My son, aged 17, will hopefully pass his driving test in the not too distant future. I intend to give him our Focus 1.6 Zetec. He intends to take Pass Plus programme of lessons straight away. He has been looking online for Third Party Fire and Theft insurance as the owner of the vehicle and main named driver. We're not going down the route of his mother keeping the ownership of the vehicle and having him as a named driver, I believe that's a pretty risky way round things, though lots of people do it. He has got on-line quotes of around £2,700 for the insurance. Can anyone here suggest a company which has the best insurance deals for 17 year old males? Any other advice will be appreciated.

Thanks in advance.

FireballXL5man said:

My son, aged 17, will hopefully pass his driving test in the not too distant future. I intend to give him our Focus 1.6 Zetec. He intends to take Pass Plus programme of lessons straight away. He has been looking online for Third Party Fire and Theft insurance as the owner of the vehicle and main named driver. We're not going down the route of his mother keeping the ownership of the vehicle and having him as a named driver, I believe that's a pretty risky way round things, though lots of people do it. He has got on-line quotes of around £2,700 for the insurance. Can anyone here suggest a company which has the best insurance deals for 17 year old males? Any other advice will be appreciated.

Thanks in advance.

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Focus 1.6 is a very good starting point....it's always been a cheap car to insure for young drivers. I'd make sure you go for fully comp as today, third party fire and theft cover returns higher premiums for young drivers.

Direct line was always the cheapest I could find during that initial 1st year with 0 no-claims....ditch them once no claims is attained as they dont tend to drop their prices much as time goes by.

And RAM HOME to your son that if he crashes its going to cost him BIG TIME when it comes to renewal.... Make sure he knows the limits of the car, get him to do an ABS test on a quiet road etc, because teenage lads are going to drive "quickly".... I'd rather my kid knew how the car was going to behave, than NOT know etc.

Just my 2 cents.

Having the insurance in his name, but adding yourself and the missus as named drivers will also reduce it slightly (assuming you all live in the same house, and will have access to the car)

eek 1.6

there is no best company and there's not really a trend unfortunatley

best you can do is hit ALL of the comparison websites, go directto insurers and play them off each other

your son is classed high risk but there's big , big business in young drivers so there gonna want your custom

good luck

FireballXL5man said:

My son, aged 17, will hopefully pass his driving test in the not too distant future. I intend to give him our Focus 1.6 Zetec. He intends to take Pass Plus programme of lessons straight away. He has been looking online for Third Party Fire and Theft insurance as the owner of the vehicle and main named driver. We're not going down the route of his mother keeping the ownership of the vehicle and having him as a named driver, I believe that's a pretty risky way round things, though lots of people do it. He has got on-line quotes of around £2,700 for the insurance. Can anyone here suggest a company which has the best insurance deals for 17 year old males? Any other advice will be appreciated.

Thanks in advance.

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Your first mistake... giving him your Ford Focus. You need to let your child support themselves. If he can't commit to the money side of things to drive... Then he just shouldn't.

I paid for everything for my car... My petrol, my tests even the parts to fix it when i broke it... New brakes etc. Service.. The works.

My car is worth about £450.. I've learnt to cherish this car because its something i spent my hard earned cash on. If you just hand out cars to your son then he isn't going to respect it enough and therefore probably thrash it around and more than likely crash it.

That is half the problem theses days. Parents handing out for their kids.. I can understand them not wanting their child to be driving around in a dangerous car thats too old to be any use when it comes down to being safe but this is seriously taking the frigging biscuit...

Im just speaking from experience and i hope you take this into account.
(im not trying to offend you in any way at all, just putting my point across)

With a 1.6 you'll be raped with insurance, if you want cheaper insurance go for a smaller engine, older car. Still expect to pay £1,000+ though.

Adding yourselves as a named driver will help a bit, adding my mum saved me £100.

FireballXL5man said:

My son, aged 17, will hopefully pass his driving test in the not too distant future. I intend to give him our Focus 1.6 Zetec. He intends to take Pass Plus programme of lessons straight away. He has been looking online for Third Party Fire and Theft insurance as the owner of the vehicle and main named driver. We're not going down the route of his mother keeping the ownership of the vehicle and having him as a named driver, I believe that's a pretty risky way round things, though lots of people do it. He has got on-line quotes of around £2,700 for the insurance. Can anyone here suggest a company which has the best insurance deals for 17 year old males? Any other advice will be appreciated.

Thanks in advance.

