Young drivers forced to pay 'sky-high' premiums for car insurance

Young drivers are paying substantial premiums to insure vehicles which has resulted in many teenagers failing to insure their cars.

One learner driver was very surprised when he received a quote from one car insurance provider pricing his cover at a staggering £17,000 to insure his £2,000 Vauxhall Corsa.

James Hayes, a student turning 17 next week, saved for a long time to be able to afford his one-litre car but has been stunned at the high quotes for car insurance.

James' case highlights how insurers are increasingly using impossibly high premiums as a weapon against young male drivers.

The scarce availability of  reasonably priced insurance being offered to young drivers is being blamed on an influx in uninsured drivers, which causes the cost of cover to increase for others and leads to further drivers dismissing insurance all together.

Another common technique employed to cheat the system is when the drivers parents put themselves as the main driver on their children's cars, which is against the law.

Direct line car insurance told him that all quotes generated by customers are stored - so if a potential customer is given a quote but later realised it was too expensive and repeated the process but adding a parent as the main driver instead, the insurer would not pay out as the system would recognise that it was obviously fronted.

A spokeswoman for Direct line insurance said: 'Fronting is fraud and the consequences could be grave - ranging from an additional premium being required, to the cancelling of a policy (and therefore non-payment of the claim) as well as the policyholder being added to the financial industry's fraud database.'

Insurers see young males as a riskier group based on accident statistics which penalises anyone that happens to fall into this category.

According to road safety charity Brake, men aged between 17 and 20 are almost ten times more likely to be killed or seriously injured as a result of a car accident than older drivers, while one in five new drivers has a crash within six months of passing their test..

The Association of British Insurers (ABI) also backs these statistics, with figures showing that the average claim of a younger driver is three times more than older drivers.

But the insurance companies refusal to offer affordable cover to male teenagers has led to almost a quarter of all young male drivers to drive uninsured, according to Brake, which ends up costing all motorists as they foot the £500million annual bill for accidents caused by uninsured drivers.

Fines are given when an uninsured driver is caught for driving without cover, however these fines  can be as small as £200 plus six points on the licence – which could be a more appealing cost than forking out thousands for a simple policy.

According to the AA, car insurance premiums have jumped 11% in the past 3 months alone. The average car insurance premium for drivers who spend some time shopping around is £704, but the majority of young drivers can expect to pay more than £1,500.

Mr Hayes says: 'I used six comparison websites and the cheapest comprehensive quote I found as a learner driver was £2,257 with ibuyeco. This rises to £3,555 with Admiral when I pass my test. It's ridiculous when my car is only worth £2,000.'

The most expensive comprehensive quote was from The Green Insurance Company, quoting him £17,000 per year.

Mr Hayes said he didn't want the most basic policy on offer - third party-only insurance - and doesn't want to invalidate his insurance by fronting.

Written by Sam Gooch