Young Drivers Car Insurance
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Low cost young drivers car insurance
You’ve got your driving licence, and your learner driver insurance is no longer valid – now what? Now that you’re legally allowed to hit the road unsupervised, you’ll need to apply for young driver insurance. As with any other age group, insurance is a legal requirement for young drivers.
Young driver insurance is similar to standard car insurance policies in that it comes in third-party, third-party fire and theft, and fully comprehensive cover. The main difference is that these policies are specifically curtailed to the needs of young drivers, with various add-ons available to make them more affordable.
Here at Utility Saving Expert, we want to make your young driver insurance as affordable as possible. We can search through the 110 insurance companies we’re connected with to find you the best cover for the start of your driving journey.
What is young driver insurance?
Young driver car insurance covers drivers aged 17 and 25 from accidents on the road, vandalism, and stolen vehicles.
Young driver insurance works almost exactly the same as standard driving insurance. Like normal insurance, there isn’t a one-size-fits-all premium you can invest in. Some insurance premiums will cover you for fire damage, while others won’t, for example. This is why you must use Utility Saving Expert to compare quotes and find a deal that suits your needs.
Although it may not seem exactly fair, young driver insurance will always be more expensive than that of a standard car insurance policy. We know that you’ve already spent a lot of money -and effort! – passing your driving test, but there are very valid reasons for young driver insurance being on the pricey side.
Young drivers are statistically more likely to be involved in a road accident than any other age group, which is why young driver car insurance comes with a hefty price.
Do I need young driver insurance?
If you’ve recently passed your driving test and are under the age of 25, you need young driver insurance. Whether you are driving long-distance or just popping to the shop, insurance is a legal requirement for all drivers on the road, including young people.
Police will not give you a free pass if you get caught; if you get stopped without young driver car insurance, you can expect a fine and penalty points fixed on your licence. Those caught committing the crime of driving without insurance typically get charged a £300 fine and receive a total of 6 points.
In seriously bad instances, and you get taken to court due to reckless driving and lack of appropriate insurance, you could be fined an indefinite amount and permanently banned from the road. There’s clearly no two ways about it: you need young driver insurance.
If you took out learner driver insurance so that you could practice in the lead-up to your test, this cover is rendered invalid within hours after you pass (regardless of how many more days you bought the cover for). Typically, learner driver insurance is valid for 3 hours after you pass your test so that you can drive home from the test location safely in your car.
The only way you would not need insurance for young drivers is if you choose not to drive your own car and instead get added as a ‘named driver’ on a car owned by someone else.
Types of young driver insurance policies
As a young driver, you’re probably wondering if there are any ways to get cheaper car insurance while still getting yourself and your car sufficiently covered. Luckily, several car insurance types are designed specifically to lower the cost of cover, making insurance for young drivers more affordable. These insurance premiums include:
Telematics car insurance
Telematics car insurance uses a black box to monitor how well you drive on the road. Things this black box looks out for include how you brake, turn, and steer and the standard speed and distance in which you drive. From the data gathered, the insurance provider may offer you cheaper car insurance premiums.
Pay-per-hour or pay-per-mile car insurance
If you’re not planning on making a daily commute in your car or going on regular long-distance journeys, you may be able to find cheap car insurance that is pay-per-hour or pay-per-mile. Insurance companies will either use a GPS device to track how many hours or miles you drive or take a reading from your car’s odometer.
Depending on where you live and what you use your car for, pay-per-hour or pay-per-mile will work out cheaper. If you live in a quiet town or only have to make a short commute, pay-per-hour may work out cheaper for you. Conversely, if you live in a busy city and have to make a long commute, pay-per-mile will probably be the most feasible option.
Named driver car insurance
As we’ve stated before, if you’re planning on using your parent’s car or another vehicle that does not belong to you, you could get the owner of the car to include you as a ‘named driver’. With named driver insurance, the additional driver receives the same level of cover as the main driver and is free to drive the car at any time.
An insurance provider may offer you a cheap named driver premium as they know that it won’t be you driving the vehicle at all times – particularly if the other driver has had years of experience and is a responsible driver.
However, named driver insurance could work out badly for the main driver. If you get in an accident that proves to be your fault, the car owner’s no claims bonus will be affected by it.
Short-term car insurance
If you’re not planning on using your car every month of the year, you can find cheap car insurance quotes for short-term car insurance. As the name implies, you can arrange with the provider the length of time you wish to be covered, and they will lower the price to a fair amount.
Every short-term insurance premium is different and could cover you for months, weeks, or even days.
What levels of young driver insurance cover can you get?
Although all young driver insurance policies are different, each policy will be able to fit into one of the three main levels of cover: fully comprehensive cover, third-party car insurance, or third-party fire and theft.
Comprehensive
Although it may be the most expensive bracket, fully comprehensive cover is the best car insurance for young drivers as, you guessed it, it covers you against everything. Specifically, it covers your vehicle against damages as well as third-party vehicles if the accident was your fault. It also safeguards your vehicle against fire, theft, vandalism, and scratches.
Most importantly, it insures yourself and your passengers for injuries sustained in motor accidents.
