Talk to me about insurance.

[New POD]

We are giving or lending the Bini Cooper to our daughter who has been a named driver with Direct Line for 2 years.

 

We live in a low (ish) risk post code in Merseyside and She's a student in Cardiff.  Her student house is in a moderate risk area - it's close to the city, but the road is quiet.

 

She's calculated that the car will spend 24 weeks in Cardiff and the rest at home.  Plus the odd weekend at home too.

 

We decided to keep the keeper and owner as my wife mainly to save the hassle of tax.  But also so that the post gets opened. 

 

So I had 3 goes at getting quotes off confused. 

 

1 )  insured from home.  Social and Commuting me and the wife as named drivers £734

2 )  insured from home but parked overnight in Cardiff with social and Commuting and same named drivers £980

3 )  As 3.  But only social use. Parked Overnight in Cardiff £870

 

I say to go with option 3 as she's not driving into university every day as she's very close anyway. And they get 2 addresses and the higher risk one is the one where overnight parking is declared.

 

Is there anything we are getting wrong?

[Mally]

As long has she has borrowed it for a one off journey when the worst happens you may be fine.

However if anyone happens to mention its been parked there for a month before they crash into it then maybe* not. 

[New POD]

As long has she has borrowed it for a one off journey when the worst happens you may be fine.

However if anyone happens to mention its been parked there for a month before they crash into it then maybe* not. 

 

Sorry I added more details after you'd posted.

 

But exactly why I want to declare 2 addresses.

[Tickman]

Phone up and talk to them, as long as you declare she is the main driver you are legally covered.

 

It will not be the first time they will have dealt with it.

[Eddie Honda]

Is there anything we are getting wrong?

Aye, lending a car to a student

 

 

£30, job jobbed

 

(When the fuck did they rebrand the "Young Persons" railcard?)

 

https://www.endsleigh.co.uk/personal/student-insurance/

 

Used to be first port of call for students flush enough to have a motah.

[New POD]

Well yes, railcard. We planned on giving her said Bini when she graduates, but my wife's parents are struggling to get in the back of it, (one being 6' 4" - once unfolded, and the other being tiny but very unflexible), so we decided to bring forward the replacement vehicle - see other post about a Juke.

 

Grand Parents have given their grand daughter some money to cover the cost of insurance.

 

In a related question. 

 

Is there a shitter in Cardiff, (should I need someone to go and do a quick assessment of any problem that might occur?)

More sensibly Can a Shitter in Cardiff recommend a decent garage close to Cathays Railway station or Richmond Rd (CF24) which won't rip off a young single scouse woman, just in case I have to suggest she pay for repairs. 

[DodgeRover]

Phone up and talk to them, make a point of recording the call for "training and monitoring purposes" as you can guarantee in the event of a claim no matter what you said it will have been wrong Also invest in a disclock to cover the steering wheel.

 

My cousin went to Cardiff uni studying transport management, he had a great time and now does something completely unrelated.

Tell her to enjoy herself

from memory there is/ was one very cheap petrol station in Cardiff who buy their own fuel stock in on the world market.

[Mally]

Now I've read it all, am I right in thinking that if you go for 3 and something happens at or close to Uni they may not pay out?......... 'What was the purpose of your journey?'

 

Girls are quite good drivers, my son had several bumps early on, fortunately got his licence just before the rules changed regarding lose licence and retest.

His wife has never had a bump yet, touch wood. 

Can't beat having a car at Uni though.

[DeeJay]

Have you had a look to see how much it would be to insure in her own name and start her no claims bonus (for what it's worth).

[Ghosty]

Cheapest way for me (a 21 year old student, licence since Nov 2013 but didn't start driving until Jan of this year):

 

Student living at home (spends more time there), car kept overnight on drive. No part time work declared, parents as named drivers. Social only. 5000 miles a year (makes no difference if any less).

 

The biggest hurdle is paying for the first policy - once you get some named driver experience all quotes go down a significant amount - in Jan I'd have been paying about £2k for a BX for example, it'd be about £1000 now. Volvo is £1200. Sounds like a lot but it's only £100 a month, and worth it IMO.

A Bini will be cheap to insure, I can get a 60 plate one done for about £750 at the moment. Beware black boxes though and try and avoid them (more things to think about when driving etc) - whether you end up with one depends how complex the engine management system is on your chosen vehicle, but they're likely to come up on anything you can attach a fault code reader to (so a Bini is likely), or that can output its own fault codes on an LCD etc.

