MERLIN ROCKET FORUM

Topic : Youth Insurance

Hi All,

Sorry to pollute the pure sailing tone of the forum, but need help from the widest and most erudite audience I can think of...

The boy takes the driving test this week, and there is the horrible possibility he may pass. We got a tiny VW Lupo 999cc for him to practice in, but the insurance policy ceases should he become in possession of a full licence.

Current quotations for insurance are somewhere in the region of a complete new rig (mast, sails, boom - all gold plated with platinum rigging...).

Any clues as to how we might mitigate this dire scenario? Desperately trying to avoid having him on my policy?

Just off to lie down somewhere dark and cool...

GGGGG


Posted: 12/09/2011 18:49:14
By: Shocked Dad
not really a subject for this forum but suggest you try Martin Lewis's website moneysavingexpert dot com. if anyone can give advice on getting the cost down - he will


Posted: 12/09/2011 19:41:20
By: thrifty
Add yourself and his mum as named drivers it reduces the quote ..........


Posted: 12/09/2011 19:48:25
By: Jeremy 3709
take out a new policy and add him as a named driver helps 

alternatively move house!


Posted: 12/09/2011 19:52:04
By: :)
Try all the comparison websites and go to all the insurers directly online. It may prove cheaper if you get a multicar policy where Jeremy is insured through the same company as you but has his own policy, see it as a group discount. It really is worth spending a couple nights on it.

Confused.com
comparethemarket.com
gocompare.com
moneysupermarket.com

Hope this helps, thanks for the warning!!


Posted: 12/09/2011 19:55:21
By: Olly Turner
We had a pleasant experience with Tesco - gave a suprisingly large discount for just having a clubcard, and insured us for around £150 less than Admiral (previous insurer for 3 years) and quotes on Confused .com, but that was without a teenager.... 

Swapping named Driver and secondary driver had different outcomes with each insurer though and as an afterthought, Admiral's multi car policy worked out to be the same as their own quote for two separate cars! Try em all!


Posted: 12/09/2011 20:37:01
By: KM
endsleigh were very good for my daughter, first year pain of her having her own policy was soon negated as she built up her own no claims, just make sure he dosen't have a crash!! all too easy i know to say but in the long run it does save so much money


Posted: 12/09/2011 22:16:15
By: suffolk merlin
Try Quinn.  #1 son was insured with them to learn (17 on) and then take test. And then continued- cheapest we found.  Also good customer service, negotiating policy suspension while abroad in Canada over the winter which involved lots of to and fro via emails etc. as policy is in his name.  Tescos did well for his (elder) sisters at that age but not him!

Cheers


Posted: 12/09/2011 22:28:33
By: DaveC
We used Admiral multicar policy which reduced the cost by offsetting it against other cars you insure, but if you also add yourself as a named driver it brings down the cost a bit.


Posted: 13/09/2011 09:50:30
By: Andy
buy a diesel landrover!Dickie dee has the same problem,id found his son an x plate68000 suzuki swift 1.0 ....quote ...wait for it...£3000!!! what utter bol@{+()ks,only quote just under a grand was an e plate diesel landy, 2.5cc, i know there not fast,but you hit anything in one of those and youve knocked em into next week!!!!ggggg i sympathise, by thetime jacks old enough ill have to sell his mother!mmm...£7.51 wont get us very far.....


Posted: 13/09/2011 22:56:55
By: d.h
i feel lucky.

Tobi was 17 and was insured on company car. 2litre Focus. He towed the 29ner all around the country.

The quote for him then was over £4500

The daughter had a Nissan Micra (1.1?) and that was a fair bit but a definite difference for the different gender.

good luck GGGG


Posted: 14/09/2011 10:04:52
By: Steve Watson
GGGG,

unfortunately earlier this year, the government removed a serious competitor from the insurance market, that insurance cost was zero (i.e. no insurance), now the market doesn't need to compete with the zero cost option, the rates naturally went up. Market forces & government intervention for you.


Posted: 16/09/2011 20:20:38
By: Adam Smith
GGGGGG.   You will find that very old cars are very cheap to insure (and tax), try him on a 3 litre Bentley at £200,000 value.  By the way, if you take DH's advice and sell Jude, can I have first refusal?


Posted: 17/09/2011 19:45:21
By: Andys dad
Have a look at this link,http://epetitions.direct.gov.uk/petitions/354. It will probably do nothing but it may make you may feel a bit better.

http://epetitions.direct.gov.uk/petitions/354

Posted: 18/09/2011 16:44:21
By: RD
"On top of that, the scandalous practice of selling crash details to personal injury lawyers is pushing up premiums".

I don't quite get that ... if they sell details, the insurance companies get more money => need LESS from premiums to make the same profits for their shareholders.

If you are involved in an accident, and you use a lawyer to help you claim damages for personal injury - that just the way things get done it court, there is nothing scandalous in the the claims for personal injury.

What am I missing?


Posted: 18/09/2011 17:10:28
By: Adam Smith
Have a think about the alternative.  In Australia third party insurance in not compulsory.

Under 21s can drive 5 litre V8s and kill themselves, their friends and others with depressing regularity partly because they don't have to foot an insurance bill that is proportionate to the accident risk posed by their choice of ride.


Posted: 19/09/2011 05:44:34
By: Jon E
A friend told me recently, that for his 17yr old son the lowest quote was for an old Volvo estate because young drivers do not see  them as show off vehicles. Still more than the car was worth.


Posted: 19/09/2011 16:15:09
By: Miles
Better start saving.... gulp. That and university fees will all be coming all at once and all too soon! (is it illegal to send the children to the cotton mills these days?)


Posted: 19/09/2011 19:41:51
By: Mrs Tosh
The daughter's with Diamond - third party only as the car's worth less than the excess!

Watch out for Tesco and some others who automatically renew - unless you specifically tell them not to, you are liable to pay - as that way they avoid gving you chance to shop around when they hike the price after the introductory discounts.


Posted: 20/09/2011 13:37:41
By: Pat2121

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