As a young driver who has just passed the driving test, you will be raring to get out on the road. Whether you have your own set of wheels or share a vehicle with your family, you need to consider the cost of insurance. One of the biggest problems faced by new young drivers is that insurance is extremely expensive. Because of the lack of driving experience and an increased chance of an accident, insurance providers will charge higher premiums for young drivers.
Before you begin shopping around for your car insurance deal, remember that it is possible to get car insurance for young drivers under £1000. Follow these top tips and advice from our experts on how to keep your insurance low as a young driver.
6 Tips For Car Insurance For Young Drivers Under £1000
1. Honesty Is The Best Policy
Insurance applications will ask for a lot of details. Insurance providers use all of these details to work out your premiums. It can be tempting to bend the truth in a bid to keep the costs down, but it is vital to tell the truth during your application. Not only is it breaking the law to not be honest in an insurance application, but it can also leave your insurance invalid.
On the other hand, being truthful with your insurance can also help to keep costs down and get car insurance for young drivers for under £1000. For example, if you overstate the number of miles you will drive in a year, then you could end up needing to pay more.
Another common mistake is to register a vehicle for business use if it is used for driving to work. Commuting is not considered business use, and by registering it as this, it will lead to unnecessarily higher premiums.
2. Choose Your Car Carefully
The car you choose to drive can have a significant impact on the cost of your insurance premiums, and you should bear this in mind before you pick out your new ride. Vehicles with more powerful engines are often more expensive to insure because many associate these vehicles with a greater risk of an accident. You can find out more about the car insurance ratings here.
Customising cars with things such as alloy wheels can also out insurance costs up. Spend some time doing a bit of research into which vehicles will help keep premiums low and get car insurance for young drivers under £1000.
3. Add A Named Driver
Sometimes it is possible to reduce the costs of your insurance premiums by adding a named driver to the policy. This will depend a lot on the experience of the additional driver, so choose them carefully. Adding another young, new driver to the policy is likely to put the price up, but adding an experienced driver with no previous convictions can reduce it.
Some drivers are tempted to put a more experienced driver down as the named driver and list themselves as a named driver in order to get car insurance for young drivers under £1000. This is known as ‘fronting’ and it will lead to insurance policies being made invalid and could potentially lead to prosecution for fraud. Always be honest with your insurance provider about who the main driver is.
4. Know Your Cover Levels
One of the simplest ways to get car insurance for young drivers under £1000 is to properly understand the levels of cover available. If you think you would struggle to replace your vehicle if it was to be written off, then comprehensive cover is likely to be the best option for you. Comprehensive cover includes third party, fire and theft, as well as damage to your vehicle and personal injury for yourself.
If your car is not worth a huge amount and you could cover the cost should something happen, then you could choose third party insurance. This is the minimum insurance that you need to be legal on the road. It covers you for damages to someone else’s vehicle or injury to others. With third party cover, if your vehicle is damaged or stolen, then you will need to pay the bill.
5. Choose Additional Safety Features
Many insurance providers will offer discounts on premiums if your vehicle is fitted with a black box or dashcam. A black box will monitor your driving and gives you the chance to prove that you are not a risk on the road. They will monitor your speed, as well as how often and the times of day you use the vehicle. If you have a black box and prove that you are a responsible driver, then your insurance premiums can be reduced.
Dashcam insurance is another option for car insurance for young drivers under £1000. Many providers will reduce premiums when you have a dashcam fitted because your risk on the road will be lowered. Many drivers with a dashcam will drive more carefully because of this, and also they provide vital evidence if an accident should happen.
6. Minimise Your Risks
Insurance premiums are high for young drivers because they are considered to be a high risk on the road. If you can minimise the risk of your driving, then you can reduce your premiums. By ensuring you always drive safely, make no insurance claims and keep your licence clean, then your insurance will fall with your policy renewal.
Proving you aren’t a risk can take time as you need to build up your no claims bonus over the years. Another way to minimise your risk is to take additional driving qualifications. Courses such as Pass Plus will give you increased experienced in varied driving conditions, giving you better abilities behind the wheel. Most insurance providers will offer cheaper insurance to those that have completed additional driving courses.
At MyFirst, we are specialists in providing affordable car insurance options for new and young drivers. Our friendly team understand that finding car insurance for young drivers under £1000 isn’t always easy, and we are on hand to help do everything we can to keep costs down.
