About to buy a little car for Jnr to learn in and start to (hopefully 🤞) build up some no claims.

So far the best deal we have found via the opera singing meerkat sites seems to be with Admiral. Looking like £1200 a year with a black box once he’s passed his test, about half that while he’s only learning, with me as a named driver, which is what we were expecting price wise really

Any suggestions for any more specialist insurers we could look to try

Cheers

Watch out for small print regarding black boxes. They will willing jack up costs AFTER you have the policy with them, the quote means next to nothing.

My lad got clobbered for daring to have a job that demanded shift work etc and even the route choice. Was making my lad genuinely nervous of driving and put me off the bloody things forever.

Turned into an expensive “nightmare” for us anyway. This was a few years ago btw but I doubt much has changed.

Edit:He was with admiral…

We’ve done something similar and bought a car for my daughter to learn in.

Add some more named drivers – ours went down about 25% when we added her Aunt.

Buy a Panda – driven by old ladies so one of the cheaper cars to insure.

Aye – check what the black box is adding as “risk”. Certain roads and times of day can cause a problem. My daughter had one and we could get a daily report off it so she started to work out what roads should be avoided. She didn’t have any time-of-day issues, even though she was often working in the evenings. After the first year, the cheaper policies didn’t require a black box and none of the insurers asked about it.

As above – read the small print.
Nephew works in the theatre but finished work after the curfew on the black box kicked in. Not sure what company he is with.

what poop says, lad works at airport stupid early starts and lates told the person this. No it won’t affect it as you’ve informed us. One month later a red warning and premium increase for driving on high risk road (only road he can get to work) and for driving out with normal hrs. Called to explain he’s just driving to work. didn’t cut any ice with them endded up paying extra to get out of black box policy. For ref it was Direct Line

Play about with named drivers, tred it me only or mum only it was cheaper for him to get both parents added as named drivers on HIS policy rather than a policy on his own.

We are looking at little old lady cars, avoiding anything teenage lads may like to crash in regularly.

I’d heard of curfews on black boxes causing problems – he’s musical and before Covid had started working on shows at local theatres, so that could be an issue. Will make a note to check.

Edit – can’t add his mum as well as she can’t drive a manual car due to disability.

If you can avoid black box. Lads here, never managed a year of ncb till off black box.
Look at ads and put different cars through insurance comparison sites, find those with low insurance. We bought a 67 Beatle, paid 2k for car (sold it for more) and 700 insurance, his friends had 700 pound cars and paid 1200-1500 insurance – and guess which was cooler?
Try the companies that won’t go on comparison sites, ie Avia, they have three out of four here.
Add mother on or another p, adult women often lower overall insurance cost, try with you on. In our house, every vehicle has, myself (2 vehicles), wife(1 car), son(2 vehicles) and next door neighbour on, only son makes it go up. Adding his mother on, now three years later still reduces insurance cost nicely.
Once they have license and car, seriously consider a few lessons on how to real world drive on the roads in traffic – as opposed to passing the test.

I’m just about to do the same thing for my daughter. She has just bought a Suzuki Alto 1 ltr. It would be appreciated if we could exchange ideas and options after some surfing and telephoning

I have such a distrust of insurance companies, I always assume they are out to shaft you

We paid £1200 this year for eldest, mrs_oab and I on mrs_oab’s Seat Ibiza estate 1.4, no black box.
I had heard too many stressy stories about black boxes so refused to have one.

We paid £1200 this year for eldest, mrs_oab and I on mrs_oab’s Seat Ibiza estate 1.4, no black box.

who was that with matt_outandabout?

Any experience of how much not having a black box adds?

Worth looking at some of the less obvious cars also. Things that young people generally don’t have. As every 17 year old is looking for and buying a 1l aygo, c1, fiesta etc etc and as a result they are the most crashed type of car for youngsters. Get something a bit left field for a younger driver and the insurance can be surprisingly cheap.

back in 2017 £924 with BB, £1341 without BB on a suzuki 1.2

Good point others raised over adding on other drivers to his insurance, that’s exactly what we did with my lads car.👍

Exit: Were are also blatantly lied to by insurer as to what would and would not effect his insurance. In the end I would summarise as saying that with a black box you are best to take the quote as a best case “estimate”.😕

Look at ads and put different cars through insurance comparison sites, find those with low insurance.
Once they have license and car, seriously consider a few lessons on how to real world drive on the roads in traffic – as opposed to passing the test.

Something like a Hyundai i10, Kia Picanto, Toyota Aygo/Citroen C1/Peugeot 107, maybe a Smart fourtwo – only two seats, so no carful of mates encouraging ‘spirited’ driving, plus the damn things are very tough, and not all that fast.

