cheaper insurance for young drivers.....

[nightcrawler13]

just throwing this out there for anyone under the age of 25 or has kids who drive....

i work for CIS, and the Co-op has just released a special young driver insurance for people under 25

it's not for everyone, but some people have been getting quotes half the price of everywhere else from it

the thing that makes it GOOD is that they install a chip, records how fast you drive, what time of day, etc. If you are a good boy/girl, they make your insurance cheaper every 3 months

i live in manchester centre, so it's still expensive as hell for me, the actual idea of owning a car is just not something i can consider whilst living in the city

[radish]

the thing that makes it GOOD is that they install a chip, records how fast you drive, what time of day, etc. If you are a good boy/girl, they make your insurance cheaper every 3 months

[lost]

I read about this, it said the Smartbox records braking and acceleration, Cornering, speed etc.. and if you break the speed limit by a certain amount they automatically cancel your insurance?

I was wondering what happens if you needed to take a family member to hospital in an emergency or if someone runs out in front of the car, or if your car is commandeered by Bruce Willis?

[nightcrawler13]

Just out of interest, and not assuming you'd know, but isn't this a bit of a legal minefield? All a bit big brother (why did that bloody programme have to come along and make using those words seem just wrong somehow?) and I wonder how it circumvents personal data protection laws etc. Presumably you sign some kind of waiver to go with the insurance to agree to such data being collected, but there'd have to be no end of clauses in place to make sure the data collection didn't go beyond the simple stuff. Interesting though, first step to all cars being chipped? Would be useful for the police too, no? Able to instantly see who's spedding and slap fines around?

I'm in favour of making motoring accessible, and I think premiums for many young (and old,actually) drivers are plain robbery, so I guess it's a solution of sorts. Just might lead on to more problems maybe...

[nightcrawler13]

I read about this, it said the Smartbox records braking and acceleration, Cornering, speed etc.. and if you break the speed limit by a certain amount they automatically cancel your insurance?

I was wondering what happens if you needed to take a family member to hospital in an emergency or if someone runs out in front of the car, or if your car is commandeered by Bruce Willis?

[radish]

the problem at the moment is that everyone seems to think insurance companies WANT to charge as much as they are....

at christmas, the amount of claims due to snow was 10 times the normal amount. We had to bring in teams to deal with all the claims calls. With harsher winters becoming the norm insurance companies have to do SOMETHING to try and stop the prices going up every year like they have done for the last two

[nightcrawler13]

don't for a second think that i am some happy insurance man

i love the Co-operative as a company, because they do more than anyone in the world of business towards society. I am aware though, that though they don't have stockholders, they are still a company and have to make money to exist....

i'm only selling insurance to make money till i finish my OU degree, once that's done and over i am out of the world of finance. Believe me, out of all the insurance companies we could be deemed the good guys, and the stuff i have to deal with sometimes is awful

however, the harsher winter thing is true. If people would just drive slower and stop suing each other then you car drivers wouldn't be in such a shitty position.

Though, as you say, we definitely need to ween people off cars, because sooner or later (please oh please let it be later) we are going to reach peak oil, and society is gonna be fracked. So anything to slow down the use of oil i guess in one way is good, but for our pockets, baddddd

[lost]

however, the harsher winter thing is true. If people would just drive slower and stop suing each other then you car drivers wouldn't be in such a shitty position.

[Jackmypie]

I'll be learning to drive in June when I turn 17, I don't really like the whole chip thing! And is that thing about cancelling your insurance when you go over the speed limit true? All sounds a bit iffy to me

Edited April 19, 2011 by Jackmypie

[t8yman]

are they offering this to older drivers?

I'm 40 this year, and drive responsibly IMHO, where's my cheap meal ticket?

all of the "women only" companies came under fire recently IIRC because they were sexist.

This is the equivalent with ageism. and its also probably been dreamt up by some marketing tosser.

Insurance companies are all c**ts, beaten only by the ambulance chasing lawyer c**ts that are the root cause of everyone's insurance woes.

driving hasn't become any worse over the last 20 years, new (or more expensive) car ownership may have increased, but the standard of driving hasnt, and the safety of vehicles has improved drastically.

I'm genuinely pleased that some younger people might benefit from premiums slightly below "f**king ridiculous", but I'm under no illusions as to what the co-ops motives here are.

rant over

edited to add - that wasn't in any way aimed at you personally nightcrawler!

