Young drivers and car insurance

Car insurance is now a big part of the cost of motoring. Car insurance costs in the U.K. are rising, in particular for certain high risk groups such as young male drivers. Some of the statistics concerning this group go some way to explaining the need for the car insurance industry to charge such high premiums. rnWithin the first year of passing the driving test, one in three young male motorists will write off a car. Young women are half as likely to do this. A write off is when repairing the vehicle costs more than the value of the car. Some write offs will not result in serious injury, but unfortunately, many others will. The cold stats are that about a quarter of all deaths caused by dangerous driving in the U.K. in a given year will be the fault of drivers under the age of 20, even though this group makes up less than 3% of the total driving population. rnThis all results in higher premiums for young drivers, especially those who have just passed the driving test. To counter this, young drivers need to look at car selection when sourcing car insurance from providers like Santander. The general rule is smaller engine, lower premium. Smaller engines mean less power, although there are a handful of exceptions. Those small engine vehicles tuned up to produce a high power output should be avoided to keep car insurance costs down. Modifications especially should be avoided. Engine modifications are growing in popularity with young men in particular. Those without limitless funds should be aware that any modification to a vehicle, and particularly a performance modification, can result in an annual insurance premium that exceeds the value of the car. rnIf the car is small and also cheap to buy should most often be cheap to insure. If there is no high octane monster lurking beneath the bonnet, you next need to check out the average repair cost for the vehicle. Around three quarters of insurance payments are spent on repairs, and if your car is expensive to fix your premium will reflect this. Popular mass produced makes have cheap parts, and low repair costs. Drive one of these and you’ve a much better chance of keeping your car insurance premiums reasonable.