The cost of car insurance for young drivers has increased significantly in recent years so you need to be smart if you want to cut the cost of getting on the road.
The average cost of car insurance for 17 year old male drivers is now thousands of pounds and so it’s never been more important to shop around for car insurance for 17 year olds.
There are now dozens of insurers providing specialist car insurance for teenagers. And, if you’re a young driver, there are several ways you can help keep your insurance costs down.
Why is 17 year old car insurance a specialist market?
Statistics show that young drivers are involved in more accidents and make more insurance claims than more experienced drivers.
So, the cost of car insurance for 17 year old boy drivers is likely to be more than for a 40 year old man, simply because the youngster is more likely to make a claim on their policy.
However, don’t be tempted to save money by insuring your car in your parent’s name if you’re the owner and the main driver. The practice of parents insuring your car with you as a named driver is called ‘fronting’ and is illegal.
Similarly, driving without insurance is illegal so not even worth contemplating.
Tips for making car insurance for 17 year olds cheaper
There are several ways that you can help to keep the cost of 17 year old car insurance down. These include:
- Consider ‘third party car and theft insurance rather than comprehensive insurance. This may be cheaper (although not always) but it won’t cover damage to your car in an accident that is your fault
- Choose a car with a small engine size and no modifications
- Consider increasing your ‘policy excess’ – the amount of any claim that you will pay - but make sure it's still affordable
- Take the Pass Plus course as some insurers offer discounts to young drivers who have taken this course
- Secure your car with an alarm or immobiliser and leave it in a locked garage overnight
- Insure an older relative as a second driver
In addition, you can cut the cost of car insurance for 17 year old female drivers or male drivers if you shop around for cover.
Finding cheap car insurance for 17 year olds online
One of the best ways to find cheap car insurance for 17 year olds is to compare car insurance quotes online.
Don't just rely on car insurance comparison sites as they only compare the cost and benefits of policies from dozens of major insurers so you're quite likely to end up paying more than you need to.
Use these to get an idea of the price you may have to pay and then get car insurance quotes from other insurers directly.
Be careful to compare both the benefits and the cost of 17 year old car insurance. While the cheapest policy might be preferable it may not include useful features such as windscreen cover, legal expenses cover or a courtesy car.
