Tuesday, March 22, 2011

How much? Boy's �33k motor insurance shock

Jake Redshaw, 17

Jake Redshaw said his independence would now have to wait until he is 18

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A teenager has described his amazement after being quoted almost £33,000 to insure his second-hand car.

Jake Redshaw, 17, from Salford, bought a six-year-old Vauxhall Corsa for £3,000 after he passed his test earlier in March.

He told the BBC he expected comparison website insurance quotes to reach about £3,000 - but received a headline figure of of £32,819 from the AA.

The company said the figure was a mistake and should not have appeared.

Jake, from Eccles, was hoping to use his car to travel to Pendleton College, where he is studying IT, and his part-time job in a warehouse.

"The average [price] was probably about £12,000, £13,000 and the cheapest was £5,700. And I got £33,000 from AA," he told the BBC.

"I was amazed because I was expecting to pay £3,000, £4,000, but not that high.

"I can't insure it. If I want to go out I'll have to get my mum or dad to drop me off to go out. I can't be independent as I wanted to be.

"At 18 it apparently goes down, so I'll have to wait until then. But it's only a couple of months away so it's not that bad."

According to the Association of British Insurers (ABI), 12% of drivers are aged 17 to 24 - but they are responsible for almost 30% of accidents.

In that age group, drivers are 10 times more likely to be involved in an accident than drivers aged over 30.

A spokesman for the AA said the high risk associated with young male drivers meant the average industry quote for a UK male aged 17 to 22 was £2,750.

Copy of the AA quote figureThe AA said the figure was a mistake

"Sometimes insurance companies would prefer not to have that business and rather than not quote they quote figures they do not expect to be taken up," said the spokesman.

"One of the insurance companies on our panel has produced a quote that just should not have appeared."

Last week, the Manchester-based Co-operative insurance launched a product that offers reduced rates to young drivers if they install a device to their car which monitors their driving.

The AA said it would be offering a similar scheme later in 2011 and believes such products could boost the number of quotes for young drivers.

This article is from the BBC News website. � British Broadcasting Corporation, The BBC is not responsible for the content of external internet sites.

Source: http://www.bbc.co.uk/go/rss/int/news/-/news/uk-england-manchester-12824940

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