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Having a higher voluntary excess can also get you a better price.

try giving chris knotts a bell and tell them you found them from here.
https://www.fiatforum.com/insurance...rum-insurance-save-up-15-your-best-quote.html
i've been getting quotes for my focus 1.8, most places were 500-600, they were £310, but then I've changed it so that my seicentos insured and the focus is now a temp car, only a week. that got it down to £280 with all the mods declaired.

but at that age your going to be bent over, I had to pay £1200 on a 998cc mini 10 years ago. TBH, I dont think a 1.6 focus is a good first car, when hes got a mate or two in, and he starts to find his limits (we've all been there and done it) he's going to kill himself, maybe others.

stick to something with a small engine, nissan micra K10, seicento, mini, lupo, etc..... theres some really cool cars for youngsters that will be cheaper to insure, have more street cread and less power.

Rawb said:

Your first mistake... giving him your Ford Focus. You need to let your child support themselves. If he can't commit to the money side of things to drive... Then he just shouldn't.

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At the end of the day, if a parent wants to support their children, then let them - it is not a mistake. Buying or giving a car away is nothing when compared to trying to build up a house deposit...

Then again, I had my first car given to me at 17 - plus I also intend to help out our children once they hit that age.

Rawb said:

Your first mistake... giving him your Ford Focus. You need to let your child support themselves. If he can't commit to the money side of things to drive... Then he just shouldn't.

I paid for everything for my car... My petrol, my tests even the parts to fix it when i broke it... New brakes etc. Service.. The works.

My car is worth about £450.. I've learnt to cherish this car because its something i spent my hard earned cash on. If you just hand out cars to your son then he isn't going to respect it enough and therefore probably thrash it around and more than likely crash it.

That is half the problem theses days. Parents handing out for their kids.. I can understand them not wanting their child to be driving around in a dangerous car thats too old to be any use when it comes down to being safe but this is seriously taking the frigging biscuit...

Im just speaking from experience and i hope you take this into account.
(im not trying to offend you in any way at all, just putting my point across)

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TBH I think that was a bit in your face what you said. I had my first car given to me but had to do everything else myself

TBH though, imo a 1.6 is far to powerful a car for a first car!

I've only a 1.4 now and thats more than powerful enough at the age of 21.

1.2 8v or lower imo as a new driver but each to their own.

Try admiral they seem to be the most reasonable for myself, Fiat Punto Evo Sporting with modifications (Tinted Windows, Optional alloy upgrade, Exterior Decorations) 1.4T 16V for a 22yr old Male (Me!) Girlfriend as named driver, 1Years NCB and full business use for myself is just over £1100 compared to other quotes near and over 2K

fenton_jd said:

Direct line was always the cheapest I could find during that initial 1st year with 0 no-claims....ditch them once no claims is attained as they dont tend to drop their prices much as time goes by.

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I second that. Had exactly the same experience with DL - they were the cheapest when I first passed, come renewal I found they were no longer that competitive.

Rawb said:

Your first mistake... giving him your Ford Focus. You need to let your child support themselves. If he can't commit to the money side of things to drive... Then he just shouldn't.

I paid for everything for my car... My petrol, my tests even the parts to fix it when i broke it... New brakes etc. Service.. The works.

My car is worth about £450.. I've learnt to cherish this car because its something i spent my hard earned cash on. If you just hand out cars to your son then he isn't going to respect it enough and therefore probably thrash it around and more than likely crash it.

That is half the problem theses days. Parents handing out for their kids.. I can understand them not wanting their child to be driving around in a dangerous car thats too old to be any use when it comes down to being safe but this is seriously taking the frigging biscuit...

Im just speaking from experience and i hope you take this into account.
(im not trying to offend you in any way at all, just putting my point across)

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No problem, I'm not offended by this post. I appreciate your opinion. However, the dealer offered us just £2000 on the car as a trade-in. My son intends to pay his own insurance when we transfer ownership to him. If we accepted the trade in deal, we'd probably pay a similar amount for an inferior car. We've owned that Focus from new and it's never been pranged. As a result, we'd like to keep it in the family.

How about another option. My wife keeps ownership of the car, we add my 17 year old son as an additional driver and he doesn't modify it in any way. It sounds legal and reasonable to me, what do you guys think?

Thanks in advance.

FireballXL5man said:

How about another option. My wife keeps ownership of the car, we add my 17 year old son as an additional driver and he doesn't modify it in any way. It sounds legal and reasonable to me, what do you guys think?

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This would be 'fronting' if your son is going to be the main user of the car.

FireballXL5man said:

No problem, I'm not offended by this post. I appreciate your opinion. However, the dealer offered us just £2000 on the car as a trade-in. My son intends to pay his own insurance when we transfer ownership to him. If we accepted the trade in deal, we'd probably pay a similar amount for an inferior car. We've owned that Focus from new and it's never been pranged. As a result, we'd like to keep it in the family.

