Why am I so uninsurable?

[JonnyClio]

I'm 17, I drive a 1.2l Clio and I can't get a quote on my own policy below £4000 third party.

My friend has just had his renewal through on a 1.2l Corsa C and it's £900 from Admiral on his own policy... Unfortunately they don't insure 17 year olds anymore

Granted I have modifications (alloys & springs) but I seem to be getting quotes which are twice as much as all my mates... and for some reason Quinn want £250 extra to insure the alloys, despite the fact that they've never increased their premiums for any of my mates when they're declared their alloys.

For the life of me I can't understand why i'm getting such extortionate, unaffordable quotes. I live in a lovely area of the country and in the 10 years i've lived in my little, country village there's only been 1 crime i've heard about :lol:

The car is a little 1.2L clio, surely insurance companies don't believe that i'm high risk because of the car I drive?

Only reason I can even think of that is my brother claimed 2 years ago and it was a pretty messy claim which involved going to the ombudsman...

I'm hoping someone can provide an explanation as to why this is, or offer me some advice on where to go for insurance or what to do?

Cheers
Jonny

 

[Dave..]

You're a young lad driving a car. The insurance companies expect you to crash it, it's as simple as that really.

 

[Blighty]

Have you tried getting quotes without the alloys and springs? 17 with alloys and springs isn't going to be a good combo im afraid.

 

[Brian]

When my brother was first looking for insurance it was pretty much the same as you (except no mods).
Shop around, add family members to the policy that have more experience, consider putting it back to standard.

 

[JonnyClio]

Cheers for the quick response lads

You're a young lad driving a car. The insurance companies expect you to crash it, it's as simple as that really.

Ayeee, but why is it twice as much now as it was last year? Surely us 17 years olds haven't become that much worse at driving in a year?

My brother paid £1500 third party on his 1.4l corsa b 2 years ago, my mate paid £2400 fully comp last year for his 1.4l 206 with mods... Now it's twice that and a bit more!

Have you tried getting quotes without the alloys and springs? 17 with alloys and springs isn't going to be a good combo im afraid.

It's still out of my reach and out of a lot of other people's reach too... over £4000 still I think with Quinn the mods added £700 to my premium, which is extortionate tbh.

When my brother was first looking for insurance it was pretty much the same as you (except no mods).
Shop around, add family members to the policy that have more experience, consider putting it back to standard.

Yeh i've tried adding my parents and it takes £200-£300 off, but i need to take £2000 off for it to be in my reach

 

[Rob]

Also consider, and I'm not at all sure why, that fully comp quotes are some times cheaper!!!

 

[Dave..]

Ayeee, but why is it twice as much now as it was last year? Surely us 17 years olds haven't become that much worse at driving in a year?

Well maybe you have?

Insurance prices are often directly affected by the number of incidents that occur. Ergo more 17 year olds crashing, more money 17 year olds pay.

The other thing to take into consideration is the cost of insurance has increased recently for just about everyone (not me though, mine fell) with the price of parts increasing, cost of living going up, labour prices will have gone up, and so a car will be that more expensive to repair after an accident.

 

[172Ben]

Also consider, and I'm not at all sure why, that fully comp quotes are some times cheaper!!!

Its because insurance companies know people pick third party because they dont actually care. Weird but it whats i was told as well.

To the OP, your 17. Its not going to be mega cheap tbh

 

[ch!ppen]

Also consider, and I'm not at all sure why, that fully comp quotes are some times cheaper!!!

True actually. I've found that before.

 

[Scott200]

I always go fully comp, I'm 21 and drive a 200, with admiral but have 6 points for speeding and a crash also!
Added both parents to my policy with me as the main driver and it's only £560, try adding parents without mods also!!

 

[JonnyClio]

Also consider, and I'm not at all sure why, that fully comp quotes are some times cheaper!!!

I noticed that with a quote I got a few months ago from Quinn, however it doesn't seem to be the case anymore I'll try it on some other sites though, thanks buddy.

Well maybe you have?

Insurance prices are often directly affected by the number of incidents that occur. Ergo more 17 year olds crashing, more money 17 year olds pay.

The other thing to take into consideration is the cost of insurance has increased recently for just about everyone (not me though, mine fell) with the price of parts increasing, cost of living going up, labour prices will have gone up, and so a car will be that more expensive to repair after an accident.

