The highest risk customer to a car insurance company falls into the Under 21 year age bracket. The simple reason is because this audience has a lack of experience on the road and tend to also drive more recklessly in general. It is of course a legal requirement for any age driver to be insured for any vehicle used on a public road.
Insurance premiums for Under 21 year old drivers are among the highest in any age bracket in relation to their risk and this news only gets worse for male drivers in this category as their insurance is higher than that of a female of the same age. Once again due to being higher risk.
Newly qualified drivers are more likely to have an accident and make an insurance claim within their first year driving than at any other time and this fact goes against young driver’s premiums. In addition under 21 year old drivers are in 15% of all road deaths and young drivers account for around 10% of license holders, yet are involved in about 29% of road accidents.
Insurance companies do not offer temporary insurance for the under 21 category (and often not under 24) under a month in duration. Drivers over the age of 24 are able to obtain cover for as little as 24 hours, however Under 21’s are exempt from this privilege.
An alternative option for the Under 21 driver could be that they become a named driver of another person’s insurance policy that has experience and ideally is female with no claim history. This will ensure full cover for the Under 21 driver however the premium will be much lower than that of their own and cover will likely be comprehensive. The only real disadvantage of this set up is that the named second driver does not accrue any no-claims bonus from the insurer. Only the policy holder is entitled to that. Please be aware thought that not all insurance companies offer this alternative and you may struggle to be named on another policy if under the age of 21.
To lower the premium paid by under 21 drivers there are certain options available. Firstly, you can opt to pay a higher excess in case of an accident. This means that you will cover a higher part of the repair cost should there be an accident, however if there is no accident the excess will obviously not need be paid and the premium would have been lower for accepting a higher excess level. Secondly, insurance companies like to know that the car is safe and away from potential danger. If security is spent on the vehicle to include such features as an alarm and immobilizer, the driver will be rewarded with a lower premium. Similarly if the vehicle is parked in a garage over night rather than left on a public street, this is lower risk resulting in lower premium payments further. Lastly, research has found* that by shopping around between various insurance companies and obtaining quotes, it is possible to lower car insurance premiums by up to 35% as the various insurance companies haggle for your business.
As with all insurance policies available on the market, Under 21 insurance is available at varying levels of cover. Depending where you are situated in the world and governed by different insurance guidelines, insurance for this age group can vary from basic levels of cover, which for example may simply cover the third party in an accident to fully comprehensive cover which insures against any eventuality. Obviously the higher level of cover, the higher the premium paid.
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