ROSPA's road safety advice for young drivers.

Includes a Safer Driver Agreement to be drawn up between parent and young driver - we love this.

 

 

 

 

 

How to find Cheap Car Insurance for Young Drivers

Consider changing your car for one in a cheaper insurance group

If you are insuring a young driver, the size and speed of the car they are driving will be an important factor in the size of the premium.  By changing to a smaller, cheaper car, you will automatically reduce the cost of adding a young driver to the policy.  Small cars such as Corsas, Clios or Peugeot 107s will be in a low insurance group and will be far cheaper to insure than larger, faster cars.  Check which insurance group a car is in before you rush off to change it though!  Try running an online quote for yourself driving different cars and you will see what a difference this alone can make.

 

Own policy or parents policy?

If you live with your parents and will be buying an additional car which you share with them, you could consider buying it in your own name or asking your parents to buy it in their name.  If you buy it in your own name, you would get your own insurance policy with your parents as named drivers.  If they buy it in their name, they would have the insurance policy and you would be the named driver.

If you are a named driver on your parents policy, the insurance is likely to be cheaper, but you won't be building up your own no claims discount.  However, if you do have an accident, you would wipe out or reduce any no claims discount that your parents have built up, which would be expensive.

If the car and policy are in your name, you will be able to build up your own no claims discount, but the premiums are likely to be very high for the first year at least.

 

Consider choosing a high level of "excess" on your policy

The "excess" is the amount you have to pay when you make a claim on your car insurance.  Suppose you have an accident and the total repair bill comes to £4000.  If your excess is £200, the insurer pays out £3800 and you have to pay the other £200.  However, if your excess is only £50, the insurer will pay £3950 and you only have to pay £50.  But remember, you have to pay the excess every time you make a claim (at least as big as the excess), so this is an important consideration.

Policies with a higher excess will have a lower premium as the insurance company expects to pay out less money when you make a claim.  In addition, people who choose a higher excess are telling the insurance company that they don't expect to make many claims - they are going to drive carefully.  This also has an effect in reducing the premiums

If you're not sure what excess to choose, try running online quotes with different levels of excess to see what effect it has on the premiums.

 

Shop around different insurers for the best deals

It can be time consuming to visit lots of insurers sites to find the best car insurance deal.  If you are short of time, consider using one of the comparison websites which will give you quotes from a number of different insurers. 

You need to look at more than just the level of premium though.  Different policies will cover different things as standard - for example, one policy may include a courtesy car while yours is being repaired, whilst another policy may not.

 

 

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How to reduce the cost for next year (or stop it rising)

If you take out a policy in your own name, your premiums for the second year should reduce provided you haven't made any claims during the first year.  This happens as you build up your no claims discount.  (Check the conditions of the policy).

If you are an additional driver on your parents' policy, making a claim will probably increase their premium next year, as it will reduce or wipe out any no claims discount they have built up.

So either way, it is in your best interests to avoid making any claims unless you absolutely have to...

 

 

How to reduce the likelihood of making claims

 

Keep improving with an experienced driver

Even once you have passed your test, you still won't have all that much experience of driving.  You will have no motorway driving, and probably little or no experience of night-time driving or driving on a long journey.  Remember, you can still go out with an experienced driver in the passenger seat - they won't have to tell you how to start the engine or turn the wheel, but will be a useful extra pair of eyes and may make all the difference in a tricky situation.  Take full advantage of any chances you get to do this, especially over the first couple of years - it will build your experience considerably.

 

Don't give lifts to friends for a while

It's human nature, once you have a car full of friends you are going to want to show off, even just a little bit, no matter how sensible you think you are.  This is when most accidents happen.  We suggest not giving lifts to friends until the excitement of passing your test has long passed.  Only then should you consider giving a lift to someone, ideally just one friend, to begin with, who is fairly calm and unlikely to egg you on

 

Carry a mobile phone in case you get lost, stuck or break down

But don't ever answer it or try to read/send texts while you are driving.  Whoever it is can WAIT!  All mobiles have caller display so you know who has phoned, and you can just call them or text them back when you've finished your journey.

 

Never give lifts to people who are drunk or have done drugs

This is the hardest of all to deal with.  A car full of drunks will be yelling at you to overtake, to go faster, to take shortcuts up one way streets etc.  Just don't do it.  It's far better to get a taxi and pick your car up the next day.  Your friends will moan but lets face it, would you rather get a taxi or end up smashed up in hospital or worse?  You can always make up something the next day - they'll never remember!

 

Most important of all - don't drink or do drugs yourself

Don't fall into the trap of thinking you'll be okay if you "just have the one".  It's really not worth it,  you need to be as alert as possible, especially as a new driver, and of course you could lose the license you've worked so hard to gain.

 

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