Car Insurance

Pritchard5

I am a 17year old male who has had no conviction or accidents, come from a nice area and this is my best quote:
Mini one - £3000

My most expensive quote -
Well done to the AA for clinching this award by quite a margin
£47,000!!! 6 times more than what the car is worth.

Your stupid quotes here please:

dhope

Pritchard5 wrote:

I am a 17year old male who has had no conviction or accidents, come from a nice area and this is my best quote:
Mini one - £3000

My most expensive quote -
Well done to the AA for clinching this award by quite a margin
£47,000!!! 6 times more than what the car is worth.

Your stupid quotes here please:

Other insurers would just say they wouldn't insure you, guess AA are essentially doing the same but probably get to claim they'll insure everyone.

And when you said "I am a 17year old male who has had no conviction or accidents, come from a nice area"
what the insurer heard was
"I am a 17 year old male" and then your voice tailed off.

I certainly had a few silly quotes when I had my first car (a clapped out old Escort that was worth about 800 quid) and got quotes for about £6k. The quotes will reflect their concern about the damage you could do rather than just related to the value of your car. Obviously you're going to crash head on with a Veyron before careering off the road into a group of school children from Eton.

pete54

What has this got to do with cycling? And why do you want a car, anyway?

Pritchard5

Ok lets look at this from a different perspective, My dad can get insured on the same mini for £200.
Are you honestly trying to say that i am 15 times more likely to have an accident?

And the reason why i am getting this mini is because it is the cheapest quote i have got. Other cars (Fiat grande punto, renault clio, ford fiesta etc) are actually more expensive to insure for me.

I am now part of my dads business, which will involves alot of traveling on my own up and down the country, so a car is essential. A reliable, comfy, nice car also is because I have to travel long distances and also to create a good impression on the person i am meeting.
I am NOT a boy racer, I am a sensible young man trying to break out of these difficult times.

And to answer your question, no it has no relevance to cycling I am just wondering what quotes other people are getting around my age, where they live, insurance company etc.
Give me a break!

Aidy

Pritchard5 wrote:

Ok lets look at this from a different perspective, My dad can get insured on the same mini for £200.
Are you honestly trying to say that i am 15 times more likely to have an accident?

15 times more likely doesn't sound that unreasonable, considering you're dealing with a driver with a previous driving record and an unknown quantity.

I still want to be able to claim a bicycle as a second vehicle - or more accurately the car as a second vehicle to a bike. I cover more miles by bike than I do by car.

Pritchard5

I still want to be able to claim a bicycle as a second vehicle

That would help.

15 years no claims bonus

suzyb

The reason you're insurance is so dear is because of people like the teens recently jailed for killing their friend whilst they were racing their cars. Or the teens I keep hearing about whose car has ended up in a field because they took a bend too fast.

You may not be 15 times more likely to have an accident. But you're fellow teenagers consistently prove they are. It's just unfortunate that those few responsible teens have to suffer because of "daddy's bought" drivers.

alfablue

Pritchard5 wrote:

Ok lets look at this from a different perspective, My dad can get insured on the same mini for £200.
Are you honestly trying to say that i am 15 times more likely to have an accident?

Yes, easily.

As well as having new skills, little experience, older, less safe cars, and a perception of indestructibility and infallibility, along with overconfidence and lack of insight (maybe you have this), young drivers are:

* more likely to risk driving the morning after drinking (23% compared with 17% of all drivers).
* nearly twice as likely to have driven after taking illegal drugs (11% compared with 6% of all drivers).
* more likely to have driven when tired (64% compared with 60% of all drivers).
* more likely to speed because it's night (33% compared with 22% of all drivers).
* more likely to talk on a mobile phone while driving (43% compared with 37% of all drivers)

amongst other things. These are some of the reasons why accidental death is the biggest cause of deaths in your age group. A fatal accident can cost £1.5 million or more (not even considering the social costs).

the_hundredth_idiot

I agree with Aidy - 15 times more likely is an understatement. Inexperienced drivers are a nightmare for having accidents, with males worse than females as they tend towards overconfidence which exacerbates the problem.

Factor in that you sound like you'll be doing high mileage and I can see why you get high quotes. The AA's is taking the p1ss but, as dhope says, it's just a way of saying they don't want your business.

You may well be a good driver with a good attitude, but insurers can only go by measurable rating factors. And two key rating factors are age (young = bad, old = good) and whether you've demonstrated you are a good driver (i.e. have built up a no claims history).

ketsbaia

Insurance is a licence to print money.

