A question for Dads with Learner Drivers

Kimbo · 6 Feb 2016

Dads,

When your son/daughter was learning to drive:

1. Did you insure them on their own policy so they could build up a no-claims bonus

2. Did you put them as a named driver on your own policy

Some of my friends tell me they spend £2000-3000 on their children's Insurance, but I've heard that if they are named driver then it can be as low as £500, and driving a decent car to boot. £2000 is totally non unaffordable to me.

The car I'm thinking of getting my son to learn on would be a Polo. Good car?

Any tips, advice appreciated, many thanks as always. :thumb:

PS: What a nightmare.

Leon1davies · 6 Feb 2016

Hey Kimbo

You'll only be able to put your son as a named driver if he wont be the main driver of the car...otherwise it's known as fronting (insuring the car as yours to get it cheaper for someone else).

It can be expensive to insure in their name but you may be able to find somewhere who gives them an introductory no claims and they also start earning them in their name so in the long run its better.

Norfolk &amp; Idea · 6 Feb 2016

Got the same thing coming myself. My son has just turned 17 and is learning to drive.
A 1.2 Polo will be fine. Keep it basic- no alloys, spoilers, fury dice etc.
Yes, its eye wateringly expensive on the Insurance. Truth is, young lads are a very bad risk which is reflected in the premiums. You can 'front' as said earlier but you're probably delaying the pain because at some point the kids have to try and build a 'safe bet' history with the underwriters.
You can get significant reductions if you agree to have a data logger fitted to the vehicle insured. It records stuff like speed, acceleration, hard braking etc.
I'm gonna bite the bullet and keep my fingers crossed that he doesn't have a prang and hopefully build a bit of NCB. But if he's anything like I was at 17 I'm fu**ed! Good luck....

HSC911 · 6 Feb 2016

Polo is a great choice. I like the 6n and 6n2 era ones.

Insurance is going to bend you over one way or another.

There was a thread by Plynchy, he got his daughter a skoda fabia (polo with a skoda badge), but polo and Yaris both got the thumbs up too.

:thumb:

Alex · 6 Feb 2016

Hi Kim,

I've just run a quote on gocompare for a 17yr old student on a 1.2 polo with a new license and no ncb. Price comes up at £2085. I've just run the exact same quote but with his 54 yr old Dad on his policy as a named driver. Price drops to £1820. £265 saving for you there just by having someone mature named on the policy. 17yr old is still main driver and policy holder.

Zingari · 6 Feb 2016

When my daughter was learning to drive she used my wifes car to 'learn' and I bought a (I think) a 84 day standalone policy - no point 12 months as they usually pass their test after a few months when supplemented by professional lessons. I didn't explore naming her on the wife's policy as I think it would be the same amount and more hassle. It was I think this company www.insurelearnerdriver.co.uk

The 'learner' policy could however only be applied when the donor car was already insured by the principal driver. IIRC cost me c£180. No benefits carried over.

One she passed (17yrs) and she got her own car and that's when the fun began :what: I tried all different combinations single driver, added 'mature' second drivers but the 'best' I could come up with was £1,400 single driver on a Mini One through confused.com. I think a Polo/Yaris was c£1,250 but she wanted a Mini.

This second year and despite no er no claims from year one

c: it has come 'down' to £800 for a 10 month 'accelerated bonus' policy through Admiral.

Both required black box although the first one did give back quarterly rebates for good driving (albeit they were ***** hot at recording red marks like when I did some brake testing after replacing discs/pads

) I think we got £150 overall back on the first policy. Current policy doesnt offer rebates but has the option to increase premium on driving style etc.

My view is no matter what you will get STUNG the first year as its the greatest risk period and in year two it becomes more realistic - still a rip off :sad:

Kimbo · 6 Feb 2016

Thanks for all the replies chaps.

Oh Gawd.

So am I right in thinking that if I buy the car, register and insure it in my name, drive it most of the time and have my son on as a Named driver, that would be the best/cheapest option?

AdeD · 6 Feb 2016

Just gone through the same thing... My daughter passed 2 months ago and I insured my her on my policy but named as the main driver of a 1.4 Polo TDi and it cost me £950 with no black box requirement. All in all not too bad i thought...
Worth noting though is i kept everything the same but changed her sex to male and it more than doubled, i'd thought they'd made that illegal but obviously not, my son starts learning next month, an expensive year ahead

** I have since splashed out and bought her a Vauxhall Corsa Limited Edition so the Polo is for sale if you're still looking ;-)

Shurv · 6 Feb 2016

Toyota are selling brand new Aygo's with 1 years free Insurance for over 18's, needing a black box, but that's no bad thing. Maybe worth a look, will be cheap to run and insure after the year has run out. My daughter loves them. :thumb:

Zingari · 6 Feb 2016

AdeD said:
Just gone through the same thing... My daughter passed 2 months ago and I insured my her on my policy but named as the main driver of a 1.4 Polo TDi and it cost me £950 with no black box requirement. All in all not too bad i thought...

How does this work? Do you mean you insured the polo in your name but stipulated she was the main driver? Will she be able to accrue NCD by this route :dont know:

AdeD · 6 Feb 2016

Zingari said:
How does this work? Do you mean you insured the polo in your name but stipulated she was the main driver? Will she be able to accrue NCD by this route :dont know:

I'm not 100% sure but i am hoping so... When getting the quote via confused.com it asks who the primary driver will be, i just selected my daughters name... When i swapped the Insurance over to her new car direct with the company they confirmed she was the main driver on my policy as well.

Alex · 6 Feb 2016

Surely NCB gets awarded to the Policy holder and not any 'named' people.

AdeD · 6 Feb 2016

alex yates said:
Surely NCB gets awarded to the Policy holder and not any 'named' people.

Not always, quite a few companies offer discounts to named drivers on policies as well and if they're named as the primary driver it can only help...

Kimbo · 6 Feb 2016

Zingari said:
www.insurelearnerdriver.co.uk

Thanks so much for this - brilliant :thumb:

JH · 6 Feb 2016

Going through this myself. We got a Skoda Fabia 1.2 Classic which is basically a Polo in cheaper clothing and I believe is a lower Insurance group for some reason (less desirable maybe?).

She is learning currently and therefore is a named driver on the policy. This lifts the premium to a bit over £500 pa. I looked at standalone learner driver policies but they ended up more expensive overall. I also ran some comparisons for when she passes and it was coming up at about £750-£800 with her as main driver but not the only driver. It's worth looking at a range of different insurers and also different cars - eg my experience of a Fabia being cheaper than a Polo despite being essentially the same car.

Ironically, the 10 year old Skoda even with her only as a named learner driver is more than the Insurance on either my 996 Turbo or my Lotus....

A question for Dads with Learner Drivers

Kimbo

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Leon1davies

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Norfolk & Idea

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HSC911

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Alex

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Zingari

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Kimbo

Paul Ricard

AdeD

Sao Paulo

Shurv

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Zingari

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AdeD

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Alex

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AdeD

Sao Paulo

Kimbo

Paul Ricard

JH

Silverstone

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