# New drivers - 18 year old



## mawallace

What would you do for a 18 year who has just passed his test.

Keep him as a named driver and share the car with him or buy him a cheap car and put him on that? What's likely to be the most economic way?


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## Fentum

So long as you are not "fronting", the named driver route will be cheaper short term but I'm veering towards taking the pain on insuring my 20 yr old son in his own name (if/when he passes his test this summer) and a very cheap classic car (early Mini - not Cooper!- or something similar) for a couple of years so that he can build up an NCD history in his own name.

Peter


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## GP Punto

I would look at Peugeots, they offer a deal called Just add Fuel which includes insurance and all expenses. 

The deal to finance the car might be comparable with buying the insurance on its own.

A black box will be required which will monitor the speed and safe driving of the car, which may be a big plus.


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## GP Punto

Fentum said:


> So long as you are not "fronting", the named driver route will be cheaper short term but I'm veering towards taking the pain on insuring my 20 yr old son in his own name (if/when he passes his test this summer) and a very cheap classic car (early Mini - not Cooper!- or something similar) for a couple of years so that he can build up an NCD history in his own name.
> 
> Peter


I would check that the NCB on a classic car insurance is transferable to a mainstream policy, it isnt always the case.

Just as a van insurance NCB isnt always accepted on a private car policy.


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## Fentum

GP Punto said:


> I would check that the NCB on a classic car insurance is transferable to a mainstream policy, it isnt always the case.
> 
> Just as a van insurance NCB isnt always accepted on a private car policy.


GP Punto,

Thanks for that thought. I've never had a problem in the past but a 20-something y.o. might not be such an attractive pick!

Peter


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## wish wash

I remember when I passed my test at a similar age, I did my pass plus which lowered it slightly but just took it on the chin and payed the £2000 insurance. Twice as much as what my 1st car was worth. I was on apprentice wages so £400 a month, £200 insurance all the rest went on fuel.


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## Christian6984

I started off under my parents insurance, not sure it was quite the big deal it is nowadays but with a 1.8TD Fiesta it wasnt gonna be cheap. Was with Direct Line as they claimed named drivers earned their own no claims bonus for a policy of their own, but at 22 years old upon changing cars i tried to go on my own and they wanted £1000 for a Clio 1.2 with a massive 100bhp. The no claims could only be use with themselves. Took the hit and found cheaper elsewhere at £750 with no no claims of my own, was the best i could find. Year after it was £350 was a big shock that it dropped by half more or less. Seem to been around that same figure now for both cars with 7 and 3 years no claims on each and i am in my 30's.

I know right now that with my own policies adding my mum as a named driver brings the insurance down and adding my dad pushes it up. So worth trying a few options and a few quotes on some different cars.


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## sshooie

My 'kids' both passed their test within a couple of weeks of each other 12m ago.

Although they are both living away @ uni we bought them a Picanto to share, my daughter was 20 and my son 18 so we insured it on my wifes policy using her 10 years no claims, this tied in nicely with her getting a company car so if they bang it it's not the end of the world. 

We have my daughter as the main driver as she takes it to work when she's home from uni and in reality is the main user, i did it with a black box (More Than) with 8k miles per annum for c£1300

Just checking now, it renews in 3 weeks and they have done 1774 miles so well under the declared mileage. My daughter wanted to have it in her name and said she would pay but I felt it would be unfair if her brother then fecked up her ncb.

It's just been renewed with Admiral and as a multi car policy with my A7 the Picanto is c£360 this year without a telematics box (but the kids don't know this yet)

Gone are the days of fronting your insurance as my father did for me (much to his expense and ncb!) and I'm a big advocate of being as straight as you possibly can be, all insurers will take your cash without too many questions but will then bend you over (and rightly so imo) if you claim and they find out you have lied.

Our scenario was slightly different due to the 2 of them but if it was just one then I'd go cheap car in their name.


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## pez

As a young(ish) driver what I did was have a cheap car first I paid £200 for her, she was a fiat seicento it was cheap to insure because no "boy racer" had them, it was even cheaper to insure with my mom and dad on the policy as a named driver I was the main however.
Most of my friends that had things like clio's, fiesta's, corsa's ect paid a lot more insurance than I did. Then some that had brand new cars the ones that didn't crash then we're stuck with them for 5 years and then as I got fasters/better cars all of a sudden found there cars not as fun to drive as they still had a 1L C1 or similar car and I was rolling round in a Celica gt4 but this is want I did.


