You are young and you want to buy a good car to get your brand new driving license. There are no problems. The real problem you are going to have when it comes to insuring your car. The first thing you must be very clear about is that an insurance company is a company, not an NGO, its objective is to make money, obtain a profit, and to do so they have two fundamental weapons: formalize all the policies they can and reduce the accident rate by maximum.
Insurance statistics show that young and/or novice drivers are the ones who register the most accidents and, therefore, must pay more for insurance so that they can be profitable. But they are not the only ones that cause the most accidents. The thing is that they are the ones who have the most serious accidents, the most costly for the insurer.
Insurers look at two fundamental pieces of information when setting the price and insuring their clients:
- The age of the driver.
- The age of the driving license.
According to their statistics, drivers under 25 years of age are very high risk and this makes insurance significantly more expensive. And even in some cases they will not even accept your policy application. Those under 28 are considered high-risk drivers.
If you are a young driver (less than 25 years old) and a new driver (less than two years with a driving license), it will be very expensive for someone to insure you.
Drivers with a license for less than two years suffer the same increased policy costs and the same difficulties in obtaining insurance. Those with less than five years of experience will pay more for insurance than other older drivers.
The conclusion is very simple: if you are a young driver (less than 25 years old) and a new driver (less than two years with a driving license), it will be very complicated and, of course, notably expensive, to find a company that will insure your vehicle. .
The price of insurance makes your car purchase decision more expensive
The rule regulates that “every motor vehicle owner who has his usual parking in Spain will be obliged to sign an insurance contract for each vehicle he owns that covers, up to the amount of the mandatory insurance limits, civil liability.” .
Therefore, driving without insurance can never be an option, because it has criminal consequences in the event of a serious accident, and because you cannot be left without coverage in the event of any eventuality. So you have to find ways to get insurance for a young, new driver, and to make the policy cheaper.
One formula is to take insurance into account before buying the car. Not so much because you can drive it as soon as possible, but because the model can make the policy cheaper (or less expensive). If you choose a powerful car, the insurance will cost you more.
But comparisons are not only useful for insurance, but also for the model. When you have several cars in mind and have doubts about choosing one, the cost of insurance can help you. Between two very similar models, with the same engine, but with a sportier appearance, one and the other with five doors, the difference in the cost of the policy can be 25%.
How to choose the type of car insurance
Once you have decided on the car, you have to choose the type of insurance. Since it is going to be expensive because you are a young and new driver, you have to select the coverage carefully, choose only what you are going to need, and thus try to make the policy cheaper.
- If the car is already a certain age, you are interested in the most basic policy. And not All Risk or Third Party Risk with Theft and Fire, for example. Because? Because the value of the vehicle has been greatly reduced, and these coverages do not compensate. On the other hand, it is important to have insurance with very good roadside assistance coverage, because older people are more likely to suffer more breakdowns.
- For pre-owned cars, the most recommended policy is a Third Party. If it is not very expensive, Third Party Insurance with Theft, Fire and Moons can be used. But since it is not a new vehicle, the chances of suffering a theft (and the subsequent fire to eliminate traces) are very low.
- In a new car, the most logical option is All Risk, but it is also one of the most expensive.
How to lower the bill? Two ways
- All Risk with excess: the cost of insurance drops significantly, depending on the amount of money that has to come out of your pocket (and not that of the insurer). It is the best option if you are truly a good driver, with few accidents and parts.
- Third parties with Robbery, Fire and Moons.
An example: For Third Party insurance with the same coverage, the price differences for a driver under 25 years of age compared to another who is under 30 years old reach 20%. If it is All Risk with deductible, it is 40%.
Not recommended tricks Do not appear or appear as an occasional driver on the insurance
There are other ways to reduce car insurance for a young and new driver, but they are not recommended. One of them is that the young and new driver does not appear anywhere in the policy and yet drives the vehicle insured by it. As? Placing the father, mother or older brother as the insurance holder and driver of the car, even if they are not.
The insurance will be cheaper, since the owner is a veteran driver, but the trick has its counterparts: by not appearing as a driver, you will not enjoy the bonuses for good driving, so the insurance will end up being more expensive. Furthermore, if you suffer an accident, you are actually entrusting it to your father, mother or brother, damaging their accident history. You benefit, but you harm them.
Not declaring the young driver or putting him as an occasional driver is not recommended for many reasons.
Above all, it must be taken into account that insurance contracts make it crystal clear that the actual driver of the vehicle must be declared. The insurer may interpret this concealment as bad faith, rendering the policy void, so the accident bill will be borne entirely by it.
Another trick is that the young and new driver appears as an occasional driver on the policy, and yet drives the vehicle regularly. Many companies already apply a surcharge to these situations from the outset, as a way of penalizing them. The insurance will be cheaper than if you appear as the main driver, but there are the same drawbacks as in the previous trick.
The best option is to drive well and tell the truth
The best solution is to tell the truth. Appear as a regular driver if you are, even if you are young and new. This way you avoid very complicated situations, such as being left without insurance because the company determines that you have acted in bad faith, and being responsible for the consequences of an accident in which you are at fault without Civil Liability coverage.
Furthermore, if you are a good driver, you will accumulate bonuses for good accident rates, which will reduce the cost of insurance. The passage of time will make you stop being a young and new driver.
Driving well will not only make insurance cheaper, it will also limit the damage you can do to yourself and your family and friends, it will save you a lot of money on fines, car repairs, it saves a lot of gasoline… These are all advantages!
If you can’t get insurance, go to the Insurance Compensation Consortium
The law requires me to have insurance to be able to drive a vehicle. But what if no company wants to insure me? It’s in your right. You must have insurance, but she is not required to insure you. To resolve this conflict, there is the Insurance Compensation Consortium, which belongs to the State. But it must be proven that mandatory car insurance has previously been requested from at least two entities and that they have denied it.
In order to go to the Insurance Compensation Consortium, you must prove that you have applied for insurance in at least two entities and they have denied it.
However, the Consortium only offers mandatory insurance, including Civil Liability. The minimum essential coverage. It does not include coverage such as Theft, Fire, Windshields, repair loan, Withdrawal of driving license, Major damage, Own damage, replacement vehicle, Travel Assistance, Legal Defense, Driver, among others that are common in insurance from any company. .
Another option is to hire some of these coverages through other means. For example, Travel Assistance, Legal Defense or claims for traffic fines, in specialized policies. Or the Driver’s insurance, through a Life policy, or by taking out an Accident policy with compensation for death or disability and with health care coverage.