Plus one on getting proper, real-world driving instruction, doing things like using filling stations, driving on busy roads, dual-carriageways and motorways, lane disciplines, etc – even proper parking in awkward situations will make the driver far more comfortable and confident.
Maybe try to get some instruction on driving larger vehicles – I passed my test in the early 70’s, but the first time I drove a van was five years ago! And that was a case of having to, after I got a job as a logistics driver for British Car Auctions – I never knew what I was going to be driving from one day to the next, anything up to 3.5 tons, and often with disability modifications, so every day was a school day! Everything from a Merc C63 AMG and a Maserati Ghibli to an ambulance and tipper-back trucks, and 19-seater minibuses. When the biggest thing I’d ever driven was an Octavia, it’s more than a little daunting to pitch up at a location and find an extended wheelbase high-top Sprinter parked in an awkward location, be given the keys and left to get on with it. One of the blokes I work with races a Mazda MX-5 in semi-pro races at the likes of Silverstone, but his parking is bloody hopeless! I’m not perfect, even after five years of logistics driving, but he just leaves cars parked skew-wif with big gaps either side…
We’re trying to train him, but it’s a bit of a struggle at the mo’! 🤣
Seriously, though, I genuinely feel that proper, supplementary training will help make safer, more confident drivers from the beginning, it’s taken me forty-plus years to get to a level where I feel confident I can cope with most things, but it would have been so much better if I could have got a lot of that confidence forty years back.

You can get driver training via energy saving trust. They cover Efficiency, attitude and planning ahead as a result. We make our freelancers do it as it saves cash and the insurance company likes it too.

By a Big Mondeo estate type car for cheaper insurance. learn. Then sell it and get a bike. Don’t own a car as a young person. Your pals will treat you as a taxi, you never get a beer, and You can travel the world further without one.

Something like a Hyundai i10, Kia Picanto, Toyota Aygo/Citroen C1/Peugeot 107

Very sensible – my lad inherited a Picanto 1.1 and the insurance was quite reasonable – no black box required. Was a fixed price while learning and stay with the same insurer and they kept the price the same.
However, once he passed the lad wanted to spend his savings on a nicer car and the non-black box co wouldn’t insure him in it, so we had to switch to a black box insurer for £1700 a year.
In hindsight the black box is an excellent device for keeping the young drivers safe, so I wouldn’t be too much against it. Stops them showing off and trying out the car’s performance! He’s with MoreThan who have an app/online dashboard where you can see the journeys and the score out of 10 for speed/smoothness etc. The scores are a bit crap tbh, and after a few months of trying to keep a good score, he’s now given up and just keeps his speed down. eg, if you brake to avoid an obstacle you get docked to a minus score instead of a few points off. So you’re best off just driving into stuff!
Friend of the boy’s reckons he can get no black box, for the same price in a Scirocco 1.4! I call bullshit and am waiting to find out who that’s with!

We spent months seeing cars on the motorway and entering their details into comparison web sites.
Amazing what are expensive/cheap to insure (Kia was cheapest, Polo is more expensive than Golf, Seat is more than VW, etc)

Both kids are on Admiral multi-car (in their name). This was much much cheaper for a faster/more powerful golf.

All cars in my name so that bank breakdown policy covers all of them.

who was that with matt_outandabout?

Admiral.
FK15 postcode, 12k p.a. miles, full business for mrs_oab and I, eldest_oab just passed a few months earlier, kept on driveway, gutless 1.4 16v not new 1.4tsi.
It’s down to £950 now middle_oab has been added as a learner. 😎

Although, ffs, I could buy a bike for £950/£1200, I shouldn’t be too smug!

i10 here. Been a fab car. Still looks okay after two years of offspring driving. Even after attacking a number of innocent hedges 😉

For our youngest, we went Admiral / Black Box. After she passed at 17 1/2 it was £1100. Registered car in her name. policy in her name, both me and the better half as named drivers.  Then elder offspring passed at 20, so second year with them both on was £1000 but we lost the black box as had one years NCB.

Just coming up to third year and renewal quote was £665. Having down a search, cheapest is actually £500. With the same insurer 😉 That still being Admiral.

Had no issues with black box but not driven often at night. Premiums drop dramatically as they get a bit older and start to gain some NCB.

Try a quote on a 2003 Volvo V40 or similar. Kid will go “I’m not driving an old mans car” until they sit in the leather seats and hear the quality of the stereo.

Aye I’m a Volvo van but the philosophy works, other brands are available.

As above, both our girls at that age went through Admiral utilising their multi car policy, with a 1.4 Fiat 500 and a 0.9 Twin Air. The more cars you can get on it the cheaper theirs becomes. They wouldn’t allow the camper on it. Eldest daughter has her contents insurance with them now and gets an even bigger discount
Work mate has recently done the same and by the time they had aggregated them together they saved money on what they were paying to all the different companies even after the 17 year old had been added.

My son didn’t go for the black box for all the reasons above. He follows motorsport so has done some long drives to race circuits. Also if he was out late, that was another reason.

Older cars are more expensive to insure for young drivers unfortunately.

