Young Drivers & The Cost Of Cover
We asked young drivers what they wanted to know about car insurance costs.
Driving is an expensive business. There’s the car to pay for, the lessons, the tests, the fuel, the maintenance and of course, the insurance. This is why for most young drivers, when it comes down to buying a policy, it comes down price. So it was no surprise that when we gave young drivers the opportunity to ask us anything they wanted to know about the price of insurance, the questions flooded in.
Q. Do students get any discounts?
A: There is no specific student discount at the moment. If you're a student and want to keep your insurance costs to a minimum, check out this blog packed with cost-saving tips. Terms and Conditions apply.
Q. It seems the only way to get cheaper insurance these days is to complain. I see this online all the time. Is it not unfair on the rest of us that these people kick up a fuss and get money off?
A: When a customer complains online, we will generally ask for their policy reference so we can review the details in full. We will not discuss personal policy information publicly. We can then discuss ways they can reduce their cost such as taking a lower level of cover e.g. reducing cover from Comprehensive to Third Party, Fire & Theft or removing optional covers such as Open Driving or Protected No Claims Bonus.
Q. Do insurance companies purposely set high prices for certain groups in order to persuade them to go elsewhere?
A: No – that’s definitely not the case. Insurance companies set their prices at a level that covers the risk based on their own experience. If an insurer has had a poor experience with a certain type of risk, their prices will be higher for this group of drivers. Generally, an insurer would just decline a risk if they did not want to insure it and this would be part of their acceptance criteria, i.e. the types of risk they're prepared to cover.
Q. How many penalty points do you need to collect before it affects your premium? And how much will it be affected by?
A: This is a question we get asked a lot. There isn’t a set limit and it varies from insurer to insurer. As a general rule, however, many insurers will not give you a quote once you have more than 4 or 5 penalty points. For more info on this topic, you can check out our blog on penalty points for learner/novice drivers.
Q. Can a year of named driver experience be counted towards a no claims discount?
A: It varies from insurer to insurer, but there is often an introductory discount for named driver experience until you earn your own no claims discount. After a year of driving, for example, the No Claims Discount you’ve earned will replace your named driver experience - rather than being added together.
"Cheaper older cars may not always be the cheapest to insure, and some insurers will not insure vehicles over a certain age."
Q. What is the cheapest car to insure?
A: Unfortunately it's impossible to say what is the cheapest car to insure, as there are many factors that make up the price. In general, however, you should look at cars with lower powered engines, with no modifications. Also bear in mind that cheaper older cars may not always be the cheapest to insure, and some insurers will not insure vehicles over a certain age. For more information check out this blog post about the best cars for young drivers.
Q. How much does the age of a car affect a quote?
A: The age of a car can very definitely affect the price and often insurers will not cover older cars. Some insurers will not accept cars over 10 years old but others (including Liberty Insurance) will accept cars up to 20 years old.
Q. What types of cars are more or less likely to get insured?
A: It’s good to know what type of car you should be looking to buy if you want to get insurance. The following factors will often reduce the likelihood of you getting insurance, but it will also depend on your own personal details:
- Very old cars
- Cars with modifications – especially performance enhancing modifications
- High powered cars
- Cars that have been previously written off
That’s it for part two in our Q&A series. We hope you found this article useful and it saves you some money too.
Got questions? The quickest way to get in touch with us is either through our Twitter page where you’ll find us Mon-Fri 9am-5pm, or our boards.ie page where our reps are waiting to answer your questions Mon–Fri 10am-4pm.
If you’re a young driver looking for your first insurance policy, get a car insurance quote online now!