6 Ways to Lower the Cost of Insurance for Learner Drivers

Learning to drive has never been so expensive and the biggest chunk of the cost involved is the insurance.  Drivers between 17 and 19 years old are paying, on average, over £2000 and some are being quoted figures as high as £5000. 

It’s estimated that for drivers under 21, upwards of 10% of their salary will be spent on their car insurance. 

Rising insurance costs caused by changes to the way in which compensation payments are calculated and an increase in fraudulent whiplash claims are hitting young drivers particularly hard. 

This is because car insurance companies view young drivers as high risk and it’s a sad fact that 25% of drivers, aged between 17 and 24, will have an accident within their first two years of driving. 

If you are a young person, learning to drive, there’s no escaping the reality that your insurance is going to be expensive, but there are things you can do to reduce the cost, here are some suggestions.

1. Don’t modify your car

Even if you are itching to make your ordinary car look a little more interesting, don’t.  Adding those alloy wheels will only add to the cost of your insurance.

2. Share your car with an experienced driver

If an experienced driver, who has no previous claims or convictions, is added to your policy, this may reduce the cost of your insurance.  The rationale, from the point of view of the insurance company, is that the experienced driver will be driving the vehicle some of the time and therefore the risk of an accident is reduced.  Do not be tempted to add someone to your insurance as the main driver, if they are not.  The insurance companies call this ‘fronting’ and it’s illegal: you could face criminal charges and your insurance will certainly be invalid.

3. Increase your excess

This means increasing the amount which you would pay, in the event of an accident.  This could well reduce the cost of your insurance, but you need to be confident that if you did have an accident, you would be able to come up with the money.

4. Compare insurance quotes

Never auto-renew and never accept the first quote you are given.  Insurance companies reserve their best prices for new customers so make sure that you shop around for insurance quotes in order to find the best one for your situation.  For young drivers, a fully comprehensive policy is often cheaper than third party or third party, fire and theft.  This is because insurance companies are wise to the fact that high risk drivers may use third party policies as a cheaper way of getting covered.

5. Increase your car’s security

Everything that you can do to improve the security of your vehicle, from fitting security devices to finding a safer place to park, will help reduce the cost of your premiums.

6. Get insured on a car known to be safe reliable

All vehicles are placed in risk categories by insurance companies, choosing a low risk vehicle will ensure that you get the cheapest insurance.  Find out which cars are cheapest to insure here.