As someone new to driving, insurance companies will hit you with higher premiums. That’s because they see you as being more likely to have an accident and make a claim. However, there are ways to find discounts, and policies that can lower your insurance costs, while still getting the cover you need. Read on to find out how to get the cheapest car insurance for new drivers.
There are no special policies that are only available to new drivers. You can pass your test and become a “new driver” at any age. But when many insurers refer to new drivers, they’re often thinking about young drivers (between the ages of 17 and 24, say) who have only recently passed their driving test. These drivers are typically less experienced at driving on public roads, and won’t have any driving history for insurers to use in their underwriting calculations.
A couple of factors drive up the cost of new driver insurance.
Firstly, official statistics show that young, inexperienced drivers are more likely to be involved in an accident, and therefore to make a claim, than many other age groups. Insurers bump up premiums to account for the greater likelihood they’ll need to pay out for new drivers.
Secondly, new drivers won’t have had a chance to build up any years of no-claim driving that prove they’re safer drivers than the age-related statistics might suggest. This means they won’t qualify for a no-claim discount.
It’s difficult to give a categorical answer to this. The cost of car insurance is heavily influenced by age, and you can become a new driver at any age.
What we can tell you is that, on average, young drivers (under 25) pay significantly more for their insurance than over 25s. This will at least be partly due to their lack of driving experience, which can result in a higher statistical chance of younger drivers being involved in an accident and needing to make a claim.
For example, someone aged 20 who wanted to insure a car in insurance groups 1-10 (some of the cheapest cars to insure) would face an average annual premium of £1715, according to Finder data.
A 30-year-old insuring an equivalent car would pay well under half of this, with an average premium of £654.
There are a number of things that can make car insurance more expensive for one new driver than another. These can include:
As with any driver, new drivers can choose between 3 levels of cover. These are third party cover, third party, fire and theft cover, and fully comprehensive cover.
Logic should dictate that third party insurance is the cheapest type of policy. This is the most basic type of deal on offer and it’s the minimum level of cover you need to legally drive in the UK.
It pays out for any damage you cause to someone else’s vehicle or property. Unlike comprehensive cover, it won’t offer any financial help should your car need repairing or replacing.
However, insurance companies have clocked that younger and less experienced drivers are the main buyers of this type of policy. As a result, many insurers don’t necessarily offer cheaper premiums for third party cover.
It’s definitely worth getting quotes for third party, fire and theft and comprehensive insurance too. These might work out cheaper and offer you higher levels of protection to boot.
| Response | Yorkshire and the Humber | West Midlands | Wales | South West | South East | Scotland | Northern Ireland | North West | North East | Greater London | East of England | East Midlands |
|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|
| Cost of the premium | 54.12% | 46.96% | 51.52% | 56.52% | 54.3% | 51.32% | 58.33% | 51.24% | 47.62% | 43.52% | 54.02% | 43.18% |
If the cost of buying a traditional, annual car insurance policy makes your eyes water, there are alternatives worth taking a look at. Whether they’re right for you will depend on whether you own your own car and how often you plan to drive.
Potentially, yes. This is provided you drive carefully and safely, though.
Black box insurance is designed to give good drivers cheaper car insurance. It’s also known as telematics insurance. A small device is fitted in your car to record your driving performance. The device sends these details back to your insurer.
Safe, careful driving will be rewarded with lower premiums over time. But watch out; bad habits such as speeding could see your premium shoot up.
Insurers have no overall definition of how long they consider someone to be a “new driver” after they’ve passed their test. But once you’ve gained a year or 2 of driving experience and started to build up an insurance no-claim bonus, you should see your premiums start to drop.
This may happen faster if you passed your test when you were older, as data from the Association of British Insurers (ABI) shows that, in general, drivers aged under 25 pay higher premiums than older drivers.
Just as a new driver can add themselves to a parent’s policy, if you have your own car (and therefore need your own insurance), you can add another driver to your policy as a named driver.
Whether this will save you money depends on the driver in question. Generally, adding an older driver with a track record of conviction-free and claim-free driving is likely to reduce a new driver’s car insurance premium.
That’s because insurers regard experienced drivers as lower-risk. If an insurer thinks that your car will be driven by a low-risk driver some of the time, it is likely to reduce the premium accordingly.
One word of warning. If you’re the person that will be driving the car the most, don’t be tempted to put a parent or another experienced driver as the main driver and add yourself as a named driver. This is a form of insurance fraud known as fronting.
Car insurance can be a major drain on young drivers’ wallets. While you might see yourself as a responsible road-user, insurance companies will see you as being a higher risk. That’s because younger drivers are statistically more likely to be involved in a collision.
But there are ways to get a decent deal on car insurance as a young driver. These include:
As a new driver, insurers consider you more of a risk than experienced drivers. But this doesn’t mean you should pay over the odds for car insurance.
Even though you might not have a lot of experience on the road, you may be a safe and careful driver. If so, choosing a black box insurance policy could help to lower your premium.
As any driver should, before deciding on a policy do your research and compare the deals on offer.
Find out the average cost of car insurance for a 20 year old and how to save on your premiums.
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