Insurance categories for R drivers

[CharlySkunkWeed]

My bro was telling me his mates son was getting silly quotes for a wee car (can't remember what) and apparently they said it was because it's a popular car for learners and old people which is more risk. He ended up getting a better quote on a Fiesta ST !

Is there an easy way to find out which cars are considered high risk without having to just ring and ask for any car you see ? Like I'd just be looking at the usual wee cars not realising you could get something "better" because it's considered lower risk.

 

[Johnny_E]

Parkers give you the official groups Car Insurance Groups UK | Motor car insurance groups advice but you're talking about internal weightings applied by the insurance companies based on claims. I don't think you'll find that out easily.

 

[southsky sunrise]

Surely the insurance company you're going with could give you a list of ‘avoidable’ vehicles?

 

[CharlySkunkWeed]

Surely the insurance company you're going with could give you a list of ‘avoidable’ vehicles?

It's more the case of finding a car first, then finding who can insure it for the least. But if you didn't know better you could be paying 3k on a 1l Hyundi i10 because you assumed it was the cheapest insurance due to engine size etc but in reality you could get a Fiesta ST insured for £1500 but you just weren't looking at that sort of car.

But yeah, might be worth ringing a couple of companies to see if they can suggest some models

 

[Johnny_E]

If you do a quote on comparethemarket.com its quick to jump back and change the reg and go again. Pick cars off autotrader to get the reg and you'll soon get a feel for what prices will be.

I did that last year when my son started driving and we discovered that a 3dr Audi A3, in SE trim was the same price to insure as a 5dr Polo for him. Change to a 5dr A3 and it rocketed.

 

[CharlySkunkWeed]

If you do a quote on comparethemarket.com its quick to jump back and change the reg and go again. Pick cars off autotrader to get the reg and you'll soon get a feel for what prices will be.

I did that last year when my son started driving and we discovered that a 3dr Audi A3, in SE trim was the same price to insure as a 5dr Polo for him. Change to a 5dr A3 and it rocketed.

Yeah will do. Was just wondering if there was a way of narrowing it down a bit, or actually widening the search when I think about it

 

[anlygi]

My 18 year old was messing about with quotes last year, disillusioned with what he was getting for 1l wagons. Tried an EVO 8 for a laugh and was surprised at how 'cheap' it was, relative to them.

It's not just young drivers either. I remember years ago, when I was getting eye-watering quotes on an EP3 despite having full NCD and in my early 30's, I tried an E60 M5 for the craic and it came back under £600 at the time! If only I could have afforded the car...

Would insurance companies want to give you tips on how to pay them less money?!

 

[CharlySkunkWeed]

My 18 year old was messing about with quotes last year, disillusioned with what he was getting for 1l wagons. Tried an EVO 8 for a laugh and was surprised at how 'cheap' it was, relative to them.

It's not just young drivers either. I remember years ago, when I was getting eye-watering quotes on an EP3 despite having full NCD and in my early 30's, I tried an E60 M5 for the craic and it came back under £600 at the time! If only I could have afforded the car...

Would insurance companies want to give you tips on how to pay them less money?!

I know there's a few in the "cost of insurance" thread that have found their better cars cheaper to insure than their mundane cars.
I know Hughes wouldn't give any hints last year, that's why I asked on here in case anyone knew of a way of finding out.

 

[NI_Volvo_Nut]

I remember back in my day I could insure a 12 year old brick (the Volvo) for less than a 1 year old 1.3 Mk4 Fiesta, hence the obsession with Volvo began

 

[Bryan]

I've sold a fair few Minis and I remember one girl saying she was able to get a better quote on a Cooper than the One model because all the youngsters were going for the One model thinking it was cheaper insurance so it was a higher risk. Not sure how true it is but it makes sense.

 

[CharlySkunkWeed]

I've sold a fair few Minis and I remember one girl saying she was able to get a better quote on a Cooper than the One model because all the youngsters were going for the One model thinking it was cheaper insurance so it was a higher risk. Not sure how true it is but it makes sense.

This is exactly my point. I actually pointed out a Cooper and Mel said oh she'll never get insured so we didn't pursue it further.
So weird.

 

[Cookies]

My son passed his test in December, and we bought him a 1.2 Zetec Fiesta.

I ran about 100 quotes for different cars in the months before buying, and the cheapest I could get for him was on an MGB GT - which came out at around £1500.

I found pretty much what you'd expect, when running quotes. The bigger the car/engine, or the better trim levels, all attracted higher premiums. Smaller engined cars were cheaper to insure. I tried volvo and saab too. A 2013 ST fiesta was almost £10k to insure.

