Young Driver Car Insurance

Young drivers are traditionally known as high-risk drivers and have to pay extra premium. Based on statistics; young drivers are more likely to have claims. This is particularly true of young males drivers who it is said are encouraged to drive quickly in order to show off to their friends. Whilst this is not true of all young male drivers, it is of sufficient quantity to mean that as a demographic group, the claim costs for this group is higher.

Just 18 year-old males not only have a higher claims frequency but also have more expensive claims. Average losses for insurers are 120%, which makes them a highly unattractive risk prospect. Young lady drivers on the other hand are a much better insurance risk as their accidents tend to be much smaller and less costly to insurers.

The cars that younger drivers buy tend to be older and less well maintained due to financial pressures on this age group. This again contributes to higher accident frequency. A car that is poorly maintained is less likely to brake as well in the event of an accident; this leads to higher claim ratios.

A factor that contributes to the higher average cost of a claim is that there is a lower than average car ownership within this category. The practical meaning of this is that when a person turned just 18 years old (particularly those still in education) has a car, he or she is likely to have to transport a number of his or her friends around. This is a particular concern to car insurance because of the possibility of over loading.

By far the most expensive aspect to car insurance claims is the personal injury aspect side; if there is a big accident with five passengers in a car then the accident is potentially five times more than with one passenger in the car. It is the passengers who are particularly important in that they are all considered third parties in the event of an accident. The driver has fairly limited compensation opportunities.

This question of passengers in the car can manifest itself in the over-loading of vehicles. An over loaded car is less stable than a car under-loaded. The suspension, braking and steering mechanisms of a car will struggle when a car is over loaded, thus increasing the risk.

Research shows that young drivers (in common with young people in general) are more likely to be out night near nightclubs. This presents the risk of vandalism in addition to the risks outlined above of overcrowding on the way home. A boisterous set of youths turned just 18 years olds on their way home from a nightclub are a much higher risk than the normal commuter who drives his car on his own to work and back every day.

It is for the reasons outlined above that certain specialist companies have cropped up to deal with the insuring of young drivers.

At the forefront of young drivers insurance is Insure Your Motor who have been dealing with the difficult issue of insuring the under 25s for over 35 years. We place so much young drivers insurance on the market that we have been able to negotiate some market beating rates. This applies especially to those in the 19 - 25 year old bracket with third party fire and theft car insurance or those young drivers with convictions.

Young drivers with convictions are an increasing sector of the market; this is primarily due to the fact that because car insurance is so expensive, many young drivers take the decision not to insure their vehicles. When they get caught they are faced with an IN10 (driving without car insurance), which pushes up the cost of their car insurance. Traditional car insurers and brokers would not touch these drivers but insureyourmotor.com has got some schemes to deal with these situations.

In fact any convicted drivers between the ages of 17 - 30 will find it difficult to obtain cheaper car insurance than with insureyourmotor.com. This includes the following conviction codes: DR, IN, AC, BA, UT, LC, and TT

Some young drivers are under the illusion that by naming themselves on their parent's second policy will reduce the rates. Insurers are aware that this practice goes on but frown upon what is called "Fronting". Female drivers shouldn't need to do this as Girl Motor offers the best young lady drivers car insurance on the market with the added bonus of a price promise in case you find insurance somewhere cheaper (not likely).

In the event of a claim, insurers can repudiate a claim on the basis of non-disclosure if the young driver has been added as an occasional driver when in fact he or she is the main driver. It is imperative that the insured is always completely honest on the proposal form. Non-disclosure is a breach of policy conditions and can invalidate your car insurance.