The Car Hub

A report by the UK Automobile Association (AA) due out this week is expected to reveal that young drivers car insurance has increased by 14% in the last 3 months  of 2009 alone.
It’s not only young drivers who are getting hit in the their wallet, the parents of young drivers who are in the age bracket 40-49  years who decide to add their children onto their car policies have also been knocked with a 11% increase over the same period.
It’s very hard to argue against these increases as insurance statistics show that 1 in 5 young men will be involved in a crash in their first year on the road and more often than not they will have passengers with them. Statistics show that 40% of passengers killed or seriously injured (lost limbs, suffered paralysis, brain injury or other life changing injuries) in 2007 were in a car driven by a young driver.
Young male drivers who have newly passed their driving test have seen their premiums rise by 33% over the last year find it is extremely difficult for them to source insurance for their cars for under £3500, that is even if they can find an insurance company to take them on; very, very, few companies now will accept them, even if this happens then restrictions such as minimum age may apply. 
The big dilemma young drivers find themselves in is after passing their driving test is how to insure and comply with the law.
Most new drivers on getting an insurance quote may find the insurance costs more than the cost of their desired car. As a result of the existing car scrappage scheme run by the UK government, which has taken tens of thousands of older cars off the roads, this has restricted the choice of car for the new driver meaning he/she will have to pay more for the vehicle leaving less of the budget for the insurance, in some cases it could lead to a decision not to have any insurance at all –THIS IS NOT RECOMMENDED.
The position has probably already been reached where all drivers now find the cost of car insurance a huge burden on their finances and those who have to rely on their cars for either work or other necessary commitments are either reducing their risks, i.e. converting to some form of third party cover which could then leave them open to a huge financial blow should the worst scenario ever happen.
Until a new system of control and follow-up monitoring of newly passed drivers on the road is introduced The Car Hub team do not see any hope of insurance costs being reduced.
As a solution to the problem of high cost insurance for young drivers, perhaps a combination of:- low powered unmodified cars, 12 month probation period, distinguishing probationary licensing plate and a series of mini follow-up tests in the first year were to be introduced, and this is not a huge undertaking, then car insurance costs for all could possibly be driven down.
Bill Williams
www.thecarhub.net