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## ianrobbo1

Black boxes can go the other way as well, especially if your young un takes it into his/her head that on "just" the one occasion it wont matter, trust me it can and does matter, and could end up costing the same or more than an insurance without a box fitted !!


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## sshooie

ianrobbo1 said:


> Black boxes can go the other way as well, especially if your young un takes it into his/her head that on "just" the one occasion it wont matter, trust me it can and does matter, and could end up costing the same or more than an insurance without a box fitted !!


I agree and the reviews of More Than are shocking if you look on TrustPilot and FB, I feel a lot of the reviews are from people who don't understand how telematics works.

I found out as much as I could before they installed it about their scoring system through a few calls to them, they are very reluctant to give up the info. My lad has had 2 - scores for speeding, both in 20mph zones, these are the easiest to go over the threshold in, if you are doing 28mph then suddenly it's a big percentage over, the guy on the first call to them warned me about it.

Both have had lowish scores for smoothness too, but this seems to be in stop start traffic. Generally they hit 10 for speed, 9 and above for smoothness and 10 for usage (hours of use, amount of use and time of day).

Each time they have fecked up a score they have a look on the dashcam if they don't already know where it was, I think this has been a good tool for them, I also like the tracking feature, my son travels up the A1 to Leeming regularly and I can see he's arrived without pestering him, this is a summary of the last 20 journeys, so if having a black box has made them more aware of their driving style then I'm all for it as a parent.

You get warnings for certain things and a girl @ the wifes work had her policy cancelled, the wife asked why and it was speeding, she'd been getting warnings but never checked her app or emails.

You also get a pre loaded credit type card and they load it with rewards each qtr when you have scored well, we've had 3 x £31 refunds and are due another at the end of the month, I let the kids share this as a bit of an incentive.


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## Darlofan

Son of someone in work wrapped his car round a tree. Insurance refused to pay out as black box revealed speed apparently. Not sure whether to believe them or not. Be like me parking my car on double yellows and someone driving into it. Does that mean they wouldn't pay out?


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## Chris Dyson

Tell him to get a job and wait. When he has saved up enough, he can buy his own (cheap) car and pay his own insurance. At eighteen he is old enough to start taking responsibility for himself and learning about real econimics. If he is still in education he could get a part time job. Naturally you'll want to pitch in and help him out a bit, but too many kids are getting it too easy these days and whinging when things get tough. It's a tough world, better to learn young. If he's worked for and paid for his own car hel'll likely look after it better too.


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## Shiny

Honda Jazz - in my name, max NCB, business use = £150

Honda Jazz - in 18yr old son's name, son main user, nil NCB, me as a named driver (can't have business use if done this way) = £1200

Honda Jazz - in my name, max NCB, me as the main user, business use for me, son as an occasional additional driver = £1500

Its my car so has to be insured in my name, i need business use so has to be insured in my name, so £1500 it was, the most expensive taxi i've even had.

I do this for a living and logic dictates the best risk is £150 in my name, the worse risk is £1,200 in my son's name, so in my name with my son on as an occasional driver the premium should be somewhere between the two, not £300 more than the worse case scenario.


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## ollienoclue

Darlofan said:


> Son of someone in work wrapped his car round a tree. Insurance refused to pay out as black box revealed speed apparently. Not sure whether to believe them or not. Be like me parking my car on double yellows and someone driving into it. Does that mean they wouldn't pay out?


I can't see that is legal. Kid hits a parked car at more than speed limit and the insurance company don't pay?

Fudge that.


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## ollienoclue

ianrobbo1 said:


> Black boxes can go the other way as well, especially if your young un takes it into his/her head that on "just" the one occasion it wont matter, trust me it can and does matter, and could end up costing the same or more than an insurance without a box fitted !!


Parental guidance is important.

Too many kids are just over-confident.


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## sevenfourate

We recently bought my boy a decent enough little 2002 / £700 1.0 12V Corsa; and he got Black Box aided insurance for around £125 a month. We figure if he crashes it - no great loss. And its been reliable enough to not worry over.

Sooner he gets a year under his belt the better IMO. Hence not being a named driver.