Hmm, you're right about the cost of everything going up but i'm adamant that won't double prices One insurance company put it down to a huge increase in personal injury claims, and when there's a fatality the claims run into 6 figures ... That's much more than a company will ever have to pay out for an accident without an injury... It wouldn't surprise me, with all the adverts on TV about personal injuries people have probably been claiming thousands for broken fingers received in accidents and ridiculous things, not realising it'll just make it more expensive for themselves and everyone else in future.

Its because insurance companies know people pick third party because they dont actually care. Weird but it whats i was told as well.

To the OP, your 17. Its not going to be mega cheap tbh

It is weird yeh, in fact it's a complete joke :lol: But yeh man I know it's not going to be cheap, but £4000+ to insure myself on a 1.2l worth £2100 is just ridonculous :lol:

Hopefully there's a fellow young driver about who has only recently passed who is having a similar problem and hopefully knows where to go to get a cheap quote!

Thanks guys

 

[172Ben]

Your insuring the risk as well though dont forget.

Also someone else' situation will be different to you, after all we dont all have the same postcode, Job etc. - So the "My mate got it cheap" is never going to help you.

Best thing to do is ring around. Sack off the comparison website and get calling!

 

[Scott200]

Why do u have to be the main driver anyway? When I was 17 my dad was the main driver and with admiral all named drivers gain a no claims bonus. Do that until the price comes down then swap the main driver etc

 

[Dave..]

Hmm, you're right about the cost of everything going up but i'm adamant that won't double prices One insurance company put it down to a huge increase in personal injury claims, and when there's a fatality the claims run into 6 figures ... That's much more than a company will ever have to pay out for an accident without an injury... It wouldn't surprise me, with all the adverts on TV about personal injuries people have probably been claiming thousands for broken fingers received in accidents and ridiculous things, not realising it'll just make it more expensive for themselves and everyone else in future.

But what if some one has genuinely been injured in an accident, technically they're entiled to claim on the oppostions insurance?

 

[TheEvilGiraffe]

Lots of reasons it's increased. The economy, everything is now more expensive. Also, these fekking no win no fee "I tripped over my own two feet and claimed fourteen billion pounds off the shop I was walking past" type adverts are definitely to blame ! People think the money comes from "the other person's" insurance when they claim for non-existant whiplash etc in car crashes, but really, there's one big pot of money and we all put into it. Insurance companies don't help themselves either. I had a courtesy car when my old Clio got smacked into in a car park. The other guy left his details, so it was all taken care of, but the bill for the loan car was £300 + 30 days @ £50. That's £1800 for a hire car for a month. STUPID ! They should be hunting out cheaper places to rent cars from. I'm sure there's more to it than that, but things like this don't help !!

You're not the only one having this same issue. Guy at work bought a car for his son, and couldn't find a quote cheaper than something daft like £3k. Utterly mental.

Just shop around ! There's literally no easy answer.

Call (dont do internet quotes!!!!) and blag discounts, be cheeky, ask for anything they'll give you off the price !

Take the mods off too FFS. They REALLY won't help your situation.

My first year's insurance was £1500 (in 2001) on a C-plate Micra I sold for £100 a year later. £4k for a £2k car isn't nearly so bad :rasp:

 

[JonnyClio]

But what if some one has genuinely been injured in an accident, technically they're entiled to claim on the oppostions insurance?

Definitely, of course they're entitled to claim... but I think we live in a world (well, a country) where people will jump at the chance to get some money, even when they don't really have any right to it. I guess it's human nature but in the long run they won't do themselves any favours.

Also, the payouts on these personal injury claims are much more now than they used to be... Someone I know was hit by a car when she was 11/12 and was in a coma for 2 weeks, nearly died basically... She is to receive £20,000 when she turns 18 and that's nothing compared to what she'd get if she was hit by a car now... It'd be probably 5x that!

And yeh Giraffe ^, if the quotes don't go below £3000 in the next week (and i'm going to try EVERYTHING), then i'll be going back to a boring, stock Dynamique which won't be fun... How much will it cost me to get a set of factory clio alloys and suspension? I didn't modify it myself so I don't have these parts.

ffs, i might as well put my trousers down now :lol:

 

[beng-120]

try tesco value, im fully comp with them and its reasonable for my age and ive been driving less than a year, no windscreen cover though unless you pay the extra for the standard insurance opposed to the value, but does it really matter, the amount of clios in scrappys means you could easily get one.

