Car Insurance

General Chat
1

From your experience how long does it generally take for a new driver to start seeing cheaper insurance quotes?

I’ve been looking at quotes just to see how they differ by different cars etc, for when I pass my test. Gives me an idea of what to buy when it comes to it.

I’ll be getting something mid range as the faster cars, the type that do 0-60 in 3.9 seconds are all coming up as approx £2,500 for that 1st year.

No way am I paying that :rofl: figured slower car is the way forward to build up the history of no claims and driving experience.

2

This table is pretty accurate in my experience.

Years of NCB Average discount in 2020
One 5%
Two 12%
Three 15%
Four 24%
Five 25%
Six 26%
Seven 28%
Eight 31%
Nine plus 36%

For a first car you need a small engine (non-turbo) car. That’s not a commonly raced/crashed/typical new person car like a corsa.

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4

I thought this thread would be started by someone else after receiving much expected correspondence from a government department :laughing:

I got my first car in ‘19. I looked for small city cars as they tend to have the lowest insurance premiums (Ka, Picanto, WV Fox). I settled on an ancient one and still had to pay over £1k for the insurance. My second year I got a much lower premium (about £500 less iirc). I think it’s also lower if you are over 25

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5

Start slow and build up.

The car insurance industry is designed to help protect new drivers as much as possible, by placing financial obstacles in the way. ‘Just passed your test Sir?, here are the keys to your Tesla Roadster - good luck!’ Accident in 3,2,…

Thankfully, owning a car was much more difficult when I started out - you had to buy them (no PCP, Lease) and so money was always a focus. And having an accident cost a lot of money.

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6

Yeah I’ve heard the 25 year old threshold has an impact too.

I had a micra as my first car (the really old boxy looking one) and paid around £1,200 for insurance. I think I only paid £1,500 for the car itself :rofl: This was a long time ago too.

You’ve got to start small and then work your way up otherwise it will cost you.

Oh and don’t go as a named driver under your parents because you’ll eventually have to get your own policy, so while it will be cheaper short term, you’ll be back to square one again at some point in the future.

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I’m actually thinking a Kia Picanto or however you spell it.

They’re fairly cheap for a brand new model, 5 years of that then trade it in for something faster. Not that I’m going to be racing it around the streets anyway.

Saying that in 5 years time hopefully electric car prices will have come down significantly. I really do want one of those but can’t justify the price or the range at the moment.

8

I personally wouldn’t get a brand new car as your first.

You’ll die inside when you kerb an alloy or bump into something which is almost inevitable being a new driver and all.

Get something cheap and cheerful because you’ll be paying through the nose for insurance so you don’t want to be doing the same on an expensive new car as well.

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9

Mine went from £800 to £1400 because I got a years no claims and wanted a (much) faster car.

I shudder at the thought of paying that now. What I used to pay in two months now covers my whole premium, for a faster car yet again.

One of the few benefits of getting old!

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10

Admiral on the phone can sometimes give pretty good discounts from my experience, especially if you get a nice person.

Just be careful of ‘Brokers’ advertising on social media for cheap insurance.

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11

Oh yeah wouldn’t ever be lured into one of those brokers 🤦 it still amazes me that people fall for it.

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12

Lots of companies now allow you to have a black box fitted to lower your premiums too.

I’d never have one personally but it’s another option.

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13

Don’t… I’ve been driving for a few years but my parallel parking is getting worse and worse! My next car needs to be one of those where I press a button and it parallel parks for me

Also, this. You just don’t know why it decides to penalise you (driving after dark? Cornering too fast?) and then you’re worse off.

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14

Haha or you could go old skool / big pimping and get some feelers…

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In my car when you put it in reverse and turn the wheel it adjusts the mirrors to point down towards the kerb and your wheels. Not sure if this is a common thing or not on newer cars?

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15

I’m not super clued up on them but I believe they come with an app now that allows you to track everything and monitor your thresholds and stuff :man_shrugging:

16

I’ve never seen one of those things – how would they even work? Surely you can’t feel them move when you approach a kerb?

Mine might be a bit too old still to move the mirrors automatically, but I do have them angled in a way that I can see both what’s behind me and where I’m reversing. Having a really limited view out the back window makes you rely on those things a lot more!

Oh, interesting! Still wouldn’t want Big Insurance tracking me :confounded:

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17

You listen for the sound of them scraping on the kerb :slight_smile:

They’re very old fashioned and would look very odd on modern cars!

18

My old 1 Series BMW had that - I assumed it was just a BMW thing.

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19

Also, if you’re actually the main driver of the car, going this route is called ‘fronting’, and the insurance company could refuse to pay out if you have to make a claim on the policy. It’s not worth the risk.

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20

Whenever I watch driving instructors on YouTube, it’s only ever the BMWs that do this. Never heard any of the others in different cars mentioning the mirrors changing position when reversing.

21

My VW does it.

If you move the mirror switch as if you’re going to reposition that mirror, that’s the mirror that will dip upon reverse. If it’s in the middle it won’t do it for either.