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Car Insurance for young drivers
You could save up to £264.00* on your car insurance when comparing insurance quotes from YCD. We compare deals from over 100** leading insurance providers
*£264 saving was calculated comparing the cheapest price found with the average of the next four cheapest prices (based on representative cost savings data – November 2019). **Correct as of July 2020
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Young Car Driver increases your chance of finding a great car insurance deal by searching the market for you.
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Complete a simple form and get loads of quotes in less than 5 minutes.
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View live quotes, compare and choose the best insurance deal for you.
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Purchase your new policy online or over the phone, monthly and annual payments available.
Which car insurance providers does Young Car Driver work with?
Make sure you have all the information below to hand before you search for a quote. Be completely honest with your answers.
Some insurers are more guilty of judging young drivers and charging you a premium.
At Young Car Driver, we work with over 100 insurers that will give you the best price possible. While we can’t change the fact that young drivers have to pay more, we can at least make sure you get the best deal available!
Don’t be loyal! Always use a comparison website to check your renewal quote is a good deal
Has your car insurance renewal quote arrived yet?
Shock, curse then pay up – that’s what most people do.
To many insurance providers can offer cheaper deals to their customers, but they don’t like telling them.
We recommend you never accept a renewal quote without first using a comparison site.
Far too many young drivers are missing out on lower insurance simply because they don’t try.
What information will you need to provide for your insurance quotation?
Make sure you have all the information below to hand before you search for a quote. Be completely honest with your answers.
Your car details
You will need the make, model and year of manufacture.
Your personal details
You will need to provide your name, full address, age and occupation.
Any additional drivers?
Details of additional drivers you wish to be added to your policy.
No Claims Bonus (NCB)
Provide details of previous NCB years.
Use of vehicle
Is it for social, domestic or business purposes & expected mileage.
Type of insurance policy
3rd Party or fully comprehensive?
Why is car insurance so expensive for young drivers?
As young drivers, it can seem really unfair that insurance is so expensive
However, the reality is that we are the age group that will pose the highest risk on the road.
According to a Gov.UK report, last year:
Drivers aged 20-29 are far more likely to have an accident than any other age group.
Young drivers under 25 have the most accidents making them the riskiest group of drivers to ensure.
About 25% of young drivers have a crash within the first twelve months of passing their test.
Despite drivers aged 17-19 making up only 2% of UK licence holders, they are involved in 9% of fatal crashes.
And that also includes older people in their seventies and eighties! You might laugh at them driving 40 in a 60, but they’ll be laughing at your insurance premiums.
In all seriousness, how insurance works is straightforward: the higher the risk to the insurer, the more your insurance premium.
Various factors mean young drivers are more at risk in the first few years after passing their test. A combination of risk-taking, overconfidence and inexperience are the root cause.
How can I drive safely?
The sad fact of the matter is that you will pay a premium on insurance because of your age. This is unavoidable. However, it’s this way for a reason – if we all drive as safe as possible, the premiums for young people will eventually decrease. Here are a few ways to drive safely:
Don’t take risks: Young drivers have a reputation for taking more risks – such as speeding, or driving under the influence. Now, this is a significant minority, but it happens. Never do it, and never sit in a car with someone who is driving like an idiot.
Overconfidence: We’ve all been guilty of showing off to friends (or someone we fancy). While this is harmless in many scenarios, it can be fatal on the road.
Always drive cautiously, and don’t act like you are invulnerable. It’s better to be mocked for driving carefully than to end up with a serious disability for the rest of your life – or worse.
Get experience: You mustn’t look at this information and get scared of driving! The fact of the matter is that with more experience, you will become a much safer driver.
What types of car insurance cover are available for drivers under 25?
No matter your age, there are three types of insurance cover
Third-Party Insurance
Third-party insurance: This is the lowest possible form of cover. It only covers damage to another person’s car or an injury to another driver or passenger (hence the third-party bit!). Third-Party won’t cover your own vehicle!