 

[Austin-182]

Bla bla bla, why waste money getting your own insurance at 17! No matter what people say, builing up no claims does NOT pay off! Get insured on your parents name till ur older

 

[JonnyClio]

try tesco value, im fully comp with them and its reasonable for my age and ive been driving less than a year, no windscreen cover though unless you pay the extra for the standard insurance opposed to the value, but does it really matter, the amount of clios in scrappys means you could easily get one.

Have to be 18, and they don't insure modified cars.

It's stupid really.... the amount of age and sex discrimination in car insurance is disgusting... I'm not going to please too many people as I think there are a lot of "older" drivers on here but they may as well raise the driving age to 18 as it's becoming impossible to drive at 17

 

[Curtis!]

It's not impossibly to drive at 17 mate.

But you really really do have to bite the bullet in terms of insurance.

I was working 35 hours a week while going to college for ~30 to save for my insurance renewal last year!

 

[rbrocky]

on my 1.2 clio at 17 it was 3300 and that was even after taking £700 off for pass plus and another £700 off for saying i was part of a clio club (shows you care about your car and wouldnt want anything to happen to it etc etc) anyways done this with adrian flux (always call them never do an online quote) found they were the best at my age!

plus i just renewed this year (2 years NCB etc etc on my 1.6 meg now im fully comp at £1600) put mum as 2nd driver (decreased £400) then dad as 3rd driver (decreased by a further £200)
but if i swapped these around it only decrease it by £200! wierd hey!?

also fire and theft is ALWAYS cheaper than third party (i have found)

afraid you have to bite the bullet! it decreased by £1000 after 1 year but still hefty on my £1200 clio
first 2 years i declared no mods on my heavily modded car (downside being i was constantly shitting myself when it came to being around police - i supose i was a lucky boy not to have been caught!)

anyways hope this helps a lil

BROCKY

 

[Adam.]

lol @ price of insurance now.

When I passed just after my 17th, It cost me £537 to get insured on a 1.9 GT TDI Golf.

 

[jack_davey]

I would personally avoid price comparison sites, but definitely check out internet quotes as they allow you to experiment with the information you put in and observe how it affects the price. For example, my policy is ridiculously cheaper fully comp than it is TPFT. It also works out cheaper to keep my car on the street rather than in the garage overnight, which I really don't understandbut I never would have known unless I played around with quotes on the net.

Also helps to increase your voluntary excess, it's a good indication to the insurers that you avoid claiming at all costs. I found Bell/Admiral to be the cheapest by far, so if they wont insure you at 17, try calling them rather and trying your luck.

 

[b33fy172]

as above go on online sites like moneysupermarket.com and experiement with different options, adding my girlfriend who is younger, has not been driving for as long as me knocks it by £100 same with fully comp £100 less.

Although I have to laugh, my clio is currently insured with Admiral, I done a multicar quote the other night for this years insurance and it came up with £800 for my clio and my girlfriends Rover 25.

Few days later I get my renewal though for the clio...£1300 for the clio on its own!!! PMSL!!!

I genuinely believe that they just pick figures out of the sky!

 

[poopipe]

Bla bla bla, why waste money getting your own insurance at 17! No matter what people say, builing up no claims does NOT pay off! Get insured on your parents name till ur older

that basically.

age seems to be the thing that makes the real difference.

I insured an imported and modified mx5 fully comp for £360 with no NCB and 2 years with a license
on the 172 im paying 480 with one year NCB, 3 years with a license

why?

cos im 31 (late starter)

even if the no claims got you 50% off (which it wont. your premium will still go up) next year you'd still be paying 4 times what I am on a 172 for a 1.2l clio


if i were you? sell the clio, drive mum/dads car while you can and enjoy the fact you're not spending £80 a week on insurance.


b33fy172:
those admiral multicar quotes are hilarious - adding our picasso to my clio policy as a multicar thing would've upped the cost by £800 (ive had quotes well below £300 on it individually)

 

[Bassplayer]

I'm 17, I drive a 1.2l Clio and I can't get a quote on my own policy below £4000 third party.

