How to deal with cars and young girls

[AAAndy]

Hi all,

My name is Andy and I'm a single parenting father, my DD18 is great, we have a really close relationship and never really have any issues, well I've been dubious of a few of the boys that she's seen but who isn't these days?

She's recently passed her driving test and is eager to get out on the road.
I've said that if I give up half of the cost and she covers the rest she can get herself a small car, she works and is saving up for something pre-owned.

I can drive but don't own a car as I work 15 minutes away form my house luckily so don't need one.

I've looked at insurance for her to try to get some background info and it's all so expensive!

Is there any way that I can get her cheaper insurance or do anything to make it cheaper?

Thanks,

AAAndy

[Decanter]

1/10

[Grumpla]

I hope that 1 is just because he didn't address us as "Ladies".

[AAAndy]

I'm sorry, should I have addressed you all as Ladies?

[AMumInScotland]

You do come across as just a teensy bit patronising....

However, insurance for new drivers is always a nightmare. If you get yourself put on the policy as an additional driver, that is likely to help, even if you have no plans to ever drive the car. But, don't be tempted to say you are the main driver to get the cost down further as that is the sort of thing that invalidates your cover.

Look at the insurance groups for the cars she is looking at - lower power, less tempting to thieves - but the main cost is the likelihood of a new driver damaging someone else's more expensive car, so there isn't much you can do beyond avoiding anything expensive / difficult to repair.

Marmalade is a company that specialises in younger drivers. The Co-op (I think) have a "black box" which monitors driving style, or maybe puts on a curfew - if you look for this kind of specialist deal it can help.

And, remember if she can get through the first year without any accidents, it will go down when you renew.

[AAAndy]

Oh, sorry. I'm not trying to be patronizing :s

That's a good idea, I can look into putting myself on the cover and see if that changes anything.

Black Box, what's that?
A curfew as in the old fashioned sense of 'no going out after 9pm' kinda curfew?

[specialsubject]

I can't see anything patronising in the OP.

she is a high risk as a young driver - not quite as much as the boys who have a 1 in 4 of car versus tree each year, but the gender equality crap from the EU means that she now pays the same premium.

as mentioned:

• you go on the policy as a named driver. Do not even THINK of you being the main driver, that is insurance fraud and can end up in imprisonment and bankruptcy.
  
• black box monitors how she drives and when. Keeping her off the road after dark and at boozing hours reduces her risk. Yes that kind of curfew.
  
• 4 teens in a car is a very high accident risk. Try to avoid this.
  
• she could also look at pass plus and further lessons.
  
• shop around at every renewal.
  
• the Corsas and similar tiny cars are now expensive to insure, because of the people that drive them. Be flexible about car type.

[monikar]

My DD's driving instructor has said that if they get the pass plus it can mean up to 40% off insurance - I don't know how close to 40% this will be in reality but for an extra 6 or so lessons it might be worth it.

[amumthatcares]

I didn't see anything patronising in the post either

As has been said, add yourself as an additional driver, look for car in lowest insurance group, insurances with black box (though DD never had one)

moniker my DD did Pass Plus and the only insurance companies that we could find that would offer a discount had such high premiums, we found cheaper quotes with companies who didn't take it into account

[AAAndy]

Hi everyone,

Thank you for your answers.
I did a bit of Googling lastnight and came across this site: www.insurethebox.com/

I looked about on the site, they don't have a curfew (is this normal?) They do something called limited mileage instead. Which is good I think as my Daughter won't be driving around 'everywhere', petrol is too expensive now days.

I've shown it to her and she thinks it looks okay, has anyone else had any experiences with them?

Thanks for your help,

AAAndy

[Isthiscorrect]

Loads of info on moneysavingexpert.com. Also in passing the lady behind the counter at the petrol station the other day told me in our area all the kids drive a KA and that most get their insurance through tesco/admiral, she said it was very reasonable and she shops around every year. *Disclaimer I have no way of knowing how true this is.

[Bumble74]

Hi AAAndy,

I didn't find your post patronising either???

I've heard of insure the box and you're right - they don't have a curfew and I don't believe they have any fines either.

They've also got a sister company that might interest you: www.drivelikeagirl.com/

Others I've heard of are Young Marmalade, fairplay, but even Tesco has just launched black box insurance www.tescobank.com/insurance/box/index.html, so there are plenty to choose from.

Personally, I think you'd do well to go on a site like confused.com and put in her details to see which quotes come up cheapest for you.

What car is she thinking of getting - as specialsubject said, it's important you consider a car that's suitable for her age group.

Hope that helps,

Bumble

[Bumble74]

Isthiscorrect - was she referring to black box or standard insurance?

[AMumInScotland]

Do people really feel it is fine to refer to an 18yo as a "young girl" then? Back when I was helping my then-17yo son sort out car insurance, I wouldn't have dreamed of starting a thread about "How to deal with cars and young boys"

The best deal we got for DS was to go multi-car with Admiral but since this will be the only car in the household so that doesn't help any.

[Isthiscorrect]

To be honest, I'm not sure. She was just chatting in passing. Sorry.

[livinginwonderland]

I don't see what's wrong with the OP? Anyway.

Insurance will be expensive 'cause she's only 18. It tends to go down after the age of about 24 but the first few years will be expensive. My advice would be to go on GoCompare - you can put in all the info about your daughter's age/driving history as well as the info of the car (year, engine size, etc. etc.) and you'll get the cheapest deal.

I got my first car last year when I was 24. I got my insurance through Admiral and it was by far the cheapest (I drive a second-hand 2005 1.1l Hyundai). If you want to limit her driving times (ie. not late at night) you can get a black box installed which means the car isn't driveable between certain hours (I believe 11pm-7am) but if she works late/early shifts this might not be practical.

If she gets PassPlus and pays for some motorway lessons, her insurance will drop by about 40% I believe, so it might be worth investing in those. Good luck!

[Bumble74]

Ok I see what some are saying - perhaps it would've been better if AAAndy had called it "How to deal with cars and young drivers" as opposed to girls lol. I don't think it's intentional though as I don't see anything wrong with his OP at all.

Back to car insurance - I've just read livinginwonderland's comment and it sounds good advice, but as AAAndy asked if insurethebox is any good, just wanted to point out that they use a black box but they don't restrict driving hours so there definitely isn't a curfew with them. I'm not sure about others though and I think curfews are what puts people off. Here's where I read about it: www.insurethebox.com/curfew-car-insurance-v-insurethebox-pay-as-you-go, so I would say it's definitely worth looking into, but do some comparison quotes as I said before, because I think that's the only way you'll find the best deal for you.

HTH!

[AAAndy]

Thanks for all of the help everyone, she's going to look into getting a black box fitted.

That's good advice Livinginwonderland, I'll get her to think about taking a PassPlus course as that can help with the insurance premiums or so I've read now on other sites.

Thanks again everyone,

AAAndy