NI teen quoted ?8000 for car insurance as young people put off driving
Joy turned to frustration for a Belfast teenager last week after he was quoted as much as £8,000 for car insurance after passing his test.
Sonny Bell’s mum Samantha had looked at options for insuring her son on a 2013 0.9 litre Dacia Sandero, receiving quotes between £4,500 and £8,000 both over the phone and on price comparison websites.
The family bought the second hand car for £1,300, but to insure it for the year would have been at least four times that.
Car insurance prices have been rising fast in NI and other parts of the UK, with some reporting rises of thousands of pounds per year in recent months.
“A lot of people are having the same issues and asking the same questions,” Samantha told Belfast Live.
“I have heard of others being quoted up to £18,000 for insurance for the year.
“We spent three days on the phone and online, we started off with the price comparisons and they were coming in at a similar price.
“We then tried a number of local companies but what we found was that lots of ones people had recommended just didn’t want any more new drivers so they weren’t even giving us quotes.
“We asked them how people were able to pay so much money in the lead up to Christmas[3], and they said that a lot of people were just putting it on credit cards for their kids.
“I just can’t see where this ends, people just won’t be able to pay that.
“My son came home and was delighted to have passed his test and was asking about insurance and we just said we couldn’t pay that. He understood that but he was gutted obviously.
“I was completely gobsmacked and couldn’t believe how much had changed in such a short space of time and it seems like it’s still going up and up.”
Ian Wilson, managing director of comparison site Compare NI says the high prices are putting young drivers off the road.
“It’s quite complicated right now for those entering the car market for the first time, sky-high costs of learning to drive combined with higher insurance premiums and even new emissions costs for older cars, are all hitting younger drivers in the pocket and even making a quarter of drivers reconsider taking to the road altogether,” Ian said.
“With the soaring cost of repairs, parts and even hire cars, all adding to the spike in premium prices, we’ve noticed more than a 50% surge in customers to our site since the start of the year, as people hunt for savings.
“The engine size for example isn’t the only factor which can push up premium prices – location, car modifications and previous penalty points and claims can all factor in.”
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