My 17-year-old son is on my insurance as a learner driver. He has just passed his test. Up to now we have been a one-car (it’s an Opel Zafira), one-licence-holder family in a rural area – tricky if the car needs to visit a garage, etc. I’m considering getting a second, smaller petrol car (not electric, please) and putting him as the main insurance holder and myself (clean licence, 30+ years) as a named driver to start building up his no-claims bonus and to give the family a backup car. I have three younger sons coming up behind him. Insurance and safety are my main concerns, but also age, as friends have told me it is impossible to get insurance for younger drivers on older cars. Could you give any guidance? SN, Co Louth
First off, you’re doing the right thing. Getting a young driver on to their own insurance policy as soon as possible and having them start building up that all-important no-claims discount is a great idea.
However, it’s going to be expensive. Irish car insurance is expensive anyway, and the extra loadings on younger drivers, especially those aged under 25, are seriously tough.
Insurers will always point to the cold, hard, actuarial facts of the matter when it comes to the likelihood of a younger driver needing to make a claim, but that places younger drivers in the invidious position of needing experience to become a better driver but often being priced out of the market because young driver premiums are so high.
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You can go down the ‘black box’ telematics route, but we have serious concerns about what this means for the relationship between insurers and motorists.
Obviously, it would be cheaper to get a two-car policy, where you’re the primary driver and your son is the named driver, but that runs into two difficulties. Firstly, your son won’t accrue any no-claims bonus, although some insurers will take a clean record as a named driver into account.
Secondly, can you truthfully claim to be the main driver of a car that your son will actually, mostly, be using? The only answer, really, is to pony up for the sky-high premiums I’m afraid.
Don’t automatically assume that getting bog-basic third-party cover is the right thing to do. It can be the case that enough cover is enough, but it’s always worth considering broader cover, as the unexpected can, and often does, happen (although there’s no specific no-claims benefit from having a more comprehensive policy, which is annoying).
There are some ways in which you can, potentially, bring down your son’s premium. Some insurers, such as Axa, for example, offer a discount if the driver has done an advanced driving course, which can knock as much as €400 off the cost of a year’s premium.
[ Why is motor insurance so expensive in Ireland?Opens in new window ]
It’s certainly worth considering, and an advanced driving course really can give younger drivers better driving habits as they’re getting started.
Now, on to the potential cars that you might choose. You’re right about older cars being an issue. They’re an issue in general with Irish insurers, and some companies outright refuse to cover cars that are 10, 15, or 20 years old or older.
That prohibition on older cars does seem to become stricter again when younger drivers are involved.
However, there are some simple rules of thumb, and those are to keep the engine size as low as possible and keep the car age under 10 years.
Which gives us plenty of choice. A Ford Fiesta makes an ideal choice, and we found a 1.0 litre version on sale for less than €9,000. You need to beware of the engine’s ‘wet’ timing belt, and keep it changed ahead of the recommended schedule, but as a practical, safe and enjoyable car to drive, it’s hard to do much better. The one we found was registered in 2016, so it’s on the cusp of that 10-year limit.
We could go a little bit newer by picking a 2017 Hyundai i10, which we found on sale at a main Hyundai dealer for €9,950. Surprisingly roomy and refined inside, and ultra-frugal too, although it only ever managed a three-star Euro NCAP score, so it’s not quite as safe (at least in laboratory conditions) as some others.
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Possibly the best choice of all might be the Skoda Citigo we found on sale for just €5,950. As far as small cars go, it’s one of the best ever – safe, spacious, and fun to drive – and while this one has mega-miles (more than 200,000km), if it’s been properly serviced then that shouldn’t be a big concern.
Or, in the realm of super-cheap motoring, how about a Dacia Logan estate? Not glamorous, but with loads of space inside for when it needs to be pressed into service for the whole family, and with rugged reliability on its side. We found one for just €4,949 on a 2017 reg.
One final recommendation, if you fancy something a bit different – a Suzuki Ignis, on a 2017 plate, for €6,500. Tiny inside and out, but fun to drive, characterful in its styling, and tremendously reliable.
One final tip on all this. Get an insurance quote using the actual registration of the chosen car before you buy or pay the deposit.