How about another option. My wife keeps ownership of the car, we add my 17 year old son as an additional driver and he doesn't modify it in any way. It sounds legal and reasonable to me, what do you guys think?

Thanks in advance.

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That sounds so much more reasonable, sorry about my previous post... I was angry at the time and had to vent it all...
Anyway... Its best to insure your son on your policy as a named driver, just keep the car in your name... and it'll be fully legal.



My insurance before (Quinns cars TPFT) £148.36 monthly...

My insurance on my mothers policy (Fully Comp/CIS) £41.00 Monthly.

Saves alot of money and hastle... The other funny thing ive noticed is I can have a 2.0 Renault sport and only pay £110.00 monthly... Think ill be getting a faster car once ive had more experience, for the time being i'll save for a HGT I wish your son all the best with learning to drive.

Rawb said:

That sounds so much more reasonable, sorry about my previous post... I was angry at the time and had to vent it all...
Anyway... Its best to insure your son on your policy as a named driver, just keep the car in your name... and it'll be fully legal.



My insurance before (Quinns cars TPFT) £148.36 monthly...

My insurance on my mothers policy (Fully Comp/CIS) £41.00 Monthly.

Saves alot of money and hastle... The other funny thing ive noticed is I can have a 2.0 Renault sport and only pay £110.00 monthly... Think ill be getting a faster car once ive had more experience, for the time being i'll save for a HGT I wish your son all the best with learning to drive.

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Depends who's the main driver. Like said before, if he is going to be the main user, it is classed as fronting and is illegal.

It might not as you will not get NCB being a named driver, unless you are with a provider who offers it for being just a named driver.

No problem Rawb. Thanks for the advice.

Vance, our intention now is that the car will be in general use by myself, my wife and my son. We're all going to use it. It won't be modified in any way, so I can't see that it should present a problem. Surely that's OK insurance wise? Otherwise, as I see it, the only way a 17year old can be insured is by actually owning their own car and paying megabucks for third Party Fire and Theft insurance. Do most of them do that?

Stu DemonD said:

This would be 'fronting' if your son is going to be the main user of the car.

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:yeahthat:

Rawb said:

That sounds so much more reasonable, sorry about my previous post... I was angry at the time and had to vent it all...
Anyway... Its best to insure your son on your policy as a named driver, just keep the car in your name... and it'll be fully legal.

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I'd just be a little careful giving other people dodgy advice

FireballXL5man said:

No problem Rawb. Thanks for the advice.

Vance, our intention now is that the car will be in general use by myself, my wife and my son. We're all going to use it. It won't be modified in any way, so I can't see that it should present a problem. Surely that's OK insurance wise? Otherwise, as I see it, the only way a 17year old can be insured is by actually owning their own car and paying megabucks for third Party Fire and Theft insurance. Do most of them do that?

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Right, who will drive it most? If its your son, then insurance needs to be in his name tbh.

Another thing, how many other cars are there in the house-hold? Do you / your partner have their own car?

If so, should your son be a named driver on the Focus and have an accident, insurance will check other cars etc and use assumption of you having your own car & partner having own car to mean that the focus is probably your sons, and that he's the main driver.

From personal experience I'd advise against fronting! If he is only going to be using the car occasionally then it should be ok.

FireballXL5man said:

No problem Rawb. Thanks for the advice.

Vance, our intention now is that the car will be in general use by myself, my wife and my son. We're all going to use it. It won't be modified in any way, so I can't see that it should present a problem. Surely that's OK insurance wise? Otherwise, as I see it, the only way a 17year old can be insured is by actually owning their own car and paying megabucks for third Party Fire and Theft insurance. Do most of them do that?

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You should try and get a policy where your son gets NCB for being a named driver then.

Im only 19 and I have always paid my own insurance, but I left school at 15 and went into work straight away and I live in a low risk area so my insurance is manageable.

Most Easterly Pandas said:

TBH though, imo a 1.6 is far to powerful a car for a first car!

I've only a 1.4 now and thats more than powerful enough at the age of 21.

1.2 8v or lower imo as a new driver but each to their own.

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why would a 1.6 be too powerful for a first car? plenty of 1.6s putting out less power than a 1.4 for example.

i was bored with my 1.4 by 18! so i got a 2.0 when i was 20, more power meant you can be more relaxed in driving style most of the time, and hills are a breeze even with a full car. and then some fun every now and then.

Anyway back to the OP if your son isn't to be the main driver, then yes put him as a secondary driver, but if the use of car is 50:50 or more then you'll have to have him as the main driver.

pass plus discounts are often only applied by phoning up the insurance companys, usually giving 10-20% discount. though it's best to get an online quote first and then phone up to mention the pass plus. You just have to phone/apply online to every single insurer.