Although a complete pain, he and all his mates fully admit the Black box has stopped them driving like 'dicks'........


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## great gonzo

I believe their own insurance is the way to go, my son was a very lucky boy!!!
We bought him a cheap Ford KA, insurance was £1200 with a black box. 
He rolled it and smashed it up after 11 months but we let the insurance run to get the years no claim now he has bought himself a Ford Fiesta and insurance is now £850 without black box, his senecio only worked because the KA was a banger and nobody else involved. 
On another note I didn’t believe the black box was recording properly, they tried to keep putting the cost up I would complain and they would then reward him for something and cost would stay the same, strange. 


Gonz.


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## Cookies

I'd definitely get a cheap car and insure it in their name. That way, they're building the NCB in their own right. I think the black box is a brilliant idea to keep them on track for the first few years. 

One word of warning, don't buy a new car for your child. A guy at work bought a new Seat Mii on PCP over 4 years. About 4 months into the first year, his son hit another car, hard. The car was repaired, and all was well until renewal time, when nobody would touch his son for a reasonable price. So, they're now stuck with a car in negative equity that they can't use, or more importantly have no need for. 

A cheap car, insured in their own name is definitely the way to go. 

Cooks

Sent from my SM-G950F using Tapatalk


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## garage_dweller

When our son passed at 18 we bought him a new suzuki swift, which we use too, so although his car we get to share it. Insurance was much less that I thought, about £750 with direct line and no black box. The policy is in his name and we're both named drivers.

Personally I think it's much better if they have their own policy and start to earn NCB


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## percymon

garage_dweller said:


> Personally I think it's much better if they have their own policy and start to earn NCB


Agreed, and add as many family members as you can as named drivers, but only those with clean licenses and many years no accidents etc


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## great gonzo

percymon said:


> Agreed, and add as many family members as you can as named drivers, but only those with clean licenses and many years no accidents etc


Not always cheaper, my sons second year of driving was cheaper without myself and wife on it, strange I know. I think they make it up while they go on lol.

Gonz.


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## DTB

We took the same path with both daughter (who is now 19) and son (17 and learning).

Citroen C1 in their own name. Fully comp insurance in their name with us both as named drivers while learning for approx £750 per year through Direct Line with black box. We came off as named drivers when daughter passed and it didn't make much difference to insurance premium. I think she was just under £700 and he was closer to £800. Now she is £500 odd for insurance.

C1 audio is woeful but it's cheap and easy to upgrade because the cabins are so small.


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## Rayaan

TBH I would rather wait and put them in a larger, decent car.

Ive seen C1s and Aygo's having accidents at less than 40mph and the whole car crumpling to the point where firefighters need to be called. This was with a Fiesta as well. 

Im pretty sure they occupants would have been dead if it was a large SUV or saloon.


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## Harry_p

Get them started in their own name as soon as possible. Lots of places won't accept names driver time as real no claims.

And do lots and lots of comparison quotes of cars they might like, including all engine variants.

We bought my daughter a 1.4 vw lupo, it was only £100 a year more for a 1.4 which was acceptably nippy over a 1.0 which felt dangerously slow and would worry about her pulling out onto a lot of nsl roads around here.

I insured it in her name but on a provisional license, this was around £450 a year. Then 6 months later when she passed her test we changed details and paid the remaining 6months at the full new driver rate which was about £1400 a year / £140 a month. 

Then at the end of the year, because it was all one policy she got a years ncb for only 6 months of actually being on the road on her own, and the premium dropped to £850 for the second year.


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## ollienoclue

I would not buy a new car but I would not buy a tiddler go-kart either.

The statistics are pretty scary regarding young drivers so safety has to be a consideration I feel.

We all started in absolute rotters back in the day but the roads are a far different place today than even 15 years ago.

You want a medium sized car like a Golf as a minimum and cheap so something a big leggy. But more importantly you want all the safety gear you can find on them. The budget brands will probably have ABS and airbags, but probably won't have things like ESP or EBD which might help a new and inexperienced driver one that one time the conditions catch them out.

Of course a larger car will have a larger engine and so cost more to insure, but it's going to be a few hundred quid extra a year: I'd sooner give them that extra and have some peace of mind. Most of us have driven a crash-box on pram wheels and know what an oh F**K moment feels like.


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