Why do young drivers face such high insurance premiums?
In the AA’s British Insurance Premium Index for October 2009, it was revealed that car insurance rates are rising at their steepest levels for 15 years with average quoted premiums leaping by 5.6 per cent over the previous quarter alone. However, even though all motorists are feeling the financial pinch, none are being hit harder than young drivers.
Motorists aged 18-21 are bearing the brunt of rate increases with the Index revealing that premiums on third party, fire and theft policies, which are typically bought by young drivers as they are cheaper than comprehensive cover on a like-for-like basis, jumped by 9.3 per cent over the quarter to average £1,059 a year. So why are youngsters being hit so hard?
Paying the price for a poor record
Road safety charity BRAKE reports that road deaths peak in the 15-25 age group and that in 2005, road crashes were the leading cause of death for people in that age range.
More recently, the Motor Insurers Bureau reported that youngsters
are four times as likely to be involved in an accident as drivers aged 35; while the AA reports
that one in five drivers suffers a crash within their first year of driving. The
Department of Transport’s Killed or Seriously Injured statistics for 2008 showed that young
driver deaths and accidents are declining at a slower rate than any other age group – at a rate
of 4.6 per cent year on year, compared to 8.4 per cent for other drivers.
So why are youngsters involved in so many accidents?
General inexperience weighs against young drivers, but recent research suggests that peer pressure, poor training and a failure to wear seatbelts are also impacting their performance.
According to Aviva, young drivers pay less attention to the road when their friends are in the car with them - many altering their behaviour when travelling with peers and admitting to bad habits such as taking their hands off the wheel; shouting at other drivers; turning around to talk to passengers; and performing illegal manoeuvres. Indeed 11 per cent of boys and six per cent of girls also admitted to not wearing seatbelts while in the car with friends – one in 10 boys even claimed it was a sign of ‘disrespect’ towards their driving if passengers wore seatbelts.
Criticisms of the standard of the UK driving test have also been rife during 2009 prompting the Government’s Driving Standards Agency to draw up new regulations which are scheduled to be implemented by October, 2010.
Aviva’s research reveals that one in 10 young drivers would not have awarded themselves a licence when they passed their test, with concerns expressed that some driving schools are only preparing young drivers to get through their practical exam by taking them on their test route alone, rather than train them for the rigours of daily driving.
How youngsters can drive premiums down
Only by taking responsibility for their own actions can youngsters help drive premiums down across the board. Aviva reports that 58 per cent of the costs of all young driver claims are for injuries rather than vehicle repairs – and the risk of injury rises exponentially with passengers in the car.
So young drivers need to stick to the rules of the road, drive with fewer passengers, avoid conforming to peer pressure and wear a seatbelt at all times. By driving more responsibly, the number of claims should fall and premium costs will follow.
Sensible young drivers looking to make savings now should be encouraged that several insurers offer incentives to young motorists. These include discounts for completing the Pass Plus driving course and rapid no-claims bonus schemes in which young drivers earn a full year’s no-claims bonus for avoiding accidents during their first nine months behind the wheel.
For further savings, young drivers should aim to prove to insurers that they intend to be responsible such as by driving sensible cars with small engines and no modifications. Youngsters should also ensure that they shop around for car insurance online using comparison websites to gather as many quotes as possible before deciding on the right deal for them.
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