Car Insurance

My renewal is due on 15th July and so I have been trawling the comparison sites and direct with some companies for insurance quotes, for myself with my two 18 year olds. 

Its absolutely incredible how much companies charge for young drivers, my car is not worth as much as the yearly premium.

Last year I added my son to my policy when he passed his test, I was seeing quotes mostly around the £4000 mark and some as high as £10000 and that's with full no claims discount, however I actually found one for £1500 which was with Coverbox. I went with this quote, however there were restrictions, I had to have a tracker fitted to the car and, because the policy included a driver under the age of 25 there was a driving restriction. The restriction, applied to all drivers, was basically no driving the car on Fridays, Saturdays & Sundays & Bank Holidays between the hours of 11pm & 5am. I didn't see this as a problem, in fact it meant my son wasn't driving my car when pubs chucked out. 

In April my daughter passed her test so I added her to my policy also.

So there I have it, my renewal is now due and I want cheaper car insurance.

Coverbox have still given a reasonable renewal quote (still damn expensive) still far cheaper than most companies at £1632 but I'd rather not have the driving restriction this year, as my son now works in the next town and needs a way to get home after 11pm on some work days.

Three days I have spent sitting at my computer trying to find alternatives. Finally on 30th June I decided to try Direct Line. Amazingly their quote came out at £1340 (roughly) that would be £117 per month.  I tried adding my elder son, Michael, to the policy also and it reduced the price by £10 (it all adds up). I was happier but still wanted to get a sub £1000 quote. On 1st July I decided to see what the quote with Direct Line would be without my 18 year old son, Aron, as he may be going off to Uni in September and therefore will not be using the car as much, if at all. The quote dropped by £310. I was staggered & assumed removing him had made the difference. So I added him again but the quote stayed at the lower price. I was slightly confused thinking I had done something wrong. Originally I had myself down with additional drivers as Aron, Rosie & Michael. All that had changed was the order I had them listed, now it was Rosie, Michael & Aron. I rearranged them again to Michael, Rosie Aron, the quote went up again but not to £1330. 

I put the list back to Rosie, Michael then Aron and back down it went to £1012.

My only assumption as to why the quote has reduced is because I have put Rosie (a lower risk female) first and Aron, the young male driver last, which insurance companies say are the higher risk, actually 10 times more likely to be involved in an accident.  I may be wrong in my assumption but ...

... I will have to make the most of this cheaper insurance based on gender as from Christmas 2012 the EU Court has ruled it is to stop without the British Parliament having the chance to fight the ruling.

I will be trawling the comparison sights again today with my revised order of named drivers to see if I can get that sub £1000 quote.