Why are premiums for young drivers so high?

Last Modified 16th of February 2021

Insurance can be pretty expensive for everyone, but it has to be said that it is often shockingly high for young drivers. There are a few reasons for this: Inexperience Experience does make a difference when driving, even if you feel like you are an excellent driver you are almost certainly not as competent as you will be in a couple of years’ time. Statistically young drivers (even the sensible ones) are much more likely to make a claim. Aggressive Driving Young drivers when they cause accidents also tend to cause more damage. If a 40 year old crashes it is likely to be a small bump, but 17 year olds are much more likely to write off a car or two, resulting in a more expensive claim. You might be a very sensible driver, but since the insurance company has no way to know that you are unfortunately be painted with the same brush as your more reckless peers. Frivolous Claims No win no fee type lawyers have ruined insurance for everyone. Remember those expensive accidents that young people cause? Well chances are that if you crash you will also get sued. So if you hit a reasonably nice car which has 2 or 3 passengers and they all sue for whiplash you can quickly see how you might cause a claim worth several times the value of your car! They Don’t Want Your Custom Sounds like an odd thing to say I know, but unfortunately because of the above young drivers in general are a high risk and that means higher variance and less stable finances. Some insurance companies simply don’t want young drivers and the ones who do will want a big reward in return for the risk, so chances are that they will add a bigger profit margin on your premiums than they would on your mum’s.