Insurance Prices for young drivers

[breeward]

Hi guys, I’m just looking for some clarification on how insurance pricing works here because I’m getting absolutely nowhere in trying to get insured on a first car. For context I’m 21, have had my license for almost 3 years and have a 1 years no claims bonus. I was trying to get insured on a 1999 1.4L Honda Civic worth €2,500 and can’t even get a quote, I know the car is old enough however you do see people driving old cars around and they’re surely not paying extortionate insurance premiums? For the craic I checked to see if I would get insured on a ridiculously more expensive and way faster 2024 Golf R 2.0 worth €77,000 and insurance and that came to a somewhat reasonable €2.2k. How does this work for insurance companies, incentivizing someone to buy a €77,000 hot hatch vs a €2,500 shitbox?

 

[halfacres05]

@breeward No idea why but it can be a lot cheaper to insure more than one person on a car. Try different combinations of people (with their permission) like a parent or an older adult. My female friend got added to her partner's car and his insurance went down by over a grand lol.

 

[guslund]

@halfacres05 It works if its your partner, parents apparently don’t count. That’s what I was told by one insurance broker

 

[halfacres05]

@guslund My cousin added my sister to hers and saved money that way. My sister doesn't even live nearby

 

[rachele14]

@halfacres05 The "why" is that they use statistical models to calculate the price of insurance, and statistically speaking you're less likely to be in an accident if you have a parent or family member added to the policy.

Unfortunately, since people figured this out, they've been adding people to their policy, and because it makes absolutely no logical sense for this to actually change the risk of a crash, since more people are doing it, it's balanced out the statistical difference somewhat. So these days, adding someone to your policy doesn't make as much of a difference as it used to. And many brokers no longer use it as part of their statistical model.

At least, this is how it works in theory. The cartel has other methods of inflating your premiums.

 

[halfacres05]

@rachele14 That makes sense. Thanks for the info!

 

[fishsticks2016]

@breeward I’m surprised you are getting quotes for that car to be honest OP.

“Old enough” is an understatement - the car is 25 years old. From an insurers point of view it’s far more likely to have some sort of failure which leads to an accident etc. Additionally low value cars like that are commonly used in insurance fraud. Combined with your age I think you’d do well to get a lower quote.

Any chance you could spring for something 7 or 8 years older?

 

[shadowst0rm]

@breeward

know the car is old

Insurers have been scammed by fake accidents using old cars, which is why they're refusing to quote.

 

[breeward]

@shadowst0rm Is it really that much of an issue that they refuse to quote any sort of remotely older car?

 

[ariston]

@breeward Essentially older cars are a higher insurance risk for a combination of reasons:

• Fewer safety features on the car (higher risk of Personal Injury claims)
• Sourcing spare parts can be difficult (I.e. more expensive)
• Higher risk of car being written off (i.e. repairs cost > car value

You need to try shop around to all insurers (Mibi has a list) as some will have different underwriting criteria and would be willing to insure older cars.

Also take a look into Vintage / Classic car insurance.

Also take a look into the Declined Cases Agreement from Insurers Ireland. Essentially it's a mechanism to ensure you can get a quote off the market if you have been refused a quote from 3 different insurers. There's a chance you'll get a crazy high premium quote but that's a risk you'll have to take.

 

[janmckinney]

@breeward Back in the day as a new driver, the only quote I could get was kennco https://www.kennco.ie/car-insurance-quote/

 

[raykem]

@breeward Try kenco insurance or supervalu