Buying/insuring car for not-quite-17 year old

[mr_spock]

Hi all,

my daughter will be 17 in a few weeks, and I'd like to buy her a car. She'll start learning to drive on the day, and I suppose she'd stick to a dual-control instructor's car for her first few lessons, but I'd like to get something and drive it around for a couple of weeks to work out any issues - and clean and detail it of course!

I can buy it and register in her name, but I can't figure out how to insure it. I would like to insure it in her name with me as a named driver, which I can do when she's 17, but not sure about the few weeks before. I don't think I can add it to my car insurance,

Any ideas?

[maclarkk]

There was recently a car insurance company that I heard advertising on the radio, who, if you insured them on a provisional license first, would then insure her for the same price after she passes... can’t remember the name now but someone on here might know!

Provisional insurance is usually quite cheap so sounded like a great deal!

[Jimmy Recard]

As a 16 year old can't drive, surely you can't insure them as a driver?

[FalconWood]

Hi. I did exactly this with my daughter when she was 17. Insurer is called Coolingwood. They charged c£900 and her no claims started immediately. BUT when she passed she had to move on and we found a company called Ingenie that charged about £1800 on a black box. Worth a try.

[Brainpox]

Presumably you'd have to SORN it and keep it on the driveway until her birthday?

[Shuvi McTupya]

Brainpox said:

Presumably you'd have to SORN it and keep it on the driveway until her birthday?

Could 'you' not buy it and register it in your own name so you can use it until you hand it over to daughter, at which point you update the RK details?

[Pedro Raynard]

Had a similar situation for my two, brought cars a couple of weeks before their 17th registered them in their names and ended up insuring the cars in my name until they turned 17.

The youngest did this:-

maclarkk said:

There was recently a car insurance company that I heard advertising on the radio, who, if you insured them on a provisional license first, would then insure her for the same price after she passes... can’t remember the name now but someone on here might know!

Provisional insurance is usually quite cheap so sounded like a great deal!

Down side is that other insurers will only take no claims for the period of the full licence, which means on the insurance anniversary when getting quotes the no claims are 1 year less than the current insurer. So far it's not been a problem, but my lad finds it frustrating when others won't accept all his no claims and it's tending to tie him to that insurer at the moment, still lowest cost. He's looking to change car, but now realises he needs to wait for his full licence anniversary rather than his insurance policy renewal.

[mr_spock]

Thanks all. I don't want to change the RK as it would add 1 onto the keepers count. I think I'll just wait and get her prov insurance when she's 17.

[waremark]

I bought a car for my daughter a few weeks before she was 17. She was the RK, but I had to insure it in my name until her 17th birthday. I specifically confirmed that it was ok for insurance to be in a different name from the RK. On her birthday I cancelled my insurance and started insurance in her name, as a provisional licence holder. Her insurance renewal anniversary is still on her birthday and she gets full no claims from that date (though now over the max). Incidentally, she had all her lessons and did her test in her own car. When I collected her from her test we changed her insurance to full licence at extra cost before she drove me home.

[Wooda80]

mr_spock said:

Thanks all. I don't want to change the RK as it would add 1 onto the keepers count.

If you really wanted to do what you stated in your first post, then how big a problem is adding an extra owner? How long before you will want to sell the car anyway? How much less would you expect to pay for a 3 owner car compared to an identical 2 owner car? Do most people even care?

Just get on and do it if you want to

[mr_spock]

I just realised it's only a couple of weeks, so will just wait. I'd been stressing about something I don't need to stress about - it would be nice to present her with a car on her birthday, but her mum doesn't want to anyway.

[Hammy98]

Pedro Raynard said:

Down side is that other insurers will only take no claims for the period of the full licence, which means on the insurance anniversary when getting quotes the no claims are 1 year less than the current insurer. So far it's not been a problem, but my lad finds it frustrating when others won't accept all his no claims and it's tending to tie him to that insurer at the moment, still lowest cost. He's looking to change car, but now realises he needs to wait for his full licence anniversary rather than his insurance policy renewal.

There might be a bit of confusion on this one. I've held my full license for 3 years yesterday, however the last two years I've been insured on an Admiral group 'NCB Accelerator' Policy which lasts 10 months but provides a year's NCB. My insurance was due for renewal in February this year, at which point I had been driving 2 years and 8 months, however I did have 3 years NCB. My new company honored this with no quibble, even although I wasn't old enough to have 3 years NCB...

I at least expected them to ask for proof (which I do have, in the form of my Admiral renewal letter) however the girl who sorted out my policy for me made it clear that they didn't require it.

[mcflurry]

mr_spock said:

Thanks all. I don't want to change the RK as it would add 1 onto the keepers count. I think I'll just wait and get her prov insurance when she's 17.

My first car at 17 was an "old banger", so doubt whether there were 8 or 160 keepers it would make much difference to the car's valuation

[interstellar]

My daughter has a car for her 17th birthday that is with us, stored off road, sorn and uninsured right now.

It’s in her name and we plan to obviously insure it for her birthday on her own policy.

I am struggling to work out how he tax it as if we buy a policy on her birthday it’s unlikely we will be able to tax it online as it won’t show up on MID. In this scenario is it at a post office job?

Does it need to be insured these days to be able to tax it?

Edited by interstellar on Sunday 17th November 08:19

[bigmowley]

We live on the Isle of Man and the kids here start learning to drive at 16. This causes no end of grief getting them insured on their own cars. There are a few who would do it NFU for one and Admiral as well I seem to remember. They also, for the first few years at least, end up with more NCB than is possible in the UK which has caused issues with insurance companies at renewal time. So persevere it is possible to insure a car for a 16 year old.

[Rockets7]

I insured daughter’s car with me as an additional driver. She wasn’t 17 for six weeks. I explained I wanted to use the car in the interim.

They insured it in her name but she was not ‘added’ to the policy until her birthday at which point she became the main driver; but I had no issues getting a policy prior to in her name.

I would also get her to quote for her passing her test and how much it’ll change. It’s quite a step.

[BricktopST205]

I bought my daughter a Fiat Punto T-jet for her first car. I just paid for it to have a temp cover for a couple of days then left it sitting on my drive sorn without insurance. Think it cost me £50 for two days. You don't need weeks to figure out issues on a car. A couple of drives will more than show you plus a lot can be identified visually.

As soon as she turned 17 I made a policy in her name with myself and mother as named drivers. £248 for the year which is nothing really. By the time she passes her test she will most likely have around 7-8 months left on the policy so I am hoping that a) it will help make it cheaper and b) She will be a lot closer to that first years no claims to help reduce her policy in year 2.

Edited by BricktopST205 on Sunday 17th November 09:11

[Davie]

What difference does the registered keeper make? Register it in her name now... and leave it. Or register it in yours and leave it. I'm the registered keeper of "our" cars but my wife has her own policy on one. Does it make any difference? Insurance, nobody is going to cover a 16yr old but you could price one up by changing her birthday, then temp cover in your name until she's 17. Or SORN it if it's not being used till she's 17, or by you.

[interstellar]

My question is how I tax it. I assume I will have to wait for her birthday and will insure it on the day and phone the dvla to get it taxed or go to the post office?

I can’t do it online as it won’t show it’s insured unless we wait a couple of days.

[x5tuu]

Could you not do temp cover for 1 day to tax it?