Insuring a 17 year olds first car – tips and advice

Get them to do the hardwork, searching, working out. By all means pass on advice about vehicle type, putting parents on the insurance, black boxes etc – but it takes a bit of time to hunt the options. They are the beneficiary so make them to the work – if they are keen great; if they are slow then they’ll end up being 18 and a bit cheaper! I think they also have a greater appreciation for the costs when they are doing it than you are (and may even say “id rather have the cash for something else!”.

However the most important reason I say this, is they NEED to understand that the legal responsibility for insuring the car rests with them. Too many people are stopped for driving without insurance, seemingly unaware that the person who organises the policy for them had missed an email asking for some paperwork, had not had enough money in their account or that an autorenewal had not taken place. Thats not a situation mummy and daddy can just buy their way out of – for a new driver those six points will mean retaking your test.

Thats ^^ good advice. My daughter is rubbish at reading email, but she knows it’s her car and her responsibility.

We use LV for my car and they’ve been great. But no good for young drivers so can’t do the multi-car thing.

Just to add we didn’t go with the black box for the same reasons, eldest had a Friday and Saturday night job and the times she was arriving home wouldn’t have helped.

The Admiral multicar lets you sign up the additional cars at a pre fixed price so they can then be moved on renewal for a part year,when we did it, and all the cars don’t need to be at the same address Advantage is no one misses a renewal date as its the same date after first year, disadvantage is all the premiums at once.

Something like a Hyundai i10, Kia Picanto, Toyota Aygo/Citroen C1/Peugeot 107, maybe a Smart fourtwo – only two seats, so no carful of mates encouraging ‘spirited’ driving, plus the damn things are very tough, and not all that fast.

Put the homework in. We found (admittedly 15 years ago) when we started off mrs_oab on her own NCB, and more recently with my outdoor centre staff often 18/19 and buying first car, that super small and trendy ‘yoof’ cars cost more on insurance.
Old Corolla or Auris, Mazda 323/3, V40/V50, Hyundai i30 etc are noticeably cheaper to insure. The classic one we discovered is that the estate version of a Ibiza or Fabia are 10% cheaper than the hatches…

“Not having it if it hasn’t got an AUX port!” – that’s my daughter’s No.1 requirement for her first car! 🙂

Buy a nice car on hp, and then insure it as the dad being owner and main driver, with son as being named driver on insurance, so easy and saves a lot of cash said the nice man at the garage.

Then son has a crash and writes off car,passengers get injured, removal and storage costs all added to insurance bill, insurance pay out for personal injuries but for nothing else.

Dad then gets large bill from insurance for tow fees,recovery,storage etc, insurance canceled, but HP still needs to be paid off for 2 more plus years for nothing.

Garage deny any wrong doing, insurance costs soar for new car,and lots of family stress.

Its also known as fronting and now both police and insurance taske it extremely seriously im told.Let the kids insure and pay for their their own car, theyre classed as adults, cant aford it , cant have, is the way of life people need to understand.

One more thing, not sure if been mentioned – to keep the cost down, raise the voluntary excess. Can make big difference with some companies. Obviously a slight gamble, but then all insurance is!

Older cars are more expensive to insure for young drivers unfortunately.

true classics are not …. but you dont get NCB with a true classic on most policies

cars that are simply old – ie not yet 20 years old and dont get classic status have the best of both worlds …. expensive insurance and viewed as uncool.

I learned of an option when my son was learning to drive that could be of use!

We insured his Gran’s car for him on a separate policy that did not affect her insurance for a few weeks whilst he had a chance to practice driving.

If you have access to a local family member who rarely uses their car – perhaps this could be a good option??

Never had an issue with a BB – STR Jnr has been driving 2 and a bit years. 1st year with Tesco @ . £1200 for a 1.2 Corsa. It noted some good driving and the odd misdemeanor, she gained a few points for good driving, but there was nothing to affect the following years policy massively.

policy went down, but we didn’t renew in time and surprisingly when we re-quoted, it went up, so we went with Direct Line for £100’ish – no issues that I know of.

Now, she’s 20 with 2yrs NCB and looking at Polo GTI’s – 1.4 TFSI, 180 bhp and it’s around £850. Will make sure she still has a BB to keep her sensible though

OP if you’re interested I have a 55 plate Corolla I’m looking to get rid off!
Recently MOT’d and about 50,000 miles on it!

My son tried quotes on my ‘old’ car – £4k. He pays about £1600 for a Fabia 1.2 109PS Monte Carlo – came in cheaper than a Polo due to the radar emergency braking.

Thanks for all the advice – car wise looking at a 16 plate 1.0 75hp Fabia or a similarly underpowered 1.2 i20. Both about the same to insure. Fiestas, Corsas and things lads crash were all more expensive.

The Fabia we are testing and hoping to buy Tuesday is lower spec and lower price to most of what we’ve looked at, but the cost saving will cover the first years insurance.

And he is doing all the searching and getting quotes. Being ridiculously sensible, compared to some of the cocky BS his mates are spouting.

The Fabia (current model) is a nice car. My son’s is rather rapid though. Nice cars to drive.