I'm lucky really in that my old 200 only had basic management (blinking light output) and the most intelligent thing on the Volvo is an ambient temperature sensor, or the bulb failure warning light, so no chance of a black box.

[bub2006]

Ive had black box insurance where it literally just plugged in to fag lighter. Used gps signal for everything so just be careful. I dont like nor trust them. Wouldnt be surprised if bumped it up because you brake sharp for a child etc

[vaughant]

Black boxes are the devil for any other driver on the road, I understand the young-stars need them which I also really tolerate, mostly because you see the misery in their eyes when they drive.

However when anybody had one fitted to save £1.50 on their insurance and then proceeds to drive everywhere at 22mph then personally I feel such people don't deserve the right to drive for being incompetent enough to not realise the money saved will be added to their next premium when they end up doing 22 in a 20, SOOOOOOOO reckless !!!

 

Hateful horrible idea that just adds to the misery that driving in this day and age has become. Saw one woman last Friday driving over the common which is NSL so 60mph in her car at 25, everytime someone tried to overtake she drifted out to stop them doing it and sped up to 40/45 so she knew what she was doing was wrong. Driving a pile of shite her attempts to run me off the road as I passed quickly turned to a look of mass fear and panic when she realised that this was not going to happen ever and the side of her car was getting seriously acquainted with the rattle canned side of mine.

 

How old was she? Mid forties, hardly an old gudge in her nineties nor a sweet teen busy sending a selfie, someone who clearly knew better but felt like being Robocop for the day.

 

I won,she lost,just as it should be in these situations.

[Ghosty]

Hateful horrible idea that just adds to the misery that driving in this day and age has become. Saw one woman last Friday driving over the common which is NSL so 60mph in her car at 25, everytime someone tried to overtake she drifted out to stop them doing it and sped up to 40/45 so she knew what she was doing was wrong. Driving a pile of shite her attempts to run me off the road as I passed quickly turned to a look of mass fear and panic when she realised that this was not going to happen ever and the side of her car was getting seriously acquainted with the rattle canned side of mine.

 

 

My aunt is like that, she's mid-50s and had a licence since '87. Rarely leaves London, never exceeds 50mph.

 

Getting a bit off topic though.

[Snipes]

You'll probably find the insurance company insist the policy holder is also the reg. keeper.

 

I read a few years ago that girls are actually more likely to have an accident but when lads do it they do a proper job of it.

[rantingYoof]

This is an entirely redundant post to make to you, New POD, but if you go for option three or ANY option whereby they are covered for SOCIAL and DOMESTIC use only, it's really quite important she doesn't use it to get to work one day just 'cause it's there and convenient.

 

In April I was unfortunately hit by a 17yr old lad on an L-plated 125cc Honda thing as I was braking for a zebra crossing. The whole thing dragged on and on until I was eventually told that they were on the way to work at the time of the accident and they only had social and domestic insurance. Therefore, they were uninsured at the time of accident, and as a result my insurance company was trying to retrieve the repair costs directly from them. I think bank of mum and dad ended up paying a lump sum for him as I was half expecting it to go on and on but it's now all closed off.

 

Again, I'm sure you and/or daughter POD would be well aware of this but the story is just for daughter POD's benefit, to remove any temptation whatsoever.

[taxi paul]

Very true. Insurance companies will gladly take your money based on what you say. However if you have a bump and it's looking costly they will start to look at what you were doing at the time. I once let another driver who was on his arse and having a bad time use mt black cab on a night time. He was all legit and insurance company took the £185.00 extra at the time with no need for proof. A month later when the dozy sod drove into someone the insurance company wanted copies of licence and badge and a few other things.

[Steve79]

Well yes, railcard. We planned on giving her said Bini when she graduates, but my wife's parents are struggling to get in the back of it, (one being 6' 4" - once unfolded, and the other being tiny but very unflexible), so we decided to bring forward the replacement vehicle - see other post about a Juke.

 

Grand Parents have given their grand daughter some money to cover the cost of insurance.

 

In a related question. 

 

Is there a shitter in Cardiff, (should I need someone to go and do a quick assessment of any problem that might occur?)

