Oh To Be Old, Insurance for a 18 yr old

Hi All
My Son has just taken out his first insurance policy.
These insurance companies must see them coming and think we can get some money out of these youngsters parents.
A Fiat cinquecento 900cc £1100 and something was the cheapest quote we could find with Churchill.
Some quotes were £2500 to £3000. What planet are these insurance companies from!!
They say this is a high risk age group but put in that you are female in that age category and it is half the amount. So an 18 yrs old female is 100% safer if the insurance quote is 100% higher.
My son passed his test 9 days ago, he was 18 last month, he's a full time student with a part time job like a lot in his position. The insurance companies know damn well the kids will turn to their parents for financial help, that's what we're there for.
So for us veterans who pay £200 more or less - stop complaining.
Oh and to put him on my wifes VW vento 1.8 - £3500!!
Talk about think of a number and times it by 10.

shoestring

Hi Shoestring.

You -- or he ! -- might not like the idea, but you will probably find a Land Rover is a good bet. My daughter (then 22, so a bit older) saw her premium go from £800 odd for a Pug 306 diesel DOWN to just over £300 for a V8 90 !!!!
I've presently got 3 of the offspring (20, 19 and 17 year old learner) all on the 110 I use, plus the other half, with business use for me and SWMBO for a tad over £500 and that's with a postcode that doesn't do me any favours. We found Frizzells to be the best.
When no. 2 daughter passed the test, they wanted £1500 to insure a diesel AX but 'only' £800 for a Landy. Plus, of course, dirt cheap and plentiful parts and seriously easy to work on. (There's a sentence you don't often see on an XM forum).

Mike.

Thanks for the advice Mike. I'll put it to him and see what he thinks. It would actually be a good idea if he had one with a hard top rear, as he is in a band and I don't suppose he'll fit much gear in a Fiat! So guess who will STILL be ferrying him around to gigs in the XM estate.
shoestring

Landys or Classics, only way to get decent insurance for an 18yo.. Morris Minors, dolomites, heralds and the original Beetle are pretty cheap to insure, and as an added bonus they will learn to drive properly! some classic policies do allow you to accrue NCB

Stewart

Zaphod is right, I ran classics for my first few years (Rover P6s and Citroen GSs for the most part) as it was the only way I could afford it on a student budget.

I couldn't accrue any NCB that way, but some classic policies do now offer this; it's worth looking into.

I am afraid the fact of the matter is that young drivers are very high risk, even girls! I know of one that wrote two cars off in the first two years. I know that not all youngsters will have an accident but I had a fair few in my first ten years or so - nothing serious, usually bent front wings from following to close to fast. I have only had one claim in the last 38 years - and that was only a clash of mirrors. My son had a couple in his first few years, but fortunatly no other vehicles were involved and he had me to straighten out his Capri's for him!

I got a very good quote from 'confused.com' but as I am approaching the age when my insurance will start going up again, I will no doubt also soon have to start searching.

A Land rover is an excellent idea, the son of a friend of mine wrote two cars off in a very short space a time and a Landy is all his father will let him drive now, and probably all he can afford to insure.

When I started driving my insurance on a Vauxhall Cresta was £25.00 per year, that was nearly three weeks wages, the road tax was £12.50. and petrol was about 5/- per gallon. Petrol in real terms is cheaper now!

Peter.N.

Hi Peter,

Ref the effect of your advancing age on your insurance premium.

I reached 75 a couple of weeks ago, didn't get a mention on the "today's birthdays" though. Point is, I've just got my renewal quote from Churchill; £200.55 fully comp with NCB protection.

So nil desperandum.

Derek

Well,

a great many happy returns then!

cheers
George

Yes, happy (belated) Birthday Derek!

Hi Derek

Well done on reaching such a 'mature' age. Your experience has heartened me. With all this talk about re testing older drivers and how unsafe they are - it makes you wonder, although I am sure the majority, including yourself, are not. I still manage about 20k a year without hitting anything. There no doubt are some elderly drivers that shouldn't be on the road, but unlike the younger lunatic set, some older but apparantly blind ones and a few HGV drivers who think they are the only ones on the road - they are in the minority. Not that I want to be critical of course....

Peter.N.

Thanks chaps!

Peter, I'd be happy to be retested any time they like and I'm sure you would too. Trouble is it would be bound to be exorbitantly expensive.

Derek


This post has been edited by DerekW on November 07, 2007 04:07 pm

Do you still have to do hand signals?

Peter.

I thought they were an essential skill on XMs, you never know when the indicators and stop lights are going to stop working - or so I've heard.

Derek

The only hand signals I use with my XMs are usually directed at them