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There’s nothing quite like the feeling of getting behind the wheel for the first time after you’ve passed your driving test. But nothing can slam the brakes on your driving dreams quite like the cost of car insurance for young drivers.
As a young, inexperienced driver, you’re likely to pay more for insurance than any other age group. But there are ways you can save on your cover. Use our guide to find out how to pay less for car insurance.
“Young driver car insurance” isn’t a separate type of car insurance policy – after all, young drivers’ car insurance needs are usually no different from those of older drivers. But when car insurance experts talk about young drivers, they typically mean people between the ages of 17 and 25.
While the cover they need is the same as older drivers, younger drivers are considered much higher risk than other groups. This means they’ll usually pay more for the same level of cover. In fact, according to the latest figures from the Association of British Insurers (ABI), drivers aged 18-20 pay around 3 times as much as those in their 50s and 60s.
The good news is that, as with any other age group, there are plenty of ways for young drivers to cut the cost of car insurance.
Yes. Young or old, and regardless of whether you’ve been driving for years or it’s your first time behind the wheel, you need to be insured to drive on UK roads. As a legal minimum you’ll need third-party insurance, which will pay out for damage to other people’s cars or property.
Government data shows that young drivers are disproportionately likely to be involved in a car accident where they or a passenger are injured or killed. Meanwhile stats published by road safety charity Brake indicate that 1 in 5 drivers crash within a year of passing their test.
Accidents mean expensive car insurance claims. Insurers seek to offset the risk of high payouts by increasing premiums. It follows that a higher risk of claims means higher premiums for younger drivers.
Even if you’re a careful driver from day one, it will take time for you to build up the years of claim-free driving that prove to insurers that you’re the exception to the rule.
There are, of course, other factors that affect how much you’ll pay for car insurance, such as where you live. City dwellers will usually pay more than those living in rural locations, for example. But the higher risk of accidents among young drivers is by far the biggest cause of high insurance premiums. Our guide on how car accidents affect car insurance explains why.
As well as the higher risk of accidents for young drivers, there are several other factors that affect the cost of your car insurance. Some of these include the following:
Unfortunately, there is no individual policy that will be cheapest for all young drivers. Insurance providers have their own criteria for determining the price of insurance, and no two drivers have the same profile.
As a young driver, black box insurance may prove to be cheaper than regular car insurance as long as you maintain a good driving record. If you don’t drive regularly, you may also be able to save money by using temporary or short-term car insurance.
For drivers of any age, one of the biggest factors affecting the cost of insurance is the car you drive. As a general rule, bigger, powerful and/or more expensive cars will cost more to insure than compact run-arounds with small engines.
If you’re looking to buy your first car and want to avoid it being prohibitively expensive to insure, check what insurance group it’s in. There are 50 official insurance groups; cars in group 1 will typically be the cheapest to insure, while those in group 50 will incur high insurance premiums.
If you want to actively seek out a car that’s in a lower insurance group, and will therefore likely be cheaper to insure as a young driver, options to consider include:
With each of these cars, at least some models in the range fall into insurance groups 1-5. You’ll probably need to opt for lower-powered models with more basic specs, though. Choosing more powerful, upper-range models of even these cars could push you into a higher insurance group and bump insurance premiums up.
All drivers are legally required to have at least third-party car insurance to be on UK roads. Young drivers can take out the same levels of car insurance cover as any other driver.
Not necessarily. In practice, comprehensive cover can often be cheaper than third-party, or third-party fire and theft. This might sound counterintuitive, but it’s in part because many inexperienced drivers automatically opt for third-party cover under the assumption it will be the cheapest. Car insurers have caught on to this, and some charge more for the lowest level of cover as a result.
Don’t fall foul of this Catch 22. Researching all your options could net you a better premium and a better policy.
Alternatives to getting a standard annual car insurance policy that could work out cheaper for young drivers include:
No matter what your age, it’s worth considering each aspect of your insurance policy carefully. If you’re new to driving, you may want to consider the following:
Read our guide to getting the cheapest car insurance deal possible as a younger driver.
If you share a car with a parent and they’re happy to include you in their cover, you could ask them to add you as a named driver to their insurance policy.
This will likely cause their premiums to rise, but the added cost may be cheaper than if you were to take your own policy out. Even if you have to pay towards their overall premium, you might still save money.
For this to work, they would need to be the main driver of the car though. In practice, this means that they would need to drive the car more than you. If it’s the other way round, you could be found guilty of an offence known as “fronting”.
Adding yourself as a named driver on your parent’s policy is fine, and a good way to keep insurance costs down, if they’re the person that drives the car most often (the “main driver”).
What you mustn’t do is put your parent, or another experienced driver, down as the main driver of a car and yourself as a named driver (no matter who owns the car) if you, the younger driver, will be driving it more often.
This is a type of insurance fraud known as “fronting”. It’s illegal and could invalidate your insurance policy and even lead to a driving prosecution.
Having a telematics or “black box” policy can help you save on your car insurance if you’re a safe driver. A black box is fitted into your car to measure how well you drive. This data is then assessed by your insurance provider to calculate your premiums based on your driving habits.
So if you stick within the speed limits, brake and accelerate carefully, and don’t go out for joyrides in the wee hours of the morning, you should be rewarded with lower premiums.
A word of caution, though. Black box technology will also capture any bad driving habits. If you’re a bit of a boy – or girl – racer, your premiums could go up.
There’s no getting around the fact that car insurance is expensive for younger drivers. If you’re 20 or younger, you can expect to pay upwards of £1,000 a year – or much more if you own a bigger, more powerful car or live in a part of the UK with a higher risk of car crime. But drive safely and avoid making claims, and you’re likely to see premiums drop over time, particularly when you reach your 26th birthday. Until then, shop around to find the right cover at the best price, and use our cost-cutting tips to avoid paying more than you need to for insurance.
Find out the average cost of car insurance for a 20 year old and how to save on your premiums.
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