[pjs]

Hi all. Hoping to appeal to those with teenage drivers. About to spring for a 60bhp small car for my offspring who's just about to start learning to drive. If anyone has gone thorough this fairly recently what and who would you recommend insurance wise? Is a black box essential? Hints? Tips? Thanks in advance

[454697819]

The only advice I can provide from my experience is that "typically" speaking, smaller beginner cars despite their small power and size don't always have premiums that reflect that, unpopular family cars, like a 1.8 petrol focus has previously been cheaper than a 1.2 / 1.0 corsa or clio as they are binned much more frequently.

Best of luck.

[CL53]

I can also confirm what has been said above.

When I was 18 I remember getting a few quotes:
Yaris came in at 1.5k
Civic was around 1.8k
Accord (what I went for in the end)... £850

The other two were 1.2-1.4l whilst the Accord was 1.8l

Oh and try and avoid blackbox - I would happily pay £200 extra for the privilege of no box. Plenty of my mates have had their insurance policies canceled for speeding (anything 20mph and above the speed limit is classed as dangerous)

Play around with job too - being a computer salesman rather than retail worker saved me £30 odd on my insurance.

[Sasquartch]

The telematics boxes can save you money

However you really do have to obey the speed limits etc to avoid extra payments

And also if you borrow the car it still impacts your child's record as the box has no way of knowing who's driving

[Chrismac13]

Got my son a nissan micra 1.0 for £200 as few years back. The insurance was £2500. The insurance companies are more concerned with what they may hit & the following consequences. The telematics can bring it down but be aware of the restrictions as these can be quite strict regarding driving times, people in the car etc. Also telematics wont work on cars more than 10yrs old.

[GEP77]

+1 on choosing a low risk car first rather than one that might be appropriate for a new driver. While it was a few years ago now the insurance for me on a 1.25 fiesta and an E36 328i were only a few quid apart. When I enquired about this, given the 328i was 2.5 times as powerful it turned out very few claims were ever made by people in my demographic for a 328i, but huge numbers were for fiestas. Incidentally a 318i would have been somewhat more expensive to insure.

I definitely agree about something low powered though. Too much power certainly corrupts!

[robbiep]

I'd disagree with the post saying to avoid black boxes. All you do is make it very clear to said sprog that if they are caught speeding by the black box then the insurance company will cancel their policy, and then insurance for them will be cripplingly expensive in the future.

[simon.]

Chap @ work just insured his 18 year old with Tescos on a 2007 900cc Fiat 500 for around £1300 iirc. Learner still, 8K miles pa, black box, SG4 postcode, price stays the same when she passes.

[Ti Rich]

Black box is essential IMHO.

My 17 year old has a 1.4 Mini One, great car and "cheap" to insure.

For insurance try Marmalade:- www.wearemarmalade.co.uk they are about the cheapest for new drivers.

[Nobby Clark]

Just been through all this. We bought a new Picanto on a PCP for son. Low power, easy to drive, cheap to insure. Got the V7 so he wouldn't get bullied.

It cost, £2K deposit and £85pm. If he wrecked the clutch etc while learning we just hand the car back at the end of the term. Cheap to repair too so if he bumped it we could hopefully avoid insurance claims.

Being a new car, it was very cheap to insure. People treat bangers like bangers apparently. However, the cost rose once he passed his test. The reason is he is driving unsupervised. so watch for that one.

He had no problem with a box either. I mean why the f**k would you not want to encourage a new driver to be inside the speed limits especially with the penalties they face if caught?

Finally, it's also worth looking at a NCB accelerator insurance that offers a year NCB in 10 months.

[ukblade]

If insuring for 1st time as a leaner, as said before check price once passed if looking to stay with same firm.
I managed to insure my lad for around £600 whilst on L plates but the day he passed it was an extra £2000.
There are firms that will insure L plated drivers quite reasonably but have horrific premiums once passed, it's just whether you want to start the 10/12 months again to gain an NCB.
Also put you and the Wife on as named drivers, it did seem to help us.

[DB118D]

Originally Posted by ukblade

If insuring for 1st time as a leaner, as said before check price once passed if looking to stay with same firm.
I managed to insure my lad for around £600 whilst on L plates but the day he passed it was an extra £2000.
There are firms that will insure L plated drivers quite reasonably but have horrific premiums once passed, it's just whether you want to start the 10/12 months again to gain an NCB.
Also put you and the Wife on as named drivers, it did seem to help us.

This

My mrs learned to drive a couple of years back. Her insurance on her car whilst a learner was cheaper than when she passed her test

Just picked her up a 17 plate Aygo X-Clusiv. £1k in, £100 a month. Her insurance is ~£30 a month, but she is mid-30's!

[pjs]

Thanks for all the comments so far chaps, really helpful.

[ronime]

Up!/Mii/Citigo are some of the cheapest cars to insure (and very safe - NCAP 5 rating).

Bell Insurance were just about the cheapest for me when I wanted to insure my newly qualified son on our Citigo. It's a Telematics policy and a bonus accelerator so bear in mind only 10 months cover.

The Telematics box supplied by Bell at the time was totally self contained. Velcroed out of the way under the passenger seat and plugged into the ciggy lighter socket for power so would have worked on older, pre-OBD2 cars. They may have switched to an OBD2 plug-in device now.

A MINi Cooper 1.6 was cheaper to insure than a basic Polo 1.2 for my 21 year old daughter with a few years driving experience but for the 17 year old lad we had to drop to a 1.0 engine to keep the insurance sensible.

[73henny]

My son is 18 and has a '16 Fiesta Zetec S (funded by the bank of mum and dad although he is paying it back). Sporty little thing with a 1.0ltr 3 cylinder turbo engine. 125bhp I think. He has a Churchill Drivesure Black Box insurance policy. £550 premium for 8k miles a year. No restrictions on time etc.

[DB118D]

Originally Posted by 73henny

My son is 18 and has a '16 Fiesta Zetec S (funded by the bank of mum and dad although he is paying it back). Sporty little thing with a 1.0ltr 3 cylinder turbo engine. 125bhp I think. He has a Churchill Drivesure Black Box insurance policy. £550 premium for 8k miles a year. No restrictions on time etc.

That is outstanding for an 18 year old

[ukblade]

Not sure if they still do this but I remember when my youngest passed her test 5 years ago we booked her on a Drive Plus course, taking in motorway and night driving, and wet weather (if it rained within her allotted time, I think she had something like a month to complete course) cost about £150 but got her £250 rebate once course was completed and we'd sent the certificate off.

[73henny]

Originally Posted by DB118D

That is outstanding for an 18 year old

Yes it pretty reasonable. He does have 1yrs no claims bonus, but his 1st year's policy was about £800 IIRC

[t5pilot]

We used Ingenie for both our kids. It is black box, but doesn't penalise for late nights etc. If the driving's good, you also get back some premium every quarter. And there's an app for it so you can also monitor the driving. It was great for my two & also one of the cheapest.