For too long, young drivers have been the target for increasingly ridiculous car insurance premiums, with insurance quotes as high as £12,000 not unheard of. Of course, young learner drivers are undeniably the least experienced – and thus most accident-prone – of all road users, and this should be reflected in the premiums they pay; but hiking prices so high that new drivers abandon the idea of driving altogether seems a little contradictory. After all, if they don’t get out there and get some experience, they’ll never improve.
It was a relief to many young drivers, then, to hear that premiums for under-22s fell by 5.6% in the period from April to June, compared with January-March figures.
It might not be a long-term solution, but it’s a step in the right direction. Insurance companies are finally getting more competitive when it comes to young driver rates, although with premiums still averaging in the thousands, it’s not the result young drivers were hoping for.
The mean cost of an insurance premium for a male aged 17 – 22 is still a whopping £2,872, and females aren’t far behind with an average of £1,671. And for those of you who think the gender gap is fairly large – over £1,000 – bear in mind that this gap is steadily narrowing in anticipation of next year’s laws to prevent gender discrimination for insurance premiums.
There are other ways to reduce your premium though. Avoiding London is one way, as premiums there shot up by 4.8% this last quarter. The north-west, too, is the place to avoid, as they have the highest average insurance premium in the UK of £1,521.
The cheapest place to get your insurance is, predictably, Scotland, where the average price is a meagre £556 (the lack of other drivers on the roads might have something to do with that). But on a more reasonable level, the north-east and Tyne Tees area saw only a 0.7% rise in premiums.
Of course, moving house just to get a better premium is a bit excessive, but it’s probably not too much to hope that insurance premiums will continue to become more competitively priced for young drivers, pushing costs back down to somewhere reasonable, and giving everyone the opportunity to get that longed-for taste of freedom.
Did you know you can get fully comprehensive car insurance while you learn to drive from just £2.72 per day? Want to learn more then read our take on how useful learner drivers insurance can be!
