Car insurance advice.

[Toddy]

My eldest daughter is turning 17 soon so I've bought her a cheapish Toyota Aygo for her to learn to drive in and for her first car. I'm looking to use it to commute to work as it's a lot more economical than mine. My wife may also use it on the odd occasion so I'm wondering what's the best way to insure it for all of us. It's currently in my name so am I right in thinking that I just insure it as me as the main driver (which I will be for a while yet as my daughter isn't 17 yet) then add my wife as a named driver and then add my daughter once she turns 17? I've contacted my current car insurance company to see if I could bundle it in with my current car insurance but they don't do this.

As usual any advice would be much appreciated.

[JasonM]

That’s what we have done, my lad is 17 and 3 months and is learning to drive with a instructor, we went halves on a car and it’s registered / insured in my name with my wife as a named diver, my deal with him was when his instructor said he was ready for me to take him out only then I would add him as a learner driver , I didn’t want conflicting instruction in his early learning, he’s now ready for just experience driving so I just added him to the policy today and will be active from this weekend.

[David_D]

You don't sound to be in any danger in the short term but obviously you need to avoid accusations of fronting when the young person passes their test and wants use of the car regularly/predominantly.

Being a named driver doesn't earn you any no claims years (I'm assuming) but that's possibly a trade off worth making.

[JasonM]

There is Marmalade insurance, I’ve considered it but haven’t got with them yet, their learner insurance does build no claims, basically the car is insured by say a parent on their own insurance company / policy , the learner is then insured separately by Marmalade for a pre agreed mileage number, the benefits are that if there is a accident it doesn’t affect the parents ncb, when the learner passes their test, the policy converts at the same price for the year, the downside is Marmalade is run on a black box app arrangement and from reading reviews it’s pretty draconian and they fine the driver for what they deem risky driving, not just for example speeding, but ( subjective ) excessive breaking or cornering speed and acceleration, this has put me off going through them, the policy’s do seem cheap though but I bet they get their money through the punitive fines.

[aa388]

There is Marmalade insurance, I’ve considered it but haven’t got with them yet, their learner insurance does build no claims, basically the car is insured by say a parent on their own insurance company / policy , the learner is then insured separately by Marmalade for a pre agreed mileage number, the benefits are that if there is a accident it doesn’t affect the parents ncb, when the learner passes their test, the policy converts at the same price for the year, the downside is Marmalade is run on a black box app arrangement and from reading reviews it’s pretty draconian and they fine the driver for what they deem risky driving, not just for example speeding, but ( subjective ) excessive breaking or cornering speed and acceleration, this has put me off going through them, the policy’s do seem cheap though but I bet they get their money through the punitive fines.

I wouldn’t worry about the so callback box the insurers use. In our work it’s just called telematics and even though it will monitor all parameters, it’s fair in what it does. When it came in everyone thought it was a spy now they’ve realised if they don’t drive like a D**k they won’t be having to justify markers on their driving record.


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[RobDad]

My son bought a car just after he turned 17 (with help from us) and he was the owner on the V5 and main driver from the start with his own policy - with me and my wife as named drivers. At no point did he need a black box and in fact we found an insurer that was the same kind of price - we were warned by friends they were a pain locally as some very rural 60mph roads here travel parallel with 20mph estates and the black box makes an error and assumes you’re doing 60 in a 20 - which can have a pretty catastrophic effect for a new driver!
I think new drivers are always going to be in for a shock insurance wise in the current climate. I know his trebled when he passed his test but 3 years later paying just over £1k a year for an MX-5 that’s all forgotten!

[Toddy]

Thanks all for the advice. The car will be put into my daughters name once she passes her test as she'll be the main driver then (and i bought it for her...not me). I did hear about Marmalade insurance, as one of the guys who works for me said he used it for his daughter, but wasn't sure if this was the best route to take. For the time being I'll insure it and add her when she starts to learn to drive. She's booked in with a local driving instructor for just after her birthday and he's asked me to sit in for a few lessons as he knows I'll be topping up her hours in the car, guessing he doesn't want her picking up any bad habbits😁

Thanks again.

[hogthrob]

My son has Marmalade telematics / black box insurance on his Fiesta. I'm a named driver on the policy.

It seems very fair; he drives reasonably sensibly and it's not overly restrictive.

[Hood]

Marmalade is a nightmare if you are an adult on it.
Easy to forget there's a black box and before you know it you're being asked to cancel your policy or they will cancel it and it costs you
Also be aware that the insurance when learning is nothing like what it costs when they pass.
insuring a learner is cheap. Insuring a 17 yr old as either a named driver or the main driver is very expensive.
My daughter was £1750 last year.-she had a bump one week after passing her test.