For young or inexperienced drivers, your first car insurance policy will probably account for the largest part of your running costs. This is due to two reasons:
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You want to drive, that means you might just be willing to pay (lots) to be able to do it
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Young drivers have more proportionately driving accidents and so represent a high risk to an insurer
If you're looking for car insurance for the first time it is likely to cost you between many hundred and several thousand pounds - so don't be surprised by your first insurance quote!
To keep the costs down but you have to know what you're doing. Here are a few of the basics:
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If you have a suitable car in the family and you're not going to be the main driver then you could get you name added to that insurance policy. There is one drawback in this - with most insurance policies you won't be building up your own no-claims bonus – but it can keep the early outlay down
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If you're buying an additional car then you might be tempted to insure it in the name of an adult, taking advantage of their age and 'no-claims' bonus to save some dosh on the insurance premium but beware as this is not straightforward. If the named adult is the main driver then all is well but if you will be the main driver then this is called "fronting" and it's illegal. If you have an accident, are investigated and found to be "fronting" then you could well be deemed to be driving without insurance and suffer the consequences - a conviction, a fine, 6 points on your licence, which will result in the loss of your licence if you haven't held it for 2 years. The adult who has "fronted" is also likely to suffer too and find it hard to get insurance in the future without significant financial penalty, if at all. The Financial Ombudsman estimates that over 1000 claims a year are investigated for 'fronting' and is rising. Is it worth the risk ?
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Driving a family member's car for a year or longer can result in you being granted the equivalent no-claims bonus based on this driving experience. Specialist young driver insurance brokers, such as My Motor Quote, can advise you on this subject.
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Wait until you are 18, or older if you can wait, before taking out a policy in your own name.
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Make sure you are driving a car with a low insurance group, preferably in group 1, 2 or 3 (out of 20) - the lower the better.
- Don't start modifying your car - certainly not without telling your insurance company about what you want to do. Put a loud exhaust on or fit some big wheels and low-profile tyres on and you could see your policy go up by something like 50%. Do it, don't tell them and have an insurance claim and you could find yourself without insurance. That'll mean you'll be liable for all costs and for prosecution by the police for driving without insurance.
- Take a look at the Young Marmalade car and insurance package scheme which could save you money and get you driving a safer car into the bargain.
Insurance Groups
In the UK Insurance companies have devised a grouping system that helps them, and hopefully you, choose a suitable car. They put each car into one of 20 groups, called helpfully Group 1 (the lowest cost) through to Group 20 (the highest cost). The UK's Insurance companies are moving over to a '1-to-50' Group system which is basically the same but with more opportunity for differentiation between models.
New cars have been assessed at the Insurance research facility at Thatcham where they analyse how much it will cost to repair if you have a bump in it. They then factor in how likely you are to have that bump ( generally the idea is 'the faster, the more likely' ) and how much it would cost to replace if you managed to have a big crash and decide what group it fits into.
 
The things that determine how much it costs to repair are things like what gets bent or broken in lowish speed front and rear end shunts – if the car is well designed then the bits that need to be replaced are cheap and easy to fit. Things like fancy lights and painted bumpers don't help. You can see this with cars like the Ford Ka - the Style is Insurance Group 2 but the same engine in a Ka Collection with body coloured bumpers is in Group 4 - 2 groups higher, so choose carefully.
No-Claims Bonus
This is where you can 'earn' a discount on the full insurance premium by doing nothing - well, by not making an insurance claim. This discount is generally 30% for the first year, increasing by 10% for each additional year up to a maximum discount of 70%. This means you could be paying only 30% of the full premium.
This is how mere mortals can afford to insure cars that are faster and more expensive than ur1stcar but for young and inexperience drivers this is statistically difficult to do. But then you know what they say about statistics......
Unfortunately, it's a bit like snakes and ladders - if you have an insurance claim you're likely to lose 3 years no-claims. You can often pay an extra premium to 'protect' your no-claims bonus.
If you earn an amount of no-claims bonus but want to change insurance company then you'll need to get letter from your old insurance company to give to your new one confirming this. |
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