I tick every box as far as a 'good risk' is concerned, except I live in London and I only have a year's no claims due to not having had a car for a while. Cue quotes of more than the car's worth. Highly frustrating.

alfablue

ketsbaia wrote:

Insurance is a licence to print money.

I tick every box as far as a 'good risk' is concerned, except I live in London and I only have a year's no claims due to not having had a car for a while. Cue quotes of more than the car's worth. Highly frustrating.

Get a more valuable car - problem solved! :P

tjwood

On a serious point, read http://www.moneysavingexpert.com/insura ... -insurance

If you wait a while, even a few months, after passing your test before you buy a car your quotes will start getting cheaper. In a couple of years they will start to fall at a much quicker rate.

"X times more than the car is worth" is irrelevant. The biggest risk, especially for young drivers, is third party liability - which could run into tens of thousands (if you crash into a nice car) or even millions (if you seriously injure someone).

davis

Sorry, but statistically you probably are 15 times more likely to have an accident. Statistically.

I'm going to play devil's advocate for a bit, and try looking at it from the insurers' point of view, and bearing in mind that the only thing they have to go on is a huge body of statistical data. I sincerely hope you're towards the edges of the data for your sake, but there are thousands of person-years of collective data here.

So, bearing in mind this isn't directed at you personally in any way, and only the quantifiable facts, here goes:

You're 17 and male, you're therefore highly likely to be an idiot. You'll drive too fast, have poor awareness of others, and an increased sense of indestructibility.

You'll be doing lots of miles. This means you'll crash more

You have a reasonably nice car, so you'll be going faster when you do crash, causing more damage to your car and stuff you hit.

You'll have poor road sense, so you'll find it much harder to predict what other road users will do.

Your lack of experience will mean you react unpredictably or outright badly when an unexpected situation occurs.

That's why insurance is so expensive. No, it's not fair, and it's not justifiable in the individual case. It is, however, justifiable in the broad spectrum of all the cases the insurers have to cover.

FWIW, I write this having wrecked 3 cars, bent others, and generally been an arse, despite what I (at the time) considered to be a very acute sense of my own mortality. 10 years on, I'm a very different driver. I genuinely hope you have considerably better luck than I did.

Sorry, it ain't fair, but suck it up; we all had to.

asprilla

Insurance prices aren't just made up, they are based upon statistical models balancing the risk against profit. The reason your quote is so high is because you probably are 15 times more likely to crash or at least do 15 times as much damage.

gbsahne001

not had a car for 8 years cue no NCB, despite the same company having me on their records with 15 years accident free driving prior to this hiatus; last quote was £850 for a Ford focus

lost_in_thought

Yep, that's life for you.

TBH, the insurers just heard 17... boy... and that was it.

But then almost all 17-year-old boys drive like idiots - for example the one that wrecked my car a few years ago doing (he admitted to 60mph) about 70mph on a single lane country road on a rainy night, lost control of the car and hit me despite the fact that I was already on the verge trying to avoid him. Caused £6k of damage to my car, and an as yet undefined £k of damage to me. He said it wasn't his fault because he wasn't in control of the car at the time. :roll:

Even if you drive like an angel, you're paying more because of idiots like him.

Now, a 17-year-old girl, OTOH... I paid £600 for my first year's cover on a ford KA.

AyrshireBacon

Pritchard5 wrote:

I am NOT a boy racer, I am a sensible young man trying to break out of these difficult times.

Trouble is that everyone in your situation will say that. The ins co has no way of telling which ones are being truthfully and which ones drive like @$$holes.

Have you considered looking into PassPlus? Some companies will give a discount if you have that.

davis

lost_in_thought wrote:

He said it wasn't his fault because he wasn't in control of the car at the time. :roll:

That part's actually funny.

lost_in_thought

davis wrote:

lost_in_thought wrote:

He said it wasn't his fault because he wasn't in control of the car at the time. :roll:

That part's actually funny.

Yeah, I know, I laughed.

He also went to his insurers saying 'it's a 50-50'. I told my insurers that it's probably associated with the above. They called back to tell me it was. :roll:

AyrshireBacon

lost_in_thought wrote:

Now, a 17-year-old girl, OTOH... I paid £600 for my first year's cover on a ford KA.

