What is new and young driver insurance?

There are a range of policies out there from different providers designed to help younger drivers, typically between 17 and 25, to find a good insurance quotes which gives them all the cover they need while keeping the cost as low as possible. Additionally, there are policies available for new drivers regardless of age who’ve just passed their test and are inexperienced on the road, serving as the next step on from learner driver insurance.

Asda Money is here to help you compare so you can find the one that suits you best, tailored to include all the things important to you. Simply fill in your details online and get a quote back which compares prices from over 50 providers including leading providers like AXA and Hastings and Swinton.

Why is insurance so expensive for young drivers?

Unfortunately, stats have shown that when newly qualified drivers take to the road, they’re usually more likely to get into accidents. Drivers between 17 and 19 are involved in around 9% of accidents, and roughly 1 in 4 new drivers between 18 and 24 have an accident within 2 years of qualifying. Additionally, that higher perceived risk for newly qualified drivers stretches to include new drivers of any age, as the inexperience on the road results would still result in higher premiums.

Because providers see new and young drivers as more likely to get into accidents, they raise the insurance premiums to cover the increased risk of them making a claim.

How can young drivers get cheaper car insurance?

Car insurance is calculated on several different factors, like your age, the age of your car, where you plan on parking it at night and a few others. This means there are a couple of things that young and new drivers need to think about which can affect the cost of their car insurance.

Choosing the right car

Your choice of car is one of the biggest factors that impacts your car insurance. Cars are placed in insurance groups between 1 and 50 – 1 being the lowest insurance possible and 50 being the highest. Although you might have a dream car in mind, chances are as a young driver it would be in one of the higher groups to insure and might not be the best idea if you’re trying to find cheap car insurance.

Modifying your car

Making modifications to your car can run the risk of greatly increasing your insurance, with some changes like adding in superchargers making insurance a lot harder to find. There are security modifications which can have a positive effect, lowering your insurance premium through improving your car’s overall security. Provided you’re using an industry-approved device and have it installed by a professional, you can check quotes which factor in security modifications to see how much you can potentially save.

Adding a parent to your policy

If either your mum or dad has been driving for a long time without making a claim on their insurance, then adding them on to your own policy might help bring your insurance down. But you still need to be the main driver on the policy if it’s your car – putting a parent down as the main driver when they’re not (called “fronting”) just to get cheaper insurance is illegal. By having your own policy with a parent attached to get going, you can start to build up your own no claims bonus that can help bring down your premiums when it comes to renewing your policy.

Being safe and responsible on the road

Although this can take a little longer to take effect, simply being a good driver and obeying the rules of the road will have a positive effect on your insurance. After a year of driving without any incidents then you should see your insurance cost go down as you build up your no claims bonus, which acts as a form of proof that you’ve been a good driver, You can take this a step further by choosing to have a black box installed, which help to show your provider how responsible you've been on the road in real-time and can result in your premiums dropping with each year by working alongside your no claims bonus.

What car insurance is best for young drivers?

Young drivers have to make the same decision as any other driver on the road, choosing between third party car insurance, third party, fire & theft, and comprehensive coverage, as it completely depends on your own situation.

Third party car insurance gives young drivers the minimum level of cover needed to legal drive in the UK, in the event of an accident where you’re liable, but not for your own car. This means that any repairs needed to your vehicle will have to be paid for yourself and can leave you out of pocket.

Third party, fire & theft will also help cover costs for other vehicles, people or property involved in the accident while also adding coverage against damage caused by theft and – both accidental or on purpose, such as arson incidents.

Comprehensive car insurance makes sure that both you and other drivers are covered in the event of an accident, as well as helping with accidental damage from fires or through theft. You might think that a comprehensive policy is more expensive than just third party insurance, but this isn’t always the case – sometimes comprehensive cover can even be cheaper!