 

[vw1500]

My son passed his test in December, and we bought him a 1.2 Zetec Fiesta.

I ran about 100 quotes for different cars in the months before buying, and the cheapest I could get for him was on an MGB GT - which came out at around £1500.

I found pretty much what you'd expect, when running quotes. The bigger the car/engine, or the better trim levels, all attracted higher premiums. Smaller engined cars were cheaper to insure. I tried volvo and saab too. A 2013 ST fiesta was almost £10k to insure.

Assume that was a classic type policy?

 

[Cookies]

Assume that was a classic type policy?

It was just through compare the market. The only issue is now that prices have almost doubled since those quotes. I was initially getting figures of around £2,000, when he hassed his test, the cheapest I could get a quote in his own name was £3,708 with AXA on his Fiesta.

 

[Turks]

My brother in law was getting quotes in and around £3500 for his son on a fair few cars. He ended up buying a 107 as it £2200 to get him started.

 

[Boydie]

If my eldest was 17 now, he'd be getting the bus - these insurance prices are nuts

 

[davyk31]

My son is 17 in a couple of weeks and has a lovely Fiesta St Line X Edition 155ps. That’s going to be a fun insurance chat

 

[Eddies]

If they are mental now. What's the thoughts for 10 years down the line when the 1lt cars now are either scrapped or not worth trying to fix what does everyone see being the next cheap cars to insure ?

 

[CharlySkunkWeed]

If they are mental now. What's the thoughts for 10 years down the line when the 1lt cars now are either scrapped or not worth trying to fix what does everyone see being the next cheap cars to insure ?

They don't want people to drive I think. Between insurance, tax, fuel and the price of the car purchase it's something only for people who are loaded or is a necessity.
What 17yo is earning enough to pay for all that ? How are they supposed to afford a house when they're older if they spend all their money on a wee car ?

 

[Coog]

They budget? Save up? Buy a cheaper car? Borrow their grannies / aunties / etc motor like we had to?

From what I’ve seen with neighbours etc what appears to happen these days is the kids get handed an immaculate couple year old hatch back the moment they pass their test, which they then treat worse than a ginger step child. Then they moan about spending £3k on insurance.

Factoring in inflation, it wasn’t miles off that back in the 90’s either was it?

 

[Mel]

They budget? Save up? Buy a cheaper car? Borrow their grannies / aunties / etc motor like we had to?

From what I’ve seen with neighbours etc what appears to happen these days is the kids get handed an immaculate couple year old hatch back the moment they pass their test, which they then treat worse than a ginger step child. Then they moan about spending £3k on insurance.

Factoring in inflation, it wasn’t miles off that back in the 90’s either was it?

Courtney to be fair to her is a little grafter in her part-time job, since she's started working at age 15 she has managed to save 12k and also puts her tip money in a separate account which has over 2k in it, she still says she can't afford to have a car on the road despite me offering to help her out with the dreaded insurance cost, I almost feel partially responsible that she can't be added to my insurance and drive my car as that's how most of me and my pals started out when we passed our tests back in the 90s.

 

[davyk31]

Most of us got insured on our parents cars so long as they weren’t anything too flash. I wouldn’t be able to get the kids insured on any of my cars and nor would I want to . So need to buy them something to drive themselves.

 

[lennyd]

Courtney to be fair to her is a little grafter in her part-time job, since she's started working at age 15 she has managed to save 12k and also puts her tip money in a separate account which has over 2k in it, she still says she can't afford to have a car on the road despite me offering to help her out with the dreaded insurance cost, I almost feel partially responsible that she can't be added to my insurance and drive my car as that's how most of me and my pals started out when we passed our tests back in the 90s.

Sounds like she has her head screwed on. My eldest is 14 and I'm starting to think about a car as public transport isn't really an option around here. Can't wait to see how I'll be getting shafted in 4 years

 

[Eddies]

Courtney to be fair to her is a little grafter in her part-time job, since she's started working at age 15 she has managed to save 12k and also puts her tip money in a separate account which has over 2k in it, she still says she can't afford to have a car on the road despite me offering to help her out with the dreaded insurance cost, I almost feel partially responsible that she can't be added to my insurance and drive my car as that's how most of me and my pals started out when we passed our tests back in the 90s.

Chatting to the oh said about marmalade insurance it insurers the person not the car and is designed for young people only goes up to people 30 odd I think.

 

[Cookies]

Chatting to the oh said about marmalade insurance it insurers the person not the car and is designed for young people only goes up to people 30 odd I think.

One thing to watch with Marmalade, if you take out their learner insurance for 90 days, for example, they don't refund if a child passes their test earlier than that.