Hot hatch insurance shock for 18 year old
Discussion
My son has asked me to go and look at a car with him and his mate (who is the one looking to buy) and it turns out to be a Honda Civic EP3 type R.
They are both just 18 (in the last few weeks) and they have each been driving a 60BHP VW polo for the last 11 months. I told him I would very much doubt he would get insured on something like this, especially a type R, which have a reputation for being ragged by young lads.
He insisted they had checked it out and they were not hugely expensive to insure.
Out of interest I checked.
18 years old, 11 months driving, no claims (but no NCB) and no accidents, student living at home, 7,500 miles. Fully comp with £1000 excess. Him as main driver with me (54, no accident or claims etc) as a second driver.
His polo was nearly £2k to insure as a first car so I was expecting most companies to not offer cover and to be met with a handful of quotes for £5k+ with black boxes etc.
Instead it came out at £1434 with no black box even offered as an option. This was with Admiral, but there were another 5 offers around the £1500 mark.
Shocked that a young lad with less than a year of driving can insure a 200BHP hot hatch for less than many first cars for new drivers.
Is insurance finally coming down? Is there a price war going on at the moment?
They are both just 18 (in the last few weeks) and they have each been driving a 60BHP VW polo for the last 11 months. I told him I would very much doubt he would get insured on something like this, especially a type R, which have a reputation for being ragged by young lads.
He insisted they had checked it out and they were not hugely expensive to insure.
Out of interest I checked.
18 years old, 11 months driving, no claims (but no NCB) and no accidents, student living at home, 7,500 miles. Fully comp with £1000 excess. Him as main driver with me (54, no accident or claims etc) as a second driver.
His polo was nearly £2k to insure as a first car so I was expecting most companies to not offer cover and to be met with a handful of quotes for £5k+ with black boxes etc.
Instead it came out at £1434 with no black box even offered as an option. This was with Admiral, but there were another 5 offers around the £1500 mark.
Shocked that a young lad with less than a year of driving can insure a 200BHP hot hatch for less than many first cars for new drivers.
Is insurance finally coming down? Is there a price war going on at the moment?
I'm sure its just a numbers game.
Lots of first time drivers will have something like a polo and a lot of them will crash them.
I'd guess, these day, not so many 18 year olds are driving about in 20 year old Honda Type Rs (even though they are great) let alone crashing them. Come to think of it, I can't even remember the last time I saw an EP3!
Lots of first time drivers will have something like a polo and a lot of them will crash them.
I'd guess, these day, not so many 18 year olds are driving about in 20 year old Honda Type Rs (even though they are great) let alone crashing them. Come to think of it, I can't even remember the last time I saw an EP3!
It's absolutely not coming down, almost everyone I know has had a larger premium in the last 6 months or so (mine was 198% higher than last year at renewal) but you get lucky like that sometimes with cars that aren't specifically popular in those demographics. My second car was a Mondeo ST and was cheaper to insure than all my uni mates who had Punto's, Golf's, 318i's etc.
You being on it, mileage listed and postcode are huge, huge, factors.
You being on it, mileage listed and postcode are huge, huge, factors.
I'm just about to renew with Admiral on a two car multi-car and premium has dropped from £1500 to £1100. They've been by far the cheapest when searching over the past 18 months.
Don't know if they're trying to build their book ahead of a sale, but no other companies were competitive. Next cheapest quote was £1240 for one of the cars.
Don't know if they're trying to build their book ahead of a sale, but no other companies were competitive. Next cheapest quote was £1240 for one of the cars.
TikTak said:
It's absolutely not coming down, almost everyone I know has had a larger premium in the last 6 months or so (mine was 198% higher than last year at renewal) but you get lucky like that sometimes with cars that aren't specifically popular in those demographics. My second car was a Mondeo ST and was cheaper to insure than all my uni mates who had Punto's, Golf's, 318i's etc.
You being on it, mileage listed and postcode are huge, huge, factors.
All three of my premiums were cheaper this year than last and I am max no claims, no change in crime rating for my postcode, I am just a year older really as are the vehicles.You being on it, mileage listed and postcode are huge, huge, factors.
Always go left field for youngsters if you want cheaper premiums.
Insurance groups beyond the first year or two mean nothing. Accident data takes over and they rely on that.