Third-party, fire, and theft (TPFT)
Third-party, fire, and theft is a cut above third-party only but slightly below fully comprehensive in terms of cover. The third-party aspect of this bracket means that it covers damages that you caused to other cars or people in a car accident. However, this type only works one way, as it does not cover your injuries or damages caused to your car.
What it does cover is damages caused to your vehicle as a result of fire and will also pay out in the event of your car being stolen. Due to its limited range of benefits, TPFT insurance is considered medium-range cover. Although limited, it is a good option if you’re looking for cheap car insurance that provides you with more than the standard third-party cover.
Third-party only (TPO)
Third-party is the minimum requirement for all drivers on the road – not just young drivers. The scope of what third-party insurance covers is very small, and although it’s the cheapest option, we wouldn’t recommend purchasing an insurance policy in this bracket. All that third-party covers is literally in the title – damages caused to a third party in an accident.
Third-party only doesn’t insure yourself or your own vehicle in any way and only safeguards other drivers from your driving. If you get involved in an accident, you cannot make a claim for damages caused to your vehicle. Neither is your vehicle insured against theft, fire, or vandalism.
You’ll have to cover the cost of these things yourself, resulting in you paying more than you would have paid for comprehensive cover. For this reason, we’d recommend going for broader car insurance as a young driver.
Additional coverage for young drivers
To feel more secure on the road, several additional coverage options are recommended for young drivers to take out. You’ll be able to find additional coverage options on Utility Saving Expert, such as:
Breakdown cover
As a new driver, finding yourself stranded due to a breakdown can be a scary experience. Not with breakdown cover! With this add-on, you can rely on your insurance group to visit your breakdown site fast and either fix your car on the spot or tow it to a garage to be fixed there.
No claims discount protection
Even if you’re involved in an accident, you could retain your no claims discount level by investing in no claims discount protection.
Car key insurance
As a new driver, you’ve got a lot of new responsibilities. One of which is not losing your car keys! Car keys can be surprisingly expensive to replace, so it’s a good idea to invest in car key insurance.
How much does young driver insurance cost?
Car insurance for young drivers tends to be more expensive than for any other age group. According to Marmalade, the UK average price for young driver insurance for those aged 17-25 is £1717 as of December 2021.
With less experience on the road, a young driver is more likely to be involved in an accident than an older, more experienced driver. Despite only making up 1.5% of all driving licence holders in the UK, 12% of fatal crashes involve young people aged between 17 and 19. This makes young drivers twice as likely to crash than older drivers.
Given this, it is understandable why insurance companies attach a bigger fee to young driver’s car insurance policies than standard.
Although it’s a good idea to attempt to reduce your costs as much as possible, we wouldn’t advise going for the cheapest car insurance option.
How to reduce the cost of your young driver insurance
If you plan on driving lots, both in terms of frequency and distance, specialised car insurance types like pay-per-mile and pay-per-hour may be no use to you. But, given how high prices for young drivers’ car insurance can be, you’re going to want to think of ways to bring the price down as much as possible.
Here are some tips you could implement that may help you reduce the overall cost of your young drivers’ insurance.
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Start by paying annually
Paying annually is, generally speaking, going to work out cheaper for you, as opposed to paying in monthly instalments. When you pay monthly, you also accrue interest fees, which bumps up the overall price you’ll be spending on your insurance. Paying monthly may also mean paying for regular admin fees.
Although young drivers’ premiums are expensive to pay upfront, this payment method will most likely work out cheaper for you in the long run.
Avoid modifications
If you’ve just passed your driving test or have just bought your first car, the inclination is there to heavily modify your motor for the road. However, when it comes to car insurance, you’ve got to be fully honest about all changes made to the car to ensure that everything is covered. Some modifications may not alter how much you pay for insurance, but others might.
Even something as simple as adding alloy wheels, bonnet vents, or stripes and badges could negatively affect your car insurance premium. For that reason, if you’re looking to keep your car insurance cheap, we’d recommend avoiding modifications altogether.
Change your excess amount
Start building your no-claims discount
Get black box insurance
Compare young driver insurance with Utility Saving Expert
Utility Saving Expert only works with the U.K.’s top car insurance providers, making sure that each of the car insurance quotes presented to you is trustworthy and great value for money. We make price comparison easy with our filter options, meaning you can narrow down your search to only the insurance premiums that meet your needs.
Buying insurance for first-time drivers can be a difficult task – but not with Utility Saving Expert close at hand! Start comparing premiums with us today!
*51% of consumers could save £319.03 on their Car Insurance. The saving was calculated by comparing the cheapest price found with the average of the next five cheapest prices quoted by insurance providers on Seopa Ltd’s insurance comparison website. This is based on representative cost savings from March 2022 data. The savings you could achieve are dependent on your individual circumstances and how you selected your current insurance supplier.
Once you’ve reached the age of 25, you’ve presumably had the better part of a decade to perfect your driving habits and skills, so the insurance provider can lower your premium with confidence. Although, if you’ve just started to drive at 23 or 24, this may not be the case.
After fitting your car with a black box, you may find your renewal price to be less than half of what you paid before putting the black box in.
Like with any policy, the age and condition of the car will be taken into account by the insurance company.
Schemes like Pass Plus should not be relied on to lower insurance prices. These schemes are good for honing in on driving skills but not great for lowering insurance prices.
