Hi
My wife has a MK1 MX5 and has had insurance with the same company for some years. Our son has recently passed his test and we’d like to have him as a named driver on the MX5, however the current insurers won’t insure sons/daughters under the age of 25! Our son is 17.
I know it won’t be cheap, but does anyone have any recommendations? The usual compare sites are coming up with quotes around £1500, but with companies I’ve not heard of (GoGirl, Quote-a-Car).
Thanks
Loath as I am to say but someone like Flux might do it. But a 17 year old & a Sports car will be expensive to insure as it is deemed a high risk. Most of these companies are linked to the biggies, a quick google will often show who.
Not sure I’d put a 17 year old inexperienced driver in an MX5 TBH. The wife’s Eunos is her first RWD car with no ABS & she has been driving 17 years, predominately in Co. cars like Corollas & Astras. Even she admits to a few hairy moments.
Give Admiral a try. My daughter had a 1.8 mk1 when she was in her teens. It was one of our cars on a multi car policy. I can’t remember exactly how much it was as it was about 4 yrs ago, but it was acceptable. ( Even though they do now have the most awful pathetic TV ad known to man)
Already tried Flux - no joy.
I understand your concerns re 17yr old. But he’s a sensible driver and was driving on an airfield well before taking to the roads and passing his test. He’s also done a bit of karting in the past. We’re only looking to insure him for the summer as he’ll be off to uni later in the year (without the MX5!) One option, I suppose, is to pay the premium and then adjust/cancel the policy in the autumn?
Sinice you mentioned go-girl I just thought I’d chip in and say that I used to be with them for my golf just before they changed their trading name from good-girl and always found them decent enough when contacting them. Now I’m with Hastings Direct for the Mazda, and Footman James for my other car (they wouldn’t insure the Mazda for me personally but others will be with them) and they both seem good as well.
If you’re going to try for cheap classic car insurance you should also try footman James, carol Nash and lancaster insurance. I have to give credit to Lancaster and Flux for telling me to go with Hastings Direct when their quotes came in over double what Hastings were offering me.
Also as you only mention insuring for the summer you may find one of these insure for a day/week/month insurers may work out cheap for you (not always though).
Hi percyp I’ve had this problem with all,of my kids although not with an Mx5. One of my sons took a pass+ course straight after doing his test and the insurance quotes came down by a few hundred quid. Might be worth looking into.
Thanks for the quick replies - plenty to mull over. Just a shame that so many insurance companies look no further than the age of the driver.
When I tried to insure my daughter as a named driver (at almost 18) for my old 1,4 Astra after her pass+ course the quote for my premiums doubled compared to when she was still learning and driving it. I asked Direct Line why; they said the pass+ was NOT recognised by most insurers including them and that she would be no longer supervised, thus a bigger risk. So I took her name off driving the car and the quote then halved from what it had been when she was learning!
A few months later she bought a very, very dilapidated Montego for a song and insured it TPFT and low mileage for almost nothing, and scrapped it after a year! Total cost of her motoring that year was less than the premium DL had quoted me for her to be a named driver on the Astra.
Moral: put a young driver in a relatively durable, but slow, and very cheap car that cannot be used for showing off in.
Unfortunately for a 17 year old there are only really 2 options, pay an extortionate amount, often more than the car is worth , or don’t insure them on your car.
I have 2 sons now aged 22 and 20. It may sound a bit harsh but I made them earn the funds to buy a (relatively) cheap to insure small hatch and pay all the running costs ( tax,insurance,
fuel etc. )with no help from the bank of Mum and Dad when they started learning to drive at 17.
I firmly believe that helps focus young minds on driving carefully and responsibly when it’s their money and access to transport that’s at risk.
A further incentive was the promise that once they have built up 5 years no claims in their own name they get added as named drivers to the MX policy. Elder son has now achieved that goal
and I am happy for him to borrow it in the knowledge that he has sufficient experience to return safely.
From an insurance companies point of view driving prior to 17 on an airfield counts for nothing as there is no other traffic doing unpredictable things ( there’s a lot of idiots out there) and
as for karting, well everyone is travelling in more or less the same direction most of the time and your son likes to race ( nuff said).
With regard to insurance for a 17 year old just search for the cheapest quote, often with black box monitoring helps to bring an initial very high cost down reasonably quickly and add
parents as named drivers if they have an unblemished record and plenty of years no claims in their own right.
I recently met a young (17) man who was the proud owner of a Mk I 5 as a work in progress.
When he opend the bonnet my jaw hit the floor because it had been Turbo modified.
Wolf in Cubs Clothing, When I asked him what his insurance was he said £2000 a year.
Sounds a bargain, though wether that was through Mum or Dads Policy He did not say.
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