Third-Party fire & theft Insurance
Third-party fire and theft insurance: You can probably work this one out! The same as third-party insurance, but it also covers your vehicle in certain scenarios: namely, if your car is damaged in a fire or stolen.
Fully Comprehensive Insurance
Fully comprehensive: As the name suggests, the full comp cover includes all of the above but also protects you as a driver and will pay out damage to your car. Fully comp is the best insurance possible.
You might assume that the price goes up as the cover does that would be logical! But in reality, pricing for these policies can be a bit confusing and erratic!
Sometimes fully comp cover actually works out cheaper than third-party fire and theft!
As a rule of thumb, though, everyone (not just young adults) should always go with comprehensive if you can afford it.
As mentioned, in many cases, it can be cheaper, and even if it’s slightly more expensive, it’s worth the peace of mind.
How to help you get cheaper car insurance as a young driver
9 factors that impact car insurance premiums
Apart from the actual car, car insurance will be your biggest expenditure as a young driver. In fact, it can even be more expensive than your car payment! Thankfully, there are a few things that you can do to get cheaper car insurance.
Here are 9 essential factors that impact the cost of your car insurance!
1
Drive safe
Insurers love low-risk drivers and will reward them with lower insurance premiums. Getting penalty points and speeding fines will result in higher insurance costs, so drive carefully and save money.
Not to mention the fines you’ll need to pay out if you get caught speeding, which is at least £100! It’s not worth it – stay safe.
2
Pick a car with a low insurance group
Insurance prices aren’t entirely random. Every car in the UK gets an insurance group number between 1 and 50 depending on price, style and performance.
Driving a basic small engine car (like a Skoda Fabia) in a low insurance group should cost a lot less to insure than a luxury brand powerful engine (like a BMW M4) in a high group number.
This is why YCD recommends a supermini for young drivers, as the insurance groups tend to very low.
3
Avoid claiming on your insurance
After just one year of motoring without making a claim, you get a “no claims discount” of 30% on the next year’s insurance. Your ‘No Claims Bonus’ continues to rise in annual steps to a maximum of 60 to 65%.
Don’t worry, though. You don’t need to be loyal to your provider. Your NCB is transferable to your new insurer.
4
Pick a higher voluntary excess
A compulsory excess is what you have to pay on a policy. Voluntary excess is something you opt-in to pay when you sign up for your policy. The higher the voluntary excess, the lower your monthly payments will likely be.
However, tread carefully. Make sure that you could realistically afford to pay this in the event of an accident.
Example: if you have a compulsory excess of £250 and a voluntary excess of £250, you’ll have to pay £500 towards the cost of any claim you make.
5
Fit extra security for your car
Fitting an alarm or immobiliser on your car and parking somewhere safe overnight such as a garage or driveway reduces the threat of your vehicle getting stolen making you less of a risk in the eyes of the insurers.
If you park your car on the street, you could find your premium is higher – due to the exposed nature of the parking, and the higher risk of damage or theft.
6
Don't modify your car
Insurers can see modifications such as alloy wheels, a new spoiler or even an expensive car sound system as a further risk of theft of your car. Some insurers will increase the premium for a modified car while others may refuse to insure the vehicle.
Similarly, modding out your engine might make it faster, but it can cost you a lot more money in insurance premiums.
7
Limit your mileage
Your insurer will want an estimate of your mileage. It’s true, the lower the distance you drive, the less your insurance premium.
It’s really important to be accurate and realistic here, though, as a false mileage could invalidate your policy. However, don’t overestimate, as you’ll pay more money for no reason.
Work out how many miles you tend to drive in a month and multiply by 12!
8
Add an experienced named driver (or parent) to your policy
Adding a named driver is a legitimate way to lower the cost of car insurance. Adding an experienced parent can dramatically reduce the amount you pay for your insurance.
However, you need to remain the main driver. Never give false details about who the main driver is.
This is known as fronting and will invalidate your policy, and is technically fraud!