More sensibly Can a Shitter in Cardiff recommend a decent garage close to Cathays Railway station or Richmond Rd (CF24[/size]) which won't rip off a young single scouse woman, just in case I have to suggest she pay for repairs.

 

Looks to be a good place

https://www.goodgaragescheme.com/pages/garage.aspx/3060/Cardiff+Auto+Care

[LostnotFound]

I've nothing to add of use but I did read about someone having their blackbox insurance cancelled because they drove to interestingly, I'd love to know what the cost of their next insurance was now having to tick the 'have you had insurance cancelled' box. It wouldn't appeal to me at all. But like most here insurance is cheap* enough that I wouldn't think twice about paying 20% more for 'better' insurance (IE someone at least with a uk call centre etc...) If that 20% was 500 quid not 50 I might not make the same decision.

 

My irritation with the whole waiting until you claim before trying to wriggle out policy, is why do they even allow us to imput our own claims / points etc... given they check it all electronically anyway, your driving licence number and their own shared database would tell them all that anyway. Unless it's to hope you get something wrong and giving them a get out clause of course.

[Talbot]

Insurance for students is a bit of a minefield.  If the car is only going to spend 24 weeks away from "home" then it could be argued that home address is the "main" address and the university address does not matter.  I'm fairly sure I've read that the rule is whatever address the vehicle will be parked at for the most nights of the year.

 

Had this situation with a friend at University.  He wanted to insure his vehicle, but it was going to be an absolute fortune for him.  I lived about 15 miles out of the city, so we transferred it into my name, insured it as mine and added him as a named driver.  Also made sure that during the week when he didn't need the car, it was parked at my (my parents') address, he collected it on Friday and used it for the weekend.

 

Sure enough, after about 4 months of this, one weekend we are in town, I was following him in my own car behind.  4-way junction.  Lights go green, friend pulls away going straight across, and the 2-week qualified girlie in the vaux nova coming the other way forgot that you have to give way to oncoming traffic before turning right.  Cue head-on crash.  For that insurance claim I was both the claimant AND an independent witness.  Took a lot of explaining, but my insurance company were completely happy with the situation and absolutely screwed the life out of the other driver's insurance.

[hpi_matrix]

Surely during term time the cars should be registered at the uni address, and then in summer the address should be changed to home address.

[Talbot]

Depends on the insurer.  Also depends if you are going to be driving home for Christmas the weekend, as that would then mean the car goes back to it's registered address on a regular basis and hence being at Uni during the week is just the car "in use".

[Guest Hooli]

Have you had a look to see how much it would be to insure in her own name and start her no claims bonus (for what it's worth).

 

That.

 

Most people I've known in this situation have found that once they are the main driver it costs as much as insuring it themselves anyway. Try it in her name with both of you on as named drivers.

[Guest Hooli]

I read a few years ago that girls are actually more likely to have an accident but when lads do it they do a proper job of it.

 

I'd agree to that. If a girl crashes it's generally a low speed scrape or something daft. A bloke does it properly at 120mph into a primary school at assembly time.

[Kiltox]

[Kiltox]

I've had my manly crash, not keen for another

 

[New POD]

Okay, She is Main Driver and Policy Holder, we are named drivers, and my wife is keeper and owner of the car.  And insurer knows this and is happy with that.

Daughter spoke with the insurer of option 3, today and had an honest discussion about exactly how the car will be used.

So during Term time it is in Cardiff and used for social and NOT commuting (and she understands the implications of that 100%).  Except when there's exam leave, in which case it will be back home and she'll use it for social use.

And any weekends, she could be in Cardiff, home, or at her boyfriend's house.

And she's paid in full for the year.

 

Here is the POD fleet before addition of the Daisy (Juke)

 

[New POD]

I've had my manly crash, not keen for another

 

IMG_0402.JPG

 

Ouch.

[New POD]

Surely during term time the cars should be registered at the uni address, and then in summer the address should be changed to home address.

 

What about the long holidays at Christmas and Easter?  In this case she's starting her final year, so by the time it get  through to mid summer, she will be graduated and might have a job and will have to add commuting to it.

[Kiltox]

Ouch.

Bastards those trees, always jumping into the road*

[Ghosty]

Those back lights, ouch. And the 'needs must' reflectors...

 

Oh and the Cooper badge is too high up.