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17 Year Old Car Insurance: A Guide
17 year old car insurance is rather expensive for a number of understandable reasons. For example, seventeen year olds are more likely to be involved in car accidents and therefore present a higher risk to the insurer. Also to lower your 17 year old car insurance, Let your insurance agent know if your teen is a good student (B or better grade point average).
Remember - always check what the excess is on your policy, this is often where car insurance companies will aim to claw back money, particularly the case for young drivers. It is possible to voluntarily increase the excess which will lower the premium. Car insurance for a young driver in London will also normally be more expensive that the rest of the UK. This is because London drivers are 54% more likely to be involved in an accident than the rest of the UK. A young driver starts with no history of insurance, and thus no possibility of a no claims bonus. Because of this, they can be charged high premiums from the very start, which can provide for higher possible profits.
So a 17 year old provisional licence holder will pay more than a driver aged 18, 19 or 20 who has passed their driving test . At these ages and with these premiums, the incentive for a learner driver to build up a no claims bonus is obvious and can make an enormous difference to a young drivers insurance premium . There have been cases of the insurers trying to convince the insured to accept liability as the other driver involved has also been insured with the same firm and it will cost less to repair their vehicle etc etc.
The only reason i'm with them is because its affordable at the minute. The reluctance to insure this category of motorist is because drivers with little experience represent a greater insurance risk and insurance companies often are unwilling to take on the risk of a learner driver. Endsleigh, for example, have a great deal of experience in providing car insurance cover for learner drivers.
Some companies treat young drivers with more leniency than do others, so it behooves you to check. Checking all the hundreds of different companies available can be a difficult and time consuming process. They won't even let him take Driver's Education because they think having a license is going to be "an invitation for trouble and unGodly like behavior". I know full well the laws on emancipation, seeing as I was emancipated myself at 16. Sometimes even when young drivers have a good knowledge of how to drive safely, they do not do so. This can be seen in their willingness to break both formal and informal rules of the road.
Liverpool Victoria have reasonable rates for young drivers also. I've just insured my Son's 1.4litre Rover 25 Impression on a policy in my name with him as a named driver. I've got a 9year no-claim bonus and he's 17 with a Provisional license. There is no doubt that a high performace car in the hands of the average young driver will worry the insurance companies, many of which won't even offer a quote. Choosing a car with a low insurance group and particulrly one with a moderate size engine and performance will help lower you car insurance premiums.
Most policies allow each driver to have a separate excess, which also cuts premiums. Then let your daughter drive at every opportunity. As a new (or fairly new) driver you will not have built up 'no claims bonus', so your premiums will be higher anyway. However, the high cost of premiums on sporty and powerful cars for 17-year-old drivers can be crippling.
If the teenager is considered part of your household, that is to say, if they live with you, then you should add them to your policy as soon as they get their driver’s license. This means a big hike in the price of your auto insurance premium for the 17 year old car insurance coverage, but it is much better than what the repercussions would be if the 17 year old ever had to make a claim and had not been listed on the policy.
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