9
ALWAYS shop around – don’t be loyal!
It doesn’t pay to be loyal to insurance providers, as you will likely always end up with a higher renewal price.
Make sure you:
- Never accept your existing insurer’s renewal price without shopping around.
- If you can afford to pay for the full year’s insurance, do it – the cost of monthly instalments are often more expensive (in total).
- When you get an acceptable price, phone and ask the insurer for a discount, the worst thing that can happen is that they say no! It’s worth a try.
Do you need something different from standard car insurance?
Black box car insurance
Telematics insurance policies use a black box that monitors you’re driving style to calculate the cost of your insurance.
Learner driver insurance
Learners driver insurance allows you to get driving practice in a parent or friends car while protecting their No Claims Bonus.
Insurance FAQ's: Your car insurance questions answered.
When you apply for an insurance quote either directly or through a comparison site like “Young Car Driver”, insurance providers will carry out a “soft check.” Don’t worry; this is simply to check your details and won’t affect your credit score.
Providers will only do a “hard search” (credit check) if you want to pay for your car insurance monthly.
Comprehensive insurance is undoubtedly the best available – it offers the most protection. However, as there are more types of incidents to pay up on, your insurer can sometimes charge a high premium
Why is it sometimes cheaper than a lesser cover? Insurers take into account the psychology of their customers – if someone is looking to buy a less comprehensive cover, they could potentially be less responsible and more likely to crash in the first place.
In general, it’s hard to predict. Make sure you always compare the price of comprehensive insurance, even if you’re shopping around for the cheapest one possible. As often, you can find it for the same price, or even cheaper than a cover plan!
However, you mustn’t try to change your job title to reduce the price of your quote. You could get caught out here, and even end up paying more!
Also, if your occupation means a lot of driving, you can expect a higher premium – due to more time on the road!
You can also look at used-car listings to see the current price of a similar model and condition to yours.
The current value of the car depends on a range of factors, including its make, age, mileage, service history, modifications, and general condition.
Thankfully, you don’t have to be 100% accurate when applying for insurance. Give an approximate value based on your research.
Never overestimate, you’ll end up paying more for your insurance. In the same token, don’t underestimate, as you could end up invalidating your policy.
You can estimate your mileage by working out how many miles you drive every day or week, then adding them up to work out your annual use.
Alternatively, check your MOT certificate or car service record, which will show how many miles you’ve driven. You can use this as a basis to calculate your future mileage!
Unfortunately, very few insurance policies include young or inexperienced drivers to drive a car belonging to someone else.
You have to provide this so that the insurance company can have accurate data on your driving history.
If you don’t, you could have your claim being invalidated in the event of an accident, costing you a fortune and rendering the insurance pointless!
DVLA will tell your insurance company:
- You’re legally entitled to drive.
- Any penalty points or convictions you have.
- Past disqualifications.
- The type of license and how long you’ve held it for
Most of the time, insurers will do this on your behalf. However, insurers aren’t exact equals, so an insurance company can work from their own no-claims bonus schemes and work to their own rules.
Occasionally, you may need to supply evidence from your previous insurer to prove that you have a no-claims bonus. Get in touch with your old insurer if you need to acquire any written records.
Be aware that many insurers won’t recognise no-claims bonuses that you’ve gained as a named driver on someone’ else’s policy (like a parent). Also, if you’ve been off the road for a few years, your no-claims bonus likely won’t be valid anymore.
We can’t guarantee you the same price if you come back later – your quote could go up. You are more likely to achieve a lower quote the earlier you start looking.
If you cancel after the cooling-off period and pay by monthly instalments, then you may not be entitled to a refund. Some providers may charge an extra premium to include the time you’ve had cover as well as a cancellation fee. Take a look at your policy for details.
However, most insurers do charge an adjustment fee for something like changing an address or adding a driver to the policy. At the same time, other providers may allow you to make simple changes online without a charge.
Compare car insurance for young drivers today and see if you can start saving.
