my runabout, and she can use it too when she is home from Uni. Sort of back-to-front fronting.

The price differences between an Up!, group 1, and a Polo Group 10 was about £3. Bonkers.

The only affordable route is some sort of black box thingamagig. Does anyone know if these things are permanently active, or can be switched off when youngster isn't driving?

[i]P.S It was a classic Mini. Not any more. [/i]

Yep. I came across an accident where a Mini had been t-boned by a new 5 series. Passenger was still trapped in the Mini and pretty much minimal damage to the Beemer, even the airbag hadn't gone off.

You can see how even a boring but modern laminated windscreen would have resulted in not being covered in tiny cuts.

Ah yes. That was the second car... upside down on the A34, with the lovely policeman whose priority was wandering the embankment looking for my tax disc.

If he cant afford the insurance he cant drive legally , simple isnt it, ask the insurance companies why the premiums are so expensive.Its because kids crash more often than experienced drivers, and its not the cost of tghe vehicle its the damage they do to others property.

I didnt learn to drive till 34, bikes, buses and trains , still existed then as they do now.

As a former claims manager, I've seen photos and read a lot of medical reports to explain the cost of insurance for young drivers. At one time, the biggest alleged cause of death in women under 25 was driver boyfriends. May not be true though.

From experience of friends with older kids, black box policy, some sort of curfew - subject to work needs if they work in pubs etc - get you on a named driver, subject to your record of course, and a low insurance group car that isn't popular with youngsters. Lots of low group Corsas/205s etc get pranged by youngsters, Hyundai i10s less so.

And don't modify it....

try a Citroen C2 with a small engine.

Coincidentally..

http://singletrackworld.com/forum/topic/likely-demand-and-sale-price-of-12-plate-28k-vgc-olo/page/2

Admiral do a tracking box and you can specify the youngster as the main driver and you and wife as named drivers. I looked at a new Citroen C1 - without box £2100, with box £1600, me as first named driver £1100, wife on as well £900. There's no need to lie, even when I made myself the main driver and youngster named and the price stayed the same.

[i]If he cant afford the insurance he cant drive legally , simple isnt it, ask the insurance companies why the premiums are so expensive.Its because kids crash more often than experienced drivers, and its not the cost of tghe vehicle its the damage they do to others property.

I didnt learn to drive till 34, bikes, buses and trains , still existed then as they do now.
[/i]

Chip on a shoulder? 🙄

My folks got me driving at 17, and I'll do the same for my three.

FWIW - cost-wise it's only marginally dearer than it was 30 y/o, taking inflation into account

project
simple isnt it, ask the insurance companies why the premiums are so expensive.Its because kids crash more often than experienced drivers, and its not the cost of tghe vehicle its the damage they do to others property.

However, I used to work with a guy who passed his test at 17 and drove for a year or two, then he moved to LA to work for ten years before returning to NI. He decided to buy his second car at 32 (or maybe 33) having a long gap in his driving history although he had driven sporadically when he was in the states. Clean licence. His premium was £1200 quid tpft on a diesel estate. So, young or old they will **** you any way they can.

http://www.wearemarmalade.co.uk/cars-for-young-drivers

try a Citroen C2 with a small engine.

Definitely read the 'small' bit in this sentence. I'm 27, with 7 years NCB and it costs me just over £500 to insure my C2 VTS (the chavvy 1.6 version) fully comp although I do have business cover included and it's for 15k not the typical 10k. I started out paying around £1200 and it gradually came down but has plateaued the last few years in terms of price, but my cover has got better (use of other cars, lower excess, increased mileage, business use etc). POstcode seems to make a huge difference as I paid less when I was in the countryside, now I can see Sheffield ring road from my window I pay through the nose. It's a combination of driver/location/car and if any of them are high risks then it's expensive, if more than one is you're screwed.

Being a sub-30 male driver is expensive so it's either suck it up or get the bus

My 18yo daughter passed her test in November, she picked up a pre-registered Fiat 500 on 3rd January, no named 2nd driver, 0% no claims, 8000 miles a year, £690 insurance with £150 excess. Its defo because its a newer car as a 6 year old Corsa 1.0 I'd got a quote for was about £1600 a year!
In ths situation, I'd prefer to be paying an instalment on the car and lower insurance than the other way about.

Edit: No telematics boxes or curfews either.

The only affordable route is some sort of black box thingamagig. Does anyone know if these things are permanently active, or can be switched off when youngster isn't driving?

Nope, always on - so you all have to adhere to the conditions set out in the telematics policy, or his premium goes up.

If there is another insured by your household car at the address then multi-car can knock a bit more off the premium. You maintain your own NCD in the event of the other insured pranging their car. (No mention of a Mrs Kingkongsfinger and a car in the OP).

