Car Insurance cost for young driver

[Rev. Green]

My son is too young to drive but he needs to choose a college now. He is considering a college which is a very long bicycle ride away and he'd like to know the cost of car insurance because he might consider driving there when he is old enough.

Most of his details are obvious - no no-claims bonus, no convictions, cheapest possible car - but no company will give him an estimate because if they enter his correct details he is too young. They suggest we apply via a comparison website and lie about his age. We won't do that.

Can anyone give an estimate of car insurance cost for a young driver? I've heard it could be £5000, which would put it out of his reach.

[Naomicorlett]

Yes Zac thats so strange we added our son (29) to our daughter's (24) policy and the premium went down. I had said we would pay the difference but when it was less she wouldn't give me the money !!

[tamborine]

I insured my children on my insurance as co-drivers.....till they earned enuf to pay their way. Much cheaper!

[Rev. Green]

Many thanks Zac et al. £1000 is quite a lot, but he has to build up a no-claims' bonus sometime.
Enquiries are registered against his credit rating, so we couldn't make a false statement even if we were inclined to - unless we gave a false name and address as well, I suppose.

[R1Geezer]

Go on confused.com etc and make up a fictitious person that matches your situation for the purposes of a quote. This is not illegal you are only asking for a hypothetical quote, it's just that they like to keep the details and therefore their system does not cater for your situation. However as above it'll be grand!

[woozer]

Insurers do not do credit checks when you ask for a quote - it would not be legal - they can only do a credit search if you agree to a contract with them and they have told you they may do a credit search. I dont think many of them ever bother unless there is a claim that appears "unusual " to them

There is no reason why you cannot increase your sons age to get a quotation - it is not being done for fraudulent or immoral reasons and you would of course enter the correct details when actually entering into a contract.

Be aware that the exact make model and age of a vehicle can all affect a quotation quite drastically - dont believe what a car salesman tells you about the vehicle group - some insurers only use ten groups others will use over 30 - get a quote for the specific vehicle before commiting yourselves.

If you take out a policy in your own name you should declare that your son is the main driver and this will usually mean that the premium is rated on him. I would always advise parents to let their offspring take out a policy in their own name and make a hefty contribution to the premium. That has two benefits a) The child has some ownership and hopefully feeling of responsibility for protecting their own insurance record and b) when they have an accident (as most of them do) it will only affect the childs insurance record. If the policy is in your name you will have to declare all claims even if you were not the driver.

[michael9]

Check out some comparison websites as insurance is based on personal details you would have to get a quote. Try http://theycompare.co.uk , http://confused.com , http://gocompare.com etc

[Rev. Green]

Many thanks everyone.

He is now looking at collapsible bicycles and thinking of taking the train for part of the journey!