My friend has just had his renewal through on a 1.2l Corsa C and it's £900 from Admiral on his own policy... Unfortunately they don't insure 17 year olds anymore

Granted I have modifications (alloys & springs) but I seem to be getting quotes which are twice as much as all my mates... and for some reason Quinn want £250 extra to insure the alloys, despite the fact that they've never increased their premiums for any of my mates when they're declared their alloys.

For the life of me I can't understand why i'm getting such extortionate, unaffordable quotes. I live in a lovely area of the country and in the 10 years i've lived in my little, country village there's only been 1 crime i've heard about :lol:

The car is a little 1.2L clio, surely insurance companies don't believe that i'm high risk because of the car I drive?

Only reason I can even think of that is my brother claimed 2 years ago and it was a pretty messy claim which involved going to the ombudsman...

I'm hoping someone can provide an explanation as to why this is, or offer me some advice on where to go for insurance or what to do?

Cheers
Jonny

May I suggest using a broker? If you get a good one they will advise the best way to reduce your premium. I mean a local broker - they don't make a lot in commision, usually about 5%, so they often represent good value.
BTW if anyone deserves to get a good deal, it is you. It is a rare pleasure to see a 17 yr old who can spell and express himself so well! Good luck to you!:approve:

 

[JonnyClio]

May I suggest using a broker? If you get a good one they will advise the best way to reduce your premium. I mean a local broker - they don't make a lot in commision, usually about 5%, so they often represent good value.
BTW if anyone deserves to get a good deal, it is you. It is a rare pleasure to see a 17 yr old who can spell and express himself so well! Good luck to you!:approve:

Parents looked into it, my Mum tried someone she knew as well who tried to do us a favour and they couldn't find anything ..

Thanks for the last comment by the way I used to be a nightmare on forums but I've been using them for years and understand that if you can't spell, you'll struggle to get help and advice! :lol:

Anyway... GOOD NEWS! Came home from college today to find my Dad looking very miserable, mainly due to the fact that his bank account is now empty because he sorted my insurance

£3300 with Admiral (horrendous, i know).. third party, main driver, modifications declared and breakdown/windscreen cover

It's the cheapest we could find and the most they could afford so although i'm annoyed i'm not going to Portugal in summer on holiday now, I have car insurance so I can't be too unhappy

 

[SimonR.]

£3300? Wow!

I had them quotes when I was your age but didn't take the policy.
Went the more sensible route and added myself as a named driver on my mums policy then got a years experience and admiral took that as 1 years ncb.

Probably would have been more appropriate for you but if you're happy to sepdn £3300 on insurance then so be it.

 

[ElusiveHB]

Employment status has a big factor in my experience. Also don't believe everything your mates tell you. When we were all 18 driving 1.0's and 1.2's and paying through the nose to insure them on our Mum's and Dad's policies one of our "mates" came rocking up in a 1.6 or 1.8 MG (Can't remember exactly, much faster than us lost could afford) with a 390quid insurance premium fully comp and said he'd just phoned up. Turned out when he binned it a few months later that he'd insured it on the net under his Dad's name and claimed he was a girl and his dad's spouse who only used it at weekends. He's also part of the reason insurance is so high.

 

[BRUN]

Did you try flux. On modified cars they can be a lot cheaper than most

 

[JonnyClio]

£3300? Wow!

I had them quotes when I was your age but didn't take the policy.
Went the more sensible route and added myself as a named driver on my mums policy then got a years experience and admiral took that as 1 years ncb.

Probably would have been more appropriate for you but if you're happy to sepdn £3300 on insurance then so be it.

We tried getting quotes with me as a named driver on my Dad's policy. His company car policy runs out in May so he was going to drive mine to work 3 or 4 times a week (making him the name driver) and then drive my brothers Civic Sport the other couple of days, and i'd just sponge lifts when I could and drive my car when I couldn't get lifts from mates.

It didn't seem to make too much difference, cheapest quote was still over £3000 (Direct Line + Co-op offered £1200 but don't insure mods)... a lot of companies didn't count my Dads 15 years no claims on company cars as no claims and just said no claims has to be built on your own policy :lol:

But yeh, I didn't expect my parents to pay the £3300 as it's a ridiculous figure, but they made the decision and not me

 

[tonksy26]

We tried getting quotes with me as a named driver on my Dad's policy. His company car policy runs out in May so he was going to drive mine to work 3 or 4 times a week (making him the name driver) and then drive my brothers Civic Sport the other couple of days, and i'd just sponge lifts when I could and drive my car when I couldn't get lifts from mates.

