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Young driver insurance is just like normal car insurance. What sets these policies apart is the high premiums that young drivers pay for their car insurance. 17-25 year old drivers can benefit from comparing insurance policies that are tailored to the needs of young and new drivers. These policies provide the coverage you need while attempting to offer cheaper young driver car insurance options.
When insurers set high premiums, they are usually offsetting the risk involved with insuring a particular person or vehicle. In the case of young drivers, they face more expensive insurance premiums because of:
This not only means a higher likelihood of making misjudgements on the road, but it also means having no no-claims bonus. A no-claims bonus acts as proof for insurers that you are a lower risk to insure. This is why long no-claims records can come with lower insurance costs.
A fifth of all road accidents that cause death or serious injury in the UK involve a young driver.* Insurers can’t ignore these statistics when setting insurance costs for young drivers and their vehicles.
Young people are also more likely to exceed the speed limit, carry passengers, drive at night, and get distracted by their phones. These all contribute to the risk of an accident and will be factored into insurance premiums.
Insurers can not set higher or lower insurance premiums based on gender or sex alone. However, they can use indicators of a person’s risk. And the data is very clear on young male drivers.
In a study on UK road collisions that involved young drivers, 65% of these drivers were males, whereas only 35% were female.* This is a pattern that repeats across all age brackets but is particularly unbalanced for young drivers.
This is why young male drivers might face higher premiums on average. However, this is just one of many risk indicators that insurers will use when setting the cost of young driver insurance in the UK. So it’s possible it could be countered by another factor that works in your favour.
Depending on what stage you are at in your driving journey you will have a few different insurance options. Learner or provisional drivers will need their own insurance if not covered by their instructor’s insurance. If you have passed your test you will have the following options:
TPO insurance offers the lowest level of insurance coverage you will need to legally drive on UK roads. This might suggest it is also the cheapest, but this isn’t always the case. Our research showed that younger drivers under the age of 21 could save an average of 11% by opting for fully comprehensive insurance rather than third party policies.
TPFT insurance options provide financial support when you have accidentally caused damage or harm to another person, their car, or their property. Unlike third party cover, which offers no protection for your own car, this covers your car if it is damaged or completely lost due to fire or theft, allowing you to make repairs or replace the vehicle.
Comprehensive coverage options offer the most protection. These cover everything included in the previous two, but will also protect your car if it is damaged in an accident on the road, even if you were the one who caused it. Some of these policies can also come with extras like windscreen cover or breakdown protection as standard.
These are optional extras that can be added to any of the three previous policy options to personalise and enhance your protection. Add-ons like courtesy car cover can be useful if you rely heavily on your car. Other options like no claims bonus protection could help you with future insurance costs.
At Quotezone, we’ve done the research to give you the latest average car insurance costs across all age groups in the UK. Our latest data puts the average annual cost of car insurance for drivers aged 17-24 at £2,381.
Although this has dropped from a high of £3,056 in February 2024, it is still 80% higher than the average cost of car insurance for drivers over 65.
With such high insurance costs, finding a cheaper young driver policy could be the difference between driving or not driving. That’s why it is essential to take steps that could help you find cheaper premiums where possible. These can include:
Each car is assigned an insurance group in the UK. These range between 1 and 50, with lower groups generally costing less to insure. If you are buying your first car, it would be a good idea to research cars in lower insurance groups before you commit.
Voluntary excess is the amount you commit to covering in the case of making a claim. Options can range from £50 – £1,000 depending on the insurer. By choosing a higher excess, you take some of the risk off the insurer, and this could be rewarded with savings on your premium.
Having additional driving qualifications can demonstrate to insurers that you have advanced driving skills. This could remove some of the key concerns insurers have with young drivers’ abilities on the road, resulting in lower premiums for some insurers.
Paying your insurance monthly may be tempting, however, it will come with additional costs. Some insurers might not offer this at all if you have a bad credit history. So although paying annually might seem like a lot at once, it is often cheaper overall.
Specialist cars like classic or high-performance cars and those with modifications could all increase your insurance costs. This is because they will likely have a higher market value overall, and their parts can be more expensive or difficult to source.
Car insurers will ask you about your occupation. Whether you have a job, are unemployed, or are a student, be aware that your job can affect the cost of your insurance. In some cases, there could be more than one title that accurately describes your occupation. You can compare these, but never give false or misleading information to an insurer.
There is a reason that insurance comparison websites are such a key part of buying insurance. We allow you to compare policies and prices from over 120 UK car insurers at once, so you don’t miss out on finding a better deal.
Adding an experienced or low-risk driver to your young driver policy could help bring costs down. Good options would be a driver with a long no-claims history and no convictions. Just be sure you are the main driver of the car to avoid “fronting”.
Telematics, or black box insurance policies are especially useful for young drivers. They will monitor your speed, braking, and mileage through an app or device. And if you demonstrate safe driving habits, this can be rewarded with lower premiums.
If you only need insurance for a short period, temporary car insurance for young drivers could be a cost-effective solution. Different insurers can offer coverage for as little as a few hours or up to several months. However, be aware that you miss out on building your all-important no-claims discount when you insure with temporary policies.
Generally speaking, insurance costs tend to get lower once you reach the age of 25. For example, in September 2024, 25-34-year-olds paid £1,068 less on average than 17-24-year-olds.
This could be attributed to simply ageing out of an age group that has shown itself to be high risk on the roads. However, an increase in experience and individuals building up no-claims bonuses also help keep costs low.
On the other hand, if you have displayed reckless driving, received driving convictions, or made recent claims on car insurance, your premiums are unlikely to fall in line with your age group’s averages.
When comparing insurance for young drivers you’ll need a few key details, most of which you’ll already know or can easily access.
Each insurer prices its policies slightly differently. So when you compare a wide range of young driver car insurance policies, you are less likely to miss out on potentially cheaper deals.
At Quotezone, we work with a wide range of trusted UK insurers who can provide competitive quotes tailored to young drivers. Just enter a few details once, and we do the hard work of matching you to policies so you can compare coverage and costs side by side.
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*51% of consumers could save £523.47 on their Car Insurance. The saving was calculated by comparing the cheapest price found with the average of the next six cheapest prices quoted by insurance providers on Seopa Ltd’s insurance comparison website. This is based on representative cost savings from August 2024 data. The savings you could achieve are dependent on your individual circumstances and how you selected your current insurance supplier.