OP could always claim to be a pre-op woman trapped in a boy-racers body and see what happens...

lost_in_thought

In all seriousness, OP, why not get your dad's co. to get you a company car and sort out a company insurance policy for you? You won't earn a NCB, but at least you'll be driving a few years until your costs drop a bit.

Aidy

lost_in_thought wrote:

He said it wasn't his fault because he wasn't in control of the car at the time. :roll:

Brilliant. Truly brilliant

Even if you drive like an angel, you're paying more because of idiots like him.

Unfortunately, we all are

suzyb

Pritchard, what about getting your dad to insure it in his name with you as a named driver. Some companies will allow you to collect NCB even as a named driver.

prj45

Pritchard5 wrote:

6 times more than what the car is worth.

I don't get why people link the cost of insurance to how much their car is worth.

It's not like if you have a crash you only damage your own car, or hurt yourself.

Aidy

Pritchard5 wrote:

And the reason why i am getting this mini is because it is the cheapest quote i have got. Other cars (Fiat grande punto, renault clio, ford fiesta etc) are actually more expensive to insure for me.

Also...

You say this, but I find it hard to believe that a Mini is the cheapest car to insure.
They do tend to be a bit boy racer-y.

I reckon when I was looking (albeit, at 24), slightly larger cars worked out cheaper insurance-wise - presumably because they weren't beginner cars.
Larger cars are also better for throwing bikes in the back

Look at diesels too. Cheaper to insure, and better for motoring around the country.

zanes

lost_in_thought wrote:

In all seriousness, OP, why not get your dad's co. to get you a company car and sort out a company insurance policy for you? You won't earn a NCB, but at least you'll be driving a few years until your costs drop a bit.

Isn't this (technically) fronting, and hence illegal?

FWIW, even though I consider myself fairly sensible I did some *incredibly* stupid things in my first year of driving. Not because I thought "I'm a brilliant driver" or "This'll be fun", but because I was an inexperienced driver with no real sense of self or responsibility and an under-developed area of brain dealing with risk taking (male,17).

I got stung for £1400 fully comp on a 1.0 micra in my first year (17, just passed). Now, with 2 years of no claims at 21 I'm paying £600 fully comp, business usage on a 1.2 Fiat 500 59-reg.

Some tips;
Try getting quotes for fully comp (can be surprising)
Add parents as named drivers (not you as named drivers on their policies- this is fronting as above) on your policy. Adding my mother saves me c.£200 a year, and she gets the benefit of fully comp on my car, rather than just 3rd party under her insurance.

unixnerd

Have you done a Pass Plus? I'm told that makes it 30% cheaper.

When I got my first car in 1987 (3 year old Citroen GSA, spacious but damn slow) it cost me 1300 quid and they wanted 2000 to insure it! I was 19 and living in a quiet area, but I was a student. I'd just sold a computer game I'd written so I could afford the car, but not the insurance.

My father didn't have a car so I gave him the money and he bought it, insurance now 200 quid with me as a named driver. I think you'd get away with that if there was only one car in the family, but not otherwise.

You'll find it comes down a lot after three years and once you turn 21. Look on the bright side, you got your licence early so it'll make insurance cheaper when you're a bit older. I know a few folk who've graduated and got their first job, then passed their test. Their insurance as 21 will be a good bit more than yours as you've got (hopefully) four years no claims bonus and experience.

plowmar

+1 unixnerd with pass plus, benefit lasts till you are 25 I believe.

Re insurance sorry that's still fronting if you make a claim you would be likely to have a full investigation, is it worth it to have insurance cancelled and all payments due by you.

will bugger your and your dads future insurances might even impinge of other types of insurance, house, bikes etc re fraud.

unixnerd

One wee thing to watch with some policies. If you pay monthly and have an accident you must pay ALL outstanding premiums for the year pronto or they'll cancel your policy. A mate of mine almost got caught out with this. Read the small print.

Even fitting nicer wheels (even ones from a nicer model of the same car) can void the policy if not declared. Mate was getting a new front window fitted, they broke it whilst nicking his satnav. He phoned the insurance to complain that the fitter wouldn't tint it to match the other window (it was tinted by a legal amount), they canceled the policy on the spot.

Taking a higher voluntary excess can lower it a fair bit. And watch they don't add on all sorts of extras you don't need, I've even seen one for "road rage insurance"!

tailwindhome

Why do you need a car?

zanes

unixnerd wrote:

Even fitting nicer wheels (even ones from a nicer model of the same car) will void the policy if not declared.

FTFY. Insurance companies are incredibly hot on this.