Edited April 19, 2011 by t8yman

[t8yman]

I'll be learning to drive in June when I turn 17, I don't really like the whole chip thing! And is that thing about cancelling your insurance when you go over the speed limit true? All sounds a bit iffy to me

[llcoolphil]

I

the problem at the moment is that everyone seems to think insurance companies WANT to charge as much as they are....

_<

[Kyelo]

I would have loved this when I was 17. Take my case...

1. I passed my test when I was 17, 6 years ago. My mother who was 36 at the time had just passed also.

2. We both purchased similar cars, I bought a 1.6, 5 door Meganne which cost £1600. She bought a 1.6, 5 door Astra for a similar price.

3. My insurance cost another £1600, she literally half of that.

4. Since then she has had 3 insurance claims due to minor bumps/crashes, myself none.

Today my mother and I have identical cars, 1.5 diesel Clios and my insurance is £50 less than hers! WTF!? Granted my insurance is much lower than it was but for 6 years claimless and pointless driving on our roads I save £50 on somebody with 3 insurance claims all because I am a 23 year old male...insurance companies can take a flying f*cking jump if you ask me, if I was 17 today I wouldn't even bother insuring my car...although this Co-Op thing would be a decent alternative.

Edited April 20, 2011 by BenchBuddah

[treacle]

I'm very interested in this Dan. My youngest has just passed his test and is struggling to afford insurance. To get him put on his dad's policy to drive a basic 1.4 civic as a second driver was quoted at £4500. He's been doing up his own car (an MG ZR) for the past year and was quoted £6500 for that.

He's luckier than many though because I've got a lease car through my work and he can drive on that policy for now.

I'll tell him about this one and see how he gets on.

Thanks

[rabid]

I would have loved this when I was 17. Take my case...

1. I passed my test when I was 17, 6 years ago. My mother who was 36 at the time had just passed also.

2. We both purchased similar cars, I bought a 1.6, 5 door Meganne which cost £1600. She bought a 1.6, 5 door Astra for a similar price.

3. My insurance cost another £1600, she literally half of that.

4. Since then she has had 3 insurance claims due to minor bumps/crashes, myself none.

[nightcrawler13]

WTF? A £1600 car at 17?!? I bought my first car for £160. Maybe the problem isn't the Insurance companies, it's unrealistic teenagers.

[harderfaster]

they take things into consideration, for example under this insurance you are not allowed to drive between 00:00 and 06:00. This is simply because most deaths of young drivers are between these times. But if someone was going into labour, an act of good can be explained to the insurance company and will not affect the cover

however if you're car was commandeered by Bruce Willis every friday and saturday night, you're price will go up

[harderfaster]

I'm sure there are just as many statistics proving there are less RTAs year-on-year, and if there aren't give me the data and I'll find some. And I don't accept that somebody else having an accident makes my premium increase - sure, theirs should, but the argument that 10% (as an example) of insured drivers having accidents means that 100% of insured drivers need to pay more just doesn't wash.

[philipsteak]

WTF? A £1600 car at 17?!? I bought my first car for £160. Maybe the problem isn't the Insurance companies, it's unrealistic teenagers.

[llcoolphil]

what a load of crap. that's cos more people are drunk and driving like dickheads in this time. surely the idea of this chip is to separate those who are drunk and driving like dickheads and those who are simply driving at that time? what about the designated driver who goes on a night out and then can't give him (or his mates) a lift home cos he's past his curfew?

[harderfaster]

Go and have a look at the drink driving stats. Teens killing themselves drink driving isnt a problem.

[rabid]

my point is that it's the type of drivers more prominent at these hours, rather than the hours themselves, that make these times hot times for accidents.

[harderfaster]

Yes, including the type of young drivers more prominent at those hours.

[radish]

the only solution to what you're saying there is that their insurance premiums increase by the amount of their claim - effectively making them pay the claim - which completely defies the idea of insurance. are you saying we should live in a world with no car insurance?

[llcoolphil]

yes, and the idea of this chip is to filter out those drivers (or charge them more, either way...) and so those 'types' wouldn't be driving at those hours anyway? allowing the ones who don't drive like idiots to drive at any time of day.

it just seems silly to implement a system where you can, to an extent, judge how dangerously people are driving, but then ban anybody from driving at a certain time. it's almost like admitting that your system is flawed...