New hope for young drivers

Blitzkrieger

....was a headline in yesterday's Examiner. "What's this?", you say. "Young drivers are finally going to get just insurance premiums? After a few ****wits at Aer Lingus get so much attention for being unable to keep a monopoly profitable, the media is finally going to acknowledge our campaign (www.mijag.com)? Insurance companies are finally going to stop squeezing every last drop?"

Of course not. It's a free advertisement for Axa's ludicrous Traksure system. Dermot Devlin surfaced briefly from his fantasy world to say this : "The reality is that premiums reflect the risk, and in some cases not even enough." What reality would that be? In our reality while young drivers are considered twice the risk, we pay ten to twelve times the premium. It's not enough? It's a good thing they're raising premiums 25%. We'd hate for O'Reilly and Cassels (pictured) to have to do without some of those impeccably cut suits, gold watches, whitened teeth or flawless wig (or in Cassels' case, flawlessly shiny head).

[quick note on why Traksure is so ludicrous] I don't believe that the "digital map of Ireland" will reflect every speed limit\zone in the country. I also don't believe that it will be updated as those zones change. You have to pay for the system yourself. The discount isn't big enough - you get a bigger discount for no-claims bonus and no doubt they'll wrangle it so you can't have both (at least not compounded). You have to stick with the system and can't shop around for a better quote. The system knows where your car is at all times. This might be useful if it's stolen (Traksure probably won't help recover it) but did someone say Big Brother? [/quick note on why Traksure is so ludicrous]

The Hibernian scheme Ignition, is less ludicrous. Participants go on a one-day training course and (presumably if they pass) get a 20% discount. I've always thought that increased driver training is the way to lowering accident rates, but why is it only for younger drivers? It's younger drivers who have recently passed a tougher driving test, while some older drivers do not remember what most road signs are for, and some never even took a driving test. Increased driver training across the board should be mandatory.

The 20% discount is again, not enough. You can get a further 10% discount for not using your car when most single-car accidents happen : between 11pm and 6am. This is where it gets ludicrous. Most of the time that wouldn't bother me, but what if there was an emergency? Also, if you agree to not use your car almost 33% of the day, you get a 10% discount? And if this is when a high amount of accidents happen, aren't you lowering your risk considerably?

New hope for young drivers? Oh yes - now I'm all smiles and sunshine.

gandalf

Heres the good news blitzk aren't premiums going up around 20% next year

Gandalf.

bonkey

Originally posted by Blitzkrieger
[BIn our reality while young drivers are considered twice the risk, we pay ten to twelve times the premium. [/B]

I woul dagree that "young drivers" insurance in Ireland is ludicrous, but as a matter of interest, where are you getting these figures from - notably the "double the risk" one?

From a mate who worked in the insurance industry, he told me that the ratio of average claim value per young driver compared to older driver is roughly in line with the diff in insurance costs. I'm not sure he was right, but I'd be interested in finding more on this.

jc

dahamsta

Call me an old conspiracy theorist if you want, but how long before "advantageous to young drivers" becomes "advantageous to all drivers", and then "a requirement for all drivers"?

This type of system is already being abused.

adam

Victor

Originally posted by bonkey
I woul dagree that "young drivers" insurance in Ireland is ludicrous, but as a matter of interest, where are you getting these figures from - notably the "double the risk" one?

From a mate who worked in the insurance industry, he told me that the ratio of average claim value per young driver compared to older driver is roughly in line with the diff in insurance costs. I'm not sure he was right, but I'd be interested in finding more on this.jc

These figures were based on a goverment report on figures from the industry itself. It was found that only very young drivers (17 - 19 years old)presented an excessive risk (but not an uninsurable risk) for the insurance companies and that discrimination against under-30s and under-25s existed.

bonkey

Thanks 4 that m8...

jc

Chucky

Im 18 years old. I could be classed as a young driver, but I dont drive - so im not! :-)

Anyway. I totally agree with the amount of insurance etc for young drivers. They are proven to cause the most accidents on our roads. I have already lost an uncle and a cousin to car accidents and by now im sick of it!

Im sure if they would put jail sentences for speeding, that would work, but it would be bordering on anarchic....maybe.

Also, If I could, young people simply would not be allowed to drive under my power!

Paladin

There is actually hope. A realistic system (amazing eh). Ill post ye a webby in a few weeks.

WhiteWashMan

its nice to know that on a 1.8i mazda mx-5 my total cost of insure=ance here would be about ohhhh, 700 quid. conservative average done on a bit shopping around.
now in ireland, i woudl pay, hmm, how much would i pay?
3500? maybe, 2500 lowest for sure. pretty crappy for someone with a full licence who has onlyl been driving under their own insurance for a year. aparently being a named driver doesnt wash over there, or counts for half years.
utter crap. bugger to all insurance companies in ireland.
when i go for insurance on the nice mx-5 i intend to buy in the next 2 months, i will see what insurers will insure people in ireland and post up a link or whatever. see if you can get it at least half the price......

Enygma

I drive a piece of crap and my insurance is just over two grand, likely to be 2500 this year.
I'm 23 years old, a responsible adult and I'm treated like a 16 year-old when I try to get insurance. These people have never seen me drive yet they tell me that I'm too high a risk because other fu*kers younger than me are acting the maggot.

If my insurance was even half what it is now I'd be able to afford a newer and safer car.

Those fu*kers are making a mint off us. :mad:

gurramok

Originally posted by Enygma
I drive a piece of crap and my insurance is just over two grand, likely to be 2500 this year.
I'm 23 years old, a responsible adult and I'm treated like a 16 year-old when I try to get insurance. These people have never seen me drive yet they tell me that I'm too high a risk because other fu*kers younger than me are acting the maggot.

insurance rip-off, i'm in my late twenties, i refuse to pay extortionate amounts for car insurance(£2000 for cover on crappy car), i rather cycle/get bus to work saving loadsa dosh

i have a question for 'young' drivers out there :

as those insurance companies discriminate against us solely coz of our age,

Why don't ye boycott those same companies when ye reach a 'mature' age (over 30 yrs) as a form of payback/revenge??
Aren't we the future source of the insurance companies revenue/business ?

Blitzkrieger

There's really only a handfull of insurers but they trade under loads of different names. I'm planning on boycotting Primier Direct cos they don't insure under-29s, but by then they'll probably be trading under a different name.

Nothing personal Chucky but that's the dumbest post I've seen in a long time. If you think about it you'll see why.

daveirl

This post has been deleted.

Enygma

Why don't ye boycott those same companies when ye reach a 'mature' age (over 30 yrs) as a form of payback/revenge??

I think a boycott would be the way to go, we need to hit insurance companies where it hurts. The only thing is, most of us need a car, hence we need insurance and if we were to boycott companies now we wouldn't be able to drive. By the time we're 30 they'll have gotten their money from us and will still be concentrating on the young males of the time.

I'll be getting my insurance renewed in a few weeks and I'm seriously thinking about going in in drag or telling them that all my friends say I drive like a woman.

Infact, over the long term you'd probably save a fortune if you were to chop your nuts off......Nah!

why is it so hard for a young driver to get insurance???

It's hard because one company quotes you something like £4,000 and another quotes you £3,500 and you just have to keep looking 'till you get as low as you can. It seems insurance is immune to the whole "competition is good for consumers" thing....if you happen to be male and under 27.