insurance

[james geering]

hi everyone,
i am new to the claasic car sence but have been round classic's since i was born,
i am 17 and working my way through my driving lessons and got a 71 minor pickup.
just wondering which would be the best way of insuring it because of a few mod's?
ill post some picture's later on.
thanks for now.
james geering

[chrisryder]

hi there!

I'm with Footman James, have been since i got my minor (the one that works anyway...) when i was 18. My minor was only lightly modded: minilite wheels, servo, large bore exhaust, bigger carb, stereo.

being a member of the mmoc got me a bit of a discount (dunno how much) but even with the mod's, 3rd party fire & theft was £426 limited to 3000 miles. turned out i used those 3000 miles in the first two months... but was able to ring up and buy more, ended up at a rough total of £600 for the years insurance. After that first year the renewal for 3rd party with unlimited mileage was £420. I can't really complain with that!

Be conscious of whether you got fully comp or 3rd party F&T. at my last renewal i asked how much fully comp would be, and they said £800. 3rd party F&T only covers whoever/whatever you crash into, not your own car. the car is only covered in the event of fire or theft (as the name suggests!).

i opted for 3rd party F&T as it was cheaper, and I don't plan on crashing into anything, and if i do crash, i wouldn't claim as it'd put my premiums up, so i'd end up doing the work myself anyway. I got 3rd party just to have the cheapest insurance possible to make the car road legal.

The bonus with my footman james policy is that i get free recovery, which has come in useful once or twice, notably i got a piggy-back home roughly 200 miles from Skipton. pretty reasonable, it appears they don't have a mileage limit, or stipulate that it's towed to the nearest garage.

Other insurance companies are available ofcourse, but i can only tell you of my own experience!

[alex_holden]

i opted for 3rd party F&T as it was cheaper, and I don't plan on crashing into anything, and if i do crash, i wouldn't claim as it'd put my premiums up, so i'd end up doing the work myself anyway.

I used to think that way, until I was involved in an accident that wrote my car off (not a Minor) but only caused superficial damage to the other car. I'm still convinced it was the other guy's fault but my insurance company decided not to contest the case. I lost my car and my NCB, and had to declare the accident whenever applying for insurance several (five?) years subsequently. A more cynical person might suggest that if I'd been fully comp, my insurer would have had a bigger financial incentive to fight my corner.

[chrisryder]

well in the last 4 years of driving i've not had an accident yet (touch wood) so in 3 years of renewals paying for 3rd party instead of fully comp i've saved myself about £1000 that i'd never have seen again! But maybe i'm short sighted!

Now i'm 21 my renewal should be cheaper when it comes up in May, so i'll ask about going fully comp this year!

[d_harris]

I've always been fully comp. Simply for the reason that if I crash I wont be lumbered with recovery fee's etc. The excess has pretty much covered the value of the moderns in the past though (also, its oddly come up cheaper...) For the minor of course, fully comp with agreed value in order to preserve assets.

[pyebibby]

My morris is the first time ive been fully comp, just cause its worth more than the other bits of scrap ive driven, im 18 and i have been driving a year, with a £4000 claim against me (woops!) as a member (cost me £25) 4500miles its £360... with Footman and james, get yourself onto the MMOC young members register on facebook. just type that into the search bar and its the one that is private, someone will open the door for you im sure

[chrisryder]

how is yours so cheap? mmjosh says his is about £500 for fully comp. i don't exactly live in a dodgy area!

[Alex'n'Ane]

Last year i payed £630 Tpf&t for a basically standard, garaged.

[pyebibby]

it is on my old mans insurance, but it was an extra £200 too out it in my name, sorry abiut that! and of course it deosnt involve no claims in any way

[kennatt]

not another young driver who is named on his fathers policy,but is the main driver policy would be void if the insurance co found out and also invalid as far as the police are concerned. If I were you I'd delete that post just incase big brother is watching and be very carefull I f you are stopped by the police to explain the use of the vehicle at that time,like are you going to work or college INVALID Using just now and again for social visits OK You can not insure like this if you are the main driver of the vehicle so be carefull Just friendy advice

[bmcecosse]

Indeed - you MUST NOT front up a car insured by an older person (relative or not) and driven by a younger person. It is highly illegal - and the Cops WILL chase it up and prosecute in the event of any incident - possibly even pull you over for a 'vehicle check'.......... If I have read it wrongly -and you have put the policy down with yourself as the main driver - then my apologies..........but it's worth mentioning it anyway to warn others. The Cops are VERY hot on this at the moment!
In general recently - most have been reporting MUCH better premiums from RH Classic Insurance -although they may not take on a 17 year old........

[cmea]

RH are good for older people, not sure about the under 30's. I use them for my twincam pick-up. Miles cheaper than FJ, although I never had any problems with FJ.
I would always go fully comp. My father had an accident when he was a youngster in a frogeye sprite - rolled it and spent some time in hospital. Cos he was third party he didnt get any money for his time off work and it was too late to chase the other vehicle after he came out of hospital. He lost his finger, and very nearly lost his sight due to the windscreen glass.
If something happens to you and you are third party then you have to manage, where-as at least fully comp you will recieve some financial assistance. Its not just about the value of the car and the cost of rebuilding a car.

[chrisryder]

i'll bare that in mind... i'm nervous about going out in her now! still 4 months to renewal for me!

[stephenpolhill]

I'd watch is Chris, my renewal came through last week at £840. £45 more than last year. I still haven't worked out the reasoning for this. Ive gone from 18 to 19 and its still gone up.
Those that got cheaper insurance: did you renew before this year?
Also what other companies should I try?
S

[ASL642]

Insurance seems to go up year by year these days - the companies claim it's due to "inflation"

[chickenjohn]

Indeed - you MUST NOT front up a car insured by an older person (relative or not) and driven by a younger person. It is highly illegal - and the Cops WILL chase it up and prosecute in the event of any incident - possibly even pull you over for a 'vehicle check'.......... If I have read it wrongly -and you have put the policy down with yourself as the main driver - then my apologies..........but it's worth mentioning it anyway to warn others. The Cops are VERY hot on this at the moment!
In general recently - most have been reporting MUCH better premiums from RH Classic Insurance -although they may not take on a 17 year old........

Agreed, don't pretend to be an added driver on a parents policy! You won't get no claims that way either. I've always been insured in my own name, but didn't start driving till I was 20. Waiting a few years will make the policies MUCH cheaper, and agreed with BM, RH are a great insurance company. I have never been able to better their quote, but I don't think they cover the under 25 - that is how they are able to give such good value, they only take on experienced, proven safe drivers.

If I was a teenager again, I would again wait till I was a little older (in my early 20's) before driving and then build up some no-claims before getting a classic.

[Nuffles]

For some of us, waiting isn't really an option. I live in the middle of nowhere and I have to drive 20 miles to get to work and the bus to college is a little hit or miss so I have to drive into college if it doesn't turn up. I spent a year driving the Land Rover and it was driven probably about 50/50 between me and my parents so I was a named driver. I have fully comp in my own name on the Morris though, £600/year for unlimited miles and recovery to home if I break down, though FJ. Thinking about a different classic (Hillman Imp?) when it's time for renewal in 5 months time though so we'll see what happens.

[stephenpolhill]

Hmmm. I don't work for an insurance company but I reckon they know that there were more claims due to the ice and they can blaim it on the inflation!