David Middleton

My son is approaching 17 and as I intend to buy him a car such as a golf/polo/fiesta, has anyone got any recommendations on who to approach re insurance at reasonable rates?

S

Why not get your son a new car that comes with free insurance.

My friend got a saxo at 17 with 2 yrs free insurance. A quote at 17 on the same vehicle from a normal insurance company was £1500..ouch

thanks

S

[This message has been edited by S (edited 11 December 2000).]

carl

See this month's Evo for some sample quotes. I thought it was bad when I was 17, but there are quotes of the order of 1500 quid to insure a 200 quid Skoda (with a 400 quid excess!)

Rum*

I'm with S on this one....most of the time when our clients ask the same question we suggest they look at getting a bottom of the range new car with (as S says) maybe 2 years free insurance.

You're probably looking at £1250-£2000 for a 17 y/o - new licence - no No Claims etc etc...

...by getting the new motor you obviously get the warranty, service, support..more than likely all the little extras like roadside assistance, get you home stuff...and at the end of the day the saving of circa £3k + on insurance goes towards the cost of a new motor...so effectively you might be able to get away with not spending any more of your hard earned wonga...

Just an idea...but I think a bloody good one....well done S...

Cheers

Rum

robski

A lot of ins cos are pulling out of that market as its not good business as a whole.

Yes, check the small print, but it is a very competitive way of getting that first car on the road.

Dont go the old risky getting it insured in your name trick, its really not worth it if something goes wrong.

If you end up paying, a few places do faster no claims bonuses, but be aware they often dont give this amount when you try to take the business elsewhere.

robski

robski

Ooo, just had a thought.

Rum, can you confirm this?

About 10 years ago, we found a loophole to do with pickups etc. They wernt classified under the normal system, and ended up very cheap to insure for SD&P only. Has this changed?

Otherwise, if your sons willing to give up the back seat and is happy to have a flat back, then they WERE a very cheap option to insure. (p.s. there was always space for a bed to be "transported" in my mates when the need arose

robski

kelvin

Try Co-operative, they insured me!

We have a policy which covers <B>any</B> driver on my Mum's 206 including me (17yr old - driving 10 months - no jokes please! ) - cost around about £300.

Also - make sure you read the fine print re. the free insurance deals on cars. Peugeot's one wouldn't cover anybody under 21, and I think Citroen have recently altered theirs so that it's the same now

Kelvin

edited to say that £300 policy is fully comp with protected no claims

[This message has been edited by kelvin (edited 12 December 2000).]

barge

I would get him to buy a POS worth £50 insure it Third party only, that way he is building up his own no claims, and he can tinker with it learning car maintance for himself, then get the car you were thinking of for him, but in your name and get it insured for any driver, I'm sure that will work out better in the long run.

I'm dreading the day my kids are old enough to need car insurance, its bad enough for me now let a lone a young kid trying to get his first car insured.

Good luck.

Jerome

Just a word of caution on insuring it in your name with the policy as any driver. Most policies ask (i think) who the main driver is. If you say it is you and not your son, you could get into difficulty if your son has a big claim (like denting a BMW rear bumper!). They may investigate who was the main driver and discover that it was your son and then refuse to pay out. Not that I'm paranoid, but a guy I used to work with had this happen to him after a big prang. The company he worked for was an MoD site and had a list of the staff car registrations for the car park. His Mums car was on this list, so to the insurance company, this was proof he was the main driver. One written off (newish) Vauxhall Nova and no insurance money.

Jerome.

Dream Weaver

I really feel for the younger generaton these days - I agree with Carl on this, i.e. we thought we had it rough with the £200 fully comp on our souped up metros, it is a nightmare now.

I dont understand it though - surely a 17 year old with a £400 metro is as much a risk now as he/she would be 10 years ago so why do the premiums jump so much?

Dont worry Rum, I wont ask you on this one as I know we are all in the same boat.

As a last thought, it is not all rosey smelling for us though - I was quoted £10,518 recently fully comp for an MR2 Turbo (Not what I want, but just out of interest when my dad bought one - non-turbo).

Simon

PS Forgot to say, I am 27 with no claims/crashes in 10 years, 4 NCB, 3 for SP50, which makes the quote unbelievable!!

[This message has been edited by Dream Weaver (edited 13 December 2000).]

David Middleton

Thanks to everyone for the responses. I will probably follow up the new car c/w insurance route.

simes

Barge

The only problem with your idea is, wouldn't you rather your kids were driving around in something modern and safe than something like, say, a clapped out metro that will just disolve around them if they have a prang?

Cheers

Simon