Paying for transport.

[tiffinboys]

12 and over could get one of the International Student cards.

http://www.statravel.co.uk/discount-car ... tAod-l4ADA" onclick="window.open(this.href);return false;

[Amber]

We have been quoted about £2000 by more than one insurer. I suspect it depends on where you live.

So were we for some - they vary enormously.

We rang the insurance company the moment we knew DD had passed her test and had to pay an extra £90 for the year's premium over what we had added when she was learning (that had brought the premium up by about £180). I think it may depend more on the car than the area you live in - we were very lucky to be passed a decent but 10 year old low mileage vehicle by an elderly relative who had looked after it but hardly driven it.

[Y]

Current insurance for DD and DS: about £800 - with DS, learning, as the main driver. (It was more when DD was specified as the main driver)
Expected insurance once DS passes (based on checking online): £1200

There were similarly enormous increases when DD passed.

[Guest55]

Insurance costs decrease once they have a couple of years experience (which won't be much driving if they are away at uni). It also decresed when DS reached 20 and again at 21.

[scary mum]

If they are the main driver you must name them as such, otherwise it is fronting and the insurance may well not pay out - they will be particularly suspicious if you have 3 cars in the household & three drivers, and have been known to quiz neighbours about who drives the car. Of course you could genuinely be sharing the cars - I can fully see that a third small runabout might be used by everyone, but in our case DD drives it every day to go to school and work and we could not honestly say that she was not the main driver. It also means they can build up a no claims bonus - assuming no accidents
(Rather off topic but I'm sure all this is of interest for those of us with 6th form children!)

[solimum]

Also remember that you can often get a discount on young drivers if they are still included on the insurance of a family car but are away during term-time at university. Slightly helps defray the cost before the next one starts....

[2childmum]

We have been quoted about £2000 by more than one insurer. I suspect it depends on where you live.

So were we for some - they vary enormously.

We rang the insurance company the moment we knew DD had passed her test and had to pay an extra £90 for the year's premium over what we had added when she was learning (that had brought the premium up by about £180). I think it may depend more on the car than the area you live in - we were very lucky to be passed a decent but 10 year old low mileage vehicle by an elderly relative who had looked after it but hardly driven it.

Our car is a very low insurance group. I know from experience that where you live makes a huge difference. We used to live in West London, and some insurance companies lumped our postcode in with another area with a lot of car crime, and others separated us out. The insurance was more than double when they lumped us together.

We have taken out an learner driver policy for our son, which was cheaper than adding him to our existing policy, as it is only for a few months, and can be extended if needed. Once he passes we will have to look around again.

[Y]

The only affordable policies for us were with black boxes. Beware ones with curfews, if you all use the car. We managed to drive ours after curfew one night, and it landed us a £50 bill. Also, beware of the small print. One policy we had only allowed the learner to drive with a parent or grandparent, and would terminate the insurance if you went at one and a half times the speed limit. That may sound a lot, but there are a number of wide road 30 limits where the unobservant might find themselves nudging 45. We didn't know about these clauses till very late, and I'd lost the will to live when it came to looking for insurance policies.

[SteveDH]

That may sound a lot, but there are a number of wide road 30 limits where the unobservant might find themselves nudging 45.

There's a dual carriage way in Birmingham with a 30mph limit which with the help of a portable speed camera I found out to my cost. Nothing to do with this conversation, but I'm still annoyed at those 3 points on my licence especially as when I had to visit there the following week, I found keeping to the speed limit took quite a bit of concentration as everyone around me wanted to go faster...

[2childmum]

The only affordable policies for us were with black boxes. Beware ones with curfews, if you all use the car. We managed to drive ours after curfew one night, and it landed us a £50 bill. Also, beware of the small print. One policy we had only allowed the learner to drive with a parent or grandparent, and would terminate the insurance if you went at one and a half times the speed limit. That may sound a lot, but there are a number of wide road 30 limits where the unobservant might find themselves nudging 45. We didn't know about these clauses till very late, and I'd lost the will to live when it came to looking for insurance policies.

A black box wouldn't work for us for exactly that reason - I need to drive my car a lot and DS would only have use of it as and when - so curfews etc really wouldn't work.

We live just off of an A road which basically runs from the coast (initially as a motorway) as one continuous road, and it takes about 11/2 hours to drive from coast to our door. 1 hour 20 mins has a 70 mph limit, which drops over the last 10 mins to 50 and then to 40. It feels like it would be quicker to get out and walk! It's really difficult to keep to the speed limit, especially as the road itself remains a dual carriage way the whole length. Luckily we know the curve in the road behind which the traffic police usually hide, but they catch an awful lot of people.