Lots of young people go for cars like 60bhp polo's and as a result these cars see more accidents so the relative cost of insuringi goes up.
So whilst the risk of a more powerful car for a new driver increases it's more than offset by the risk profile of the type of vehicle and it's been like this since forever!
I remember when my mates and I first started driving they were all driving round in 45bhp 1.0 fiesta's of various vintage paying close to £1,500 insurance whereas I went for a Rover 216 with 105bhp for £800. Obviously I had to pay the social penalty of driving a Rover but I still had change
Insurance groups beyond the first year or two mean nothing. Accident data takes over and they rely on that.
Lots of young people go for cars like 60bhp polo's and as a result these cars see more accidents so the relative cost of insuringi goes up.
So whilst the risk of a more powerful car for a new driver increases it's more than offset by the risk profile of the type of vehicle and it's been like this since forever!
I remember when my mates and I first started driving they were all driving round in 45bhp 1.0 fiesta's of various vintage paying close to £1,500 insurance whereas I went for a Rover 216 with 105bhp for £800. Obviously I had to pay the social penalty of driving a Rover but I still had change
Martin_Hx said:
Lucky lad!
Just make sure you check for rust, especially if its a facelift 2004 onwards
- 06 plate owner since 2007
It’s a slippery slope though ain’t it? Just make sure you check for rust, especially if its a facelift 2004 onwards
- 06 plate owner since 2007
I remember buying mine and saying ‘I’ll just do a few little bits’
A decade and a small fortune later and it’s a garage queen
When I was in car insurance - getting on for 2 decades ago - the rule of thumb was that the first year's NCD netted you a 60% discount.
Mind you, insurance on the 60 bhp Polo wasn't the cheapest by the sounds of it - my daughter is 17 and we paid £1400 to insure her MINI Cooper when she passed in March. That's Ticker with a black box.
Twice the power of the Polo but, thankfully, she doesn't drive like her Dad did at 17!
We could have paid £1900 if we'd wanted it to start straight away. But I played around with the start dates on Confused and discovered we could save £500 if she waited a fortnight. Which is naughty in this context imho - show me a normal 17yo who doesn't want to get on the road right away. Plus it's something that might not even occur to the layperson - the price is the price, right?
Mind you, insurance on the 60 bhp Polo wasn't the cheapest by the sounds of it - my daughter is 17 and we paid £1400 to insure her MINI Cooper when she passed in March. That's Ticker with a black box.
Twice the power of the Polo but, thankfully, she doesn't drive like her Dad did at 17!
We could have paid £1900 if we'd wanted it to start straight away. But I played around with the start dates on Confused and discovered we could save £500 if she waited a fortnight. Which is naughty in this context imho - show me a normal 17yo who doesn't want to get on the road right away. Plus it's something that might not even occur to the layperson - the price is the price, right?
As others said no left field.
22 years ago the insurance on my 1.0 Fiesta was £1k. Then got a Mazda 121 1.3. Ok it only had 90bhp it insurance came down to £400.
Even now I looked at getting an e90 330i and was quoted £800-£1200 with £500 excess.
Sticking with my Saab v6 which has a stage 1 and I only pay £350 with £0 excess.
My insurance hasn’t risen much if at all in the last 4 years.
Always been around £300-£400.
22 years ago the insurance on my 1.0 Fiesta was £1k. Then got a Mazda 121 1.3. Ok it only had 90bhp it insurance came down to £400.
Even now I looked at getting an e90 330i and was quoted £800-£1200 with £500 excess.
Sticking with my Saab v6 which has a stage 1 and I only pay £350 with £0 excess.
My insurance hasn’t risen much if at all in the last 4 years.
Always been around £300-£400.
TameRacingDriver said:
That's an incredible deal, you would be mad not to for that.
I remember 18 year old me getting a quote on a Saxo VTS (120 bhp, 0-60 in 7.7ish), £5k!
Unfortunately this meant I had to continue driving a 1.0 Micra.
Should have gone for the VTR. 2 years free insurance and it was about £12k new.I remember 18 year old me getting a quote on a Saxo VTS (120 bhp, 0-60 in 7.7ish), £5k!
Unfortunately this meant I had to continue driving a 1.0 Micra.
Not bad when the insurance was around 2k a year or thereabouts for a typical 18yo.
They sold loads through that deal.
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