f you own a car then it needs to be insured, whether you use it or not (unless it’s SORN).
You have 2 main options :
- Insure the car on an annual policy. This can e very expensive, with average premiums in the £1,500 – £2,000 range. You may be able to reduce this if you select a policy which comes with a Black Box (also called Telematics Insurance). This is a device which is fitted to your car to collect data about how your car is driven, such as acceleration, corner speeds and braking. That data is then converted into a scoring system (such as a mark out of a hundred, or a Red-Amber-Green traffic light system) which determines the ongoing cost of your insurance. Telematics policies for young drivers can reduce average premiums to around the £1,250 – £1,500 range for new drivers, although this of course depends on how, when and where you use your car. Black box insurers can be particularly sensitive about night-time driving, with heavy surcharges for use between 10 at night and 6 in the morning, so you might want to have a close look at their terms if you are planning to go down this route. You will also need to remember to tell your insurer as soon as you pass your test – they may change their terms at this point, so its a good idea to ask them in advance whether your price changes when you get your full licence.
- Insure the car on a specific Learner Driver policy until you pass your test – at which point you arrange annual insurance on it. This can be a cheaper policy in the short-term, if you bought cover for a month say you could expect to pay around £75 – £150 per month, but you could probably reduce these figures by more than a third if you signed up for say 5 months instead of just 1 month. Of course when you start learning to drive you don’t know how long it’s going to take you to pass your test, so make sure you check the cancellation terms of the Learner Driver Insurance provider.
Category:
Learner