It didn't seem to make too much difference, cheapest quote was still over £3000 (Direct Line + Co-op offered £1200 but don't insure mods)... a lot of companies didn't count my Dads 15 years no claims on company cars as no claims and just said no claims has to be built on your own policy :lol:

But yeh, I didn't expect my parents to pay the £3300 as it's a ridiculous figure, but they made the decision and not me

So your paying £2100 for some mods ? (alloys and some springs)

 

[Tunst]

My insurance was £650 when i was 17 on a 2.0TDi Vectra

 

[JonnyClio]

So your paying £2100 for some mods ? (alloys and some springs)

Not quite, more like £300-£400... I couldn't get any cheap quotes even with the mods undeclared (wasn't planning on not declaring them, just checking to see the £ difference)... apart from with DirectLine and Co-op... All the other companies gave me quotes of £3000+ Co-op and Directline don't insure modified cars though so those quotes were hopeless, and Direct Line stated over the phone that as a named driver I would only be expected to drive the car once a fortnight :lol:

 

[tonksy26]

Not quite, more like £300-£400... I couldn't get any cheap quotes even with the mods undeclared (wasn't planning on not declaring them, just checking to see the £ difference)... apart from with DirectLine and Co-op... All the other companies gave me quotes of £3000+ Co-op and Directline don't insure modified cars though so those quotes were hopeless, and Direct Line stated over the phone that as a named driver I would only be expected to drive the car once a fortnight :lol:

Im only 20 myself so i know how much insruance is a pain in the b****cks BUT you cnt complain about paying so much when your paying 400 (2100 if you were to go with direct line) more for a couple of mods that you dont need. If you was that bothered about the price, wouldnt it make more sense to just have a standard car, pay less insurance, save up for a year or 2 and then try gettin insurance with mods on the car ?

 

[Bassplayer]

Parents looked into it, my Mum tried someone she knew as well who tried to do us a favour and they couldn't find anything ..

Thanks for the last comment by the way I used to be a nightmare on forums but I've been using them for years and understand that if you can't spell, you'll struggle to get help and advice! :lol:

Anyway... GOOD NEWS! Came home from college today to find my Dad looking very miserable, mainly due to the fact that his bank account is now empty because he sorted my insurance

£3300 with Admiral (horrendous, i know).. third party, main driver, modifications declared and breakdown/windscreen cover

It's the cheapest we could find and the most they could afford so although i'm annoyed i'm not going to Portugal in summer on holiday now, I have car insurance so I can't be too unhappy

Serious money indeed. My first premium was £75 tp.f&T! But that was about 4/5 weeks wages then (eek 1973!!) so that extrapolates to about £1500 these days. So costs have risen. But well done in biting the bullet.Or at least the old chap! Now, try and be a bit sensible, get some instruction to improve your driving and keep out of trouble and next years premium will be a lot less. Best of luck. Paul

:approve:

 

[JackJack]

It's not really the mods themselves that make the difference it's the stereotype attached to them.

 

[JonnyClio]

It's not really the mods themselves that make the difference it's the stereotype attached to them.

Very true...

I'm still amazed that a Corsa C 1.2L is cheaper to insure than a Clio 1.2L by over £900... We tried quotes and just changed the car reg to someone I know and it went down by that much! Ridiculous!

 

[gunner3011]

if i were you id put the policy in your mums name with you as a named driver with no mods.

declare the mods after youve been insured on it for a month or so and they should only charge you an admin fee, mine only went up £40 with mods declared

NCB is no big deal really, insurance is going to kill you up untill around 21 anyway and some companies acknowledge NCB as a named driver

i was in the same boat as you a few months back!

 

[SimonR.]

Very true...

I'm still amazed that a Corsa C 1.2L is cheaper to insure than a Clio 1.2L by over £900... We tried quotes and just changed the car reg to someone I know and it went down by that much! Ridiculous!

Probably because the clio is a girls car and as they are female they hit parked cars, thus a high risk car