Car Insurance is ridiculous

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Scott-Copywriter

Scott-Copywriter

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May 11, 2006
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  • #1
    I don't know how insurance companies manage to get away with this.

    I've been searching for quotes for ages now on random cars and the costs are huge. To insure a 1990 Ford Fiesta 1.1 (piece of junk) is £2500 p/a and that's only third party fire and theft.

    Every car I seem to look at is at the £2500+ mark :(
     
    A

    Astaroth

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    Aug 24, 2005
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    London
  • #2
    And the scary thing is that the motor insurance industry as a whole is currently making a loss

    I cannot remember the figure exactly but in the region of 90% of claims costs are from third parties and not own damage and as hitting a pedestrian with a piece of junk at 50mph will generally cause the same sort of injuries as a 50mph collision with a supercar and a pedestrian the value of the car itself isnt the greatest influence.

    Always check the cost of fully comp as well as TPO and TPFT as the market is much more competitive and though the amount of cover is more competition/ demand can cause the price to actually be lower
     
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    A

    Astaroth

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  • #4
    If you do Mark's suggestion and they are not the main drivers you are creating a fronted policy which insurers count as fraud - the misses who works in counter fraud for an insurer/ bank throws out many policies a week for this and loads the policyholder to fraud registries (then gets death threats etc when people get turned down for loans/ mortgages etc)

    If there is a chance of a older/ more experienced driver using the vehicle (esp female) then by adding them as a named driver will most likely reduce the premium legitimately
     
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    M

    Mark Bateman

  • #6
    Both our sons have cars and are done this way

    My wife is the main driver as inevitibly she has to collect them when they are out doing what kids do but they can drive the car as well

    In hours I reckon my wife does at least 75% of the driving - is that OK with you
     
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    A

    Astaroth

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  • #7
    If she is the main driver of the vehicle it is a legitimate policy as per my comments.

    Your post however did not stipulate that they had to be hence clarifying the situation and not having Scott finding himself facing fraud allegations.

    The be careful is obviously needed as well as the majority of people get away with fronted policies but insurers are clamping down on them now. Some may consider it to be a worthwhile risk still though.
     
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    Cornish Steve

    Cornish Steve

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    Jul 4, 2005
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    Atlanta, Georgia, USA (formerly Cornwall, UK)
  • #10
    It really is tough for young people (and young men in particular) to get affordable car insurance. I don't know how the rules compare across countries, but I've learned the following here:

    1) Price depends very much on age of the driver, location, and type of car.

    You can't do much about the first two, but you can definitely affect the third. Before you buy a car, get some quotes from an insurance company for three or four different models (same year). The differences can be quite surprising. (I've never bought a car without knowing its relative insurance premium ahead of time.)

    2) You can bring down the premium by increasing as much as possible your deductibles. Set them to as much as you could afford in the event of an accident. (This is a good policy for insurance anyway.) Put aside the amount you save into a bank account until you can cover that deductible.

    3) Some companies here offer a "good student" discount for having good grades at school. Have you asked about that?

    4) You can bring down the premiums by 10-15% by completing an advanced driving class. It's worth considering for the long term.

    Other than that, drive carefully. The longer time goes by without an incident, the better deals you'll be able to get.
     
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    T

    Tobes

  • #11
    hehe Sorry Steve but a 'good student' scheme would never happen in Britain, it's so...American lol not in a bad way, I understand the thinking, but...Nah, never :)

    Boys are punished until they are 25 for being dangerous and irrational, due to statistics sucking up to girls :D

    Thanks to Daddy my insurance costs £70 :)
     
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    A

    Astaroth

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    Aug 24, 2005
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  • #12
    There are many more rating criteria (which vary between insurers) and can be anything from credit rating to relationship between named drivers and the policyholder.

    It is worth getting a car with no performance but good safety record but it is also worth ensuring that you get something that isnt what every other 18 year old has gotten for this reason. Whilst the ABI have their groupings from 1-20 which you will see quoted often most insurers have many more groupings than this and whilst a 1.1 Saxo is an ABI group 3 because so many young people have had one and had "boy racer" accidents in them they are frequently rated much higher by insurers.

    Look at everything, with my old employers 5 door cars were typically cheaper to insurer than their 3 door equiv even though the 5 door was typically a few hundred quid more expensive because they were typically owned by people with families (read less accidents) where as the 3 door was more the younger/ not concerned about the safety of their baby/ kid in the back type person and so higher accident rates.

    As to male -v- female, well you cant do much about that but at least remember that once you hit your late 60s your insurance will be cheaper than an otherwise identical female.
     
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    J

    JoyDivision

  • #15
    You need to be careful with insurance, if you are main driver then you need to be main policy holder anything else is fraud and people have been caught.

    You just need to shop around, I used to pay £900 for a 1.1 Fiesta N reg third party in the middle of Manchester and on a provesional :p:. I now pay £60 a month for my new Fiesta but that is because I now have one years no claims and my dad is the main driver but that does inc business use etc.
     
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