Student car insurance

The longer you've been driving the more experienced you become, and this is often rewarded by insurance companies in the form of a no-claims bonus and lower premiums. For younger or inexperienced drivers who are deemed a higher risk, however, insurance can be a bit pricier. Luckily, there are ways you can look to bring the cost down.

There are three types of car insurance policy - third party only, third party fire and theft, and comprehensive. Third party only is the minimum requirement for any car on the road, and is traditionally thought to be the cheapest. This may not always be the case, however, so it is worth getting a quote for all three. Also, third party only will not cover any repairs to your own car if an accident is deemed your fault, and if you live in a busy city, third party fire and theft could be a good basic option. Remember that the smaller the car, and the lower the insurance group it belongs to, the cheaper the resulting premium will be.

Another option is to have a smart box tracking system fitted in your car. Insurers use the telemetric data they provide to monitor the policy holder’s driving over time, adjusting the premium when it is time to renew by basing it on how low of a risk they consider their driving to be. Tesco Box Insurance has been designed with drivers aged 17 to 25 in mind.

If you don’t need to drive regularly, but need access to a car for occasional use, then it is acceptable to be the named driver while the policy is in a parent’s name. Because most of the time the car will be being driven by someone more experienced, the costs should be lower. Some policies even allow named drivers to build up a no-claims bonus, so it could help you get cheaper insurance in the future. Similarly, if you are the policy holder, and a parent is added as a named driver, this too will reduce the amount, as companies accept that the car will be used by a more experienced person some of the time. Do not put your name down as the named driver if you are the main user of the car, however, as this is actually a type of fraud known as ‘fronting’. Also, if you are living in student accommodation, the address used for the policy should be the one where the car is kept most, so potentially not the home address. While a policy may work out cheaper, it could be declared void if a company deems any information supplied to be false.

Security should also be a priority, especially if the vehicle is parked in the street, as is common with student accommodation. Ask your insurer which security measures or devices they approve of, then apply these to the vehicle, as this could help you obtain cheaper car insurance.