Could try old classic cars. Vw beetles are really cheap to insure but cheap beetles are rare in good nic

jimjam - When I was made redundant - from insurance! - and lost my company car I was getting quotes on a 1.2 Fiesta at £800, as it took ages to sort NCD.

And NI may also be a factor - there is a good reason the small print on TV insurance ads says "excludes Northern Ireland". They were special way back in the 90s even!

Daughters Polo 1.4 T reg was £1100 third party at 17. Was an extra £300 for the 6 months on the first year premium , after she passed her test. Second year , same car , back to a £1000, TPFT. 3rd year she got a Seat Ibiza 1.6 sport coupe. 15k miles a year, as travels to Uni, or work in a pub until midnight, rather than be a waster on trains until her 30's :wink:. Was cheaper than the Polo and just had her renewal at £450 for the year.
Happy as this year I am not paying that or the VED for it too, but as a parent, you will have to ( if you want to have a child safe driving and legal) to chip in.
Cars are looked at , in a risk way. Corsa's, Fiestas and the like are driven by teenage driving gods and will be crashed within the first 6 months. That's the statistics. Cars that don't get crashed by teenagers , will have a lower premium. One of our apprentices had a Volvo V40 1.6 petrol estate. Was way cheaper than any of his mates in a rusty old corsa and he cruised in comfort, alloys, leather, air con. Somehing he may not want to be seen in, but I am sure he was laughing at his mates.

Aviva do have an app telematics thingymabob. Linky:
http://www.aviva.co.uk/drive/

Not used them myself, or know much about it, but it does seem a logical step rather than a black box. Clearly it's only active when the phone is in the car and the app switched on. Not that I think that's open to abuse at all, oh no.

No idea if it's good for youngsters, or cost effective in any way so DYOR.

Personally, having seen the stats, I would second Thrusty and go with big car, smallish (petrol) engine.

Black boxes have problems. They detect not only speed but other driving 'traits' . My neighbours daughter is learning to drive and they just bought a mini diesel. It has a black box, although dad uses it everyday for his 80 mile commute. This is fast A roads etc, which can be an arse if he has to stick to limit speeds etc, as it will record it.
Also, from my daughter driving, she worked part time at Next, which meant early morning starts, which was in the 'curfew' driving times, meaning she would be fined driving to work, so didn't work for her.

Admiral multicar is a good shout if there are a few cars in the household.
Also look at Insure the box, Telemetrics box fitted into car but again cheap.

12 year old Volvo V40. Seriously. Plug it into the website.

Way back when I was starting to drive it seemed that the more left field (for a wet-behind-the-ears 17 year old) the car, the cheaper the quote. I think it's something to do with the statistical frequency of the combination of car & age group being involved in claims. Consequently, the best quotes I had were on a Jaguar XJS, a mk4 Triumph Spitfire and a Vauxhall Chevette. Guess which one I ended up in... Still, it was a great car.

Best bet is to look for uncommon cars amongst the 18 year old demographic that aren't uncommon in general: the fewer the number of 18 year olds there are driving them, the lower the chance of that combination of car and young driver being involved in claims. For under £1000 I reckon something like a Citroen C5 or Suzuki Liana might fit the bill. Maybe even an early 2000s Merc?

Aviva do have an app telematics thingymabob. Linky:
http://www.aviva.co.uk/drive/
Not used them myself, or know much about it, but it does seem a logical step rather than a black box. Clearly it's only active when the phone is in the car and the app switched on. Not that I think that's open to abuse at all, oh no.
No idea if it's good for youngsters, or cost effective in any way so DYOR.
Personally, having seen the stats, I would second Thrusty and go with big car, smallish (petrol) engine.

AFAIK it's more of a precursor to getting a policy - you drive 200 miles with the app, obviously driving like a nun, then you get a 'score' which can be used to get a discount on a normal policy. It's not a telematics policy, and prob isn't that useful for younger drivers.

Black box is the way to go, much cheaper. Make sure you put an older female driver on the policy too.

18yr old Lad in our office recently wrote his car off. Police came round saying they were going to prosecute him as he was evidently going over the speed limit.... That was until the lad provided the insurance company data that proved he was doing less than 30 and the car skidded on ice

He'll almost certainly need to have a telematics device to get a decent price. We are rapidly getting to situation when not having one is the exception for young drivers and they are priced accordingly.

Many don't have curfews or any kind of restrictions other than you drive carefully, thats a good thing isn't it?

It takes ages to input all your details in an insurance website and then [s]it[/s] most of them gives you crazy high prices.

It takes time but you have to shop around. Comparison sites or directly on the broker/insurer check them all. Often it's a trade-off between premium and excess but if you persevere you'll find a reasonable deal

rocket jr 18 as a named driver (provisional licence) on mrs rocket's Fiesta ST £512. rocket jr as a named driver (full licence) £275. £550 excess. More Th>n