Learner Driver Guide to Reduce your Insurance Premiums

Guide for learners and young drivers

First of all - decide on what cover you need

Do you need fully comprehensive car insurance, third party fire and theft car insurance or third party car insurance? Check here for a full explanation -

Fully Comprehensive car insurance
Third Party Fire & Theft car insurance
Third Party car insurance

Is Third Party car insurance all you need?

If you have a really cheap car, not really worth that much, consider Third Party car insurance cover as it's generally the cheapest. You could get quotes on all three car insurance cover options for private use.

Get at least three car insurance quotes - from online

Why? Well it will save you time and money - up to £800 per year. Online car insurance companies that can offer you immediate quotes are geared up for one thing only - getting you the cheapest car insurance rate possible. Many car insurance companies also give a further 10% off their rates for buying online.

Target the right car insurance company for learner drivers

Don't waste your time getting just any online car insurance company to quote. A large proportion of car insurance companies don't want to take on learner drivers or young drivers because of the increased risk. Here are some of the statistics for new and young drivers

• Over 30% of all young male drivers will write off a car in their first year of driving (it is less than 15% for young women drivers that are likely to do the same).

• Under 20 year olds make up just 3% of all drivers but 25% are convicted for crimes of causing death by dangerous driving.

• 25% of drivers under 21 who have an accident are shown to have lost control of their vehicle.

• Over 130,000 young drivers who are under-25 were convicted of driving without car insurance in 2001.

As you can see, this is why the majority ofcar insurance companies will price you out with their quotes. Like we said, TARGET the companies that specialise in car insurance for learner drivers and car insurance for young drivers.

Build your own no-claims bonus from day one

As soon as you start paying for your own car insurance policy, in your own name, you will be saving on your car insurance over the long term. It may seem as though you have enough expenses, what with buying your car to start with, but some car insurance policies can start you off with a 30%+ no claims car insurance bonus.

It can pay to add an experienced additional driver to your car insurance quote. There are number of companies who give up to an additional 5% discount off their car insurance online quotes. It is certainly worth adding a more mature driver to your policy if you can.

Increase your excess

Consider increasing your voluntary excess payments on your car insurance policy. You can add as much excess as you like but please bear in mind that you should make sure you can afford to pay the car insurance excess should the worst happen.

Upgrade your alarm

By installing a category grade 2 or three Thatcham alarm, some car insurance companies give up to a 10% reduction in their premiums.

You can find more information on vehicle security here -

Thatcham security information

If you do decide to upgrade the alarm on your vehicle make sure the device is professionally installed otherwise your car insurance company may not recognise it.

Can you park your car off road or in a garage?

By parking your car in a garage you could vastly reduce the chances of it being damaged or stolen. You could also get a lower car insurance quote and this could help reduce the premium by around 5%.

A recent survey by Autoexpress to their readers showed the following -

Car insurance UK statistics graph

Limit your mileage

If you have a low annual mileage then you may qualify for a discount. Do not be tempted to deliberately underestimate your mileage though.

Just passed your test?

If you have recently passed your driving test, look at whether it would be cost-effective to complete the Pass Plus training programme to qualify for car insurance discounts.

Pass Plus information

Size matters...

A car with a smaller engine usually means you'll get a cheaper quote. Also, don't modify it either by adding alloy wheels or a big exhaust to improve performance.

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