newly qualified drivers

 

Studies have shown that young drivers between the ages of 16 to 21 are ten times more likely to be involved in an accident than those aged between 30 to 59. Some newly-qualified, young drivers may even be forced to pay up to three times more than an experienced driver for their car insurance.

 

This is a problem many brokers will be confronted with as their client’s decide how best to insure their children on the road. Many parents opt to simply put their children onto their own insurance policies and pay the premiums for them.

 

We have seen a number of cases where children who are well into their thirties are still included on their parent’s policies and are still having their premiums paid for them. While this is an honourable approach, the reality is that by doing this, parents can end up impacting on their own claims history and their children are encouraged to delay taking responsibility for themselves.

 

The best advice one can give clients with children is to let them take out their own insurance cover as soon as they acquire their first car – even if this proves to be an expensive exercise at the outset. The younger someone begins with a good claims record, the sooner they will be able to erase the additional loading charged due to age.

 

Of course, many parents may still choose to pay the premium, but at the very least by encouraging youngsters to start building their own insurance records from a young age, and to pay the correct risk premiums accordingly, they can begin to take responsibility for the costs of running a motor vehicle.

 

If clients are finding the higher premiums hard to bear, brokers can suggest combining the motor and home policy. The majority of insurance companies will offer reduced car insurance premiums if the policy is accompanied by household contents insurance. 

 

Some insurers will also offer a premium discount if the insured chooses an additional voluntary excess, so it may be beneficial to advise clients to consider assisting their children by funding the voluntary excess during the early years of insurance instead of placing them on their own policy.

 

In addition to helping the child assume responsibility by putting the policy in their name, clients will also appreciate the sound advice given to them by their brokerswhen the time comes for the child to – sometimes repeatedly – make a claim.

 

Another method, which may not keep premiums down, but can be used as a personal risk management tool by a client to try to minimise the likelihood of their child being involved in an accident, is to install a tracking device, whereby they can monitor not only where their children’s cars are at any time of the day or night but also exactly how fast they are driving.

 

Many clients may not be aware of the benefits of using a tracking device from a safety perspective and in our experience they are often hugely appreciative of a broker that highlights and recommends such a device to them, as ultimately, it can help to prevent their children being involved in an accident.