Insurance Cost/Decision - Advice needed

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TNGL

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I'm finally upgrading from the Corsa I've been a named driver on for around 5 months to an Audi A4 2ltr. I managed to secure a very good non black box insurance quote of £1,600 per year, a month ago with GoSkippy but the price expired and they've decided to bump it up by £400.

I was quite happy with £1,600 but £2,000 just isn't really doing it for me compared to the cost of getting black box insurance. I can get black box insurance for around £1,000 and so to pay 100% more for the privilege of not having my driving monitored seems a bit excessive.

Would I be stupid to not just get black box insurance given the stark contrast between the two quotes (£2,000 vs £1,000, essentially)? I am not a bad driver, probably max out at 85mph on the motorway with near enough no speeding on 30mph roads and the like. The car would primarily be used in the evening and at night because I would only really drive it after work. I envisage I'll do around 70 miles a week on average (if that).

Should I just get a black box? Or are they not worth the headache? I've read stories saying they are completely fine but I've read many more horror stories. In all fairness though, the Corsa's had a black box in it and the main driver, my brother, has never had any complaints from the insurer when I've been driving it.

Anyone willing to shed some light? I am 21 years old, hence the high premiums in the first place.
 
I would be very careful, black boxes effectively mean you drive like a cautious driver or could have your insurance cancelled. One thing that can be an instant cancellation is speeding so 85mph would likely mean having your policy cancelled.

Check the terms carefully and make sure you can easily live with them. Convincing yourself you can when you can't could be costly.
 
What insurer is this?

I have an admiral black box and they seem to not care how I drive
 
I'd avoid black box at all costs. The risk of getting your insurance cancelled is massive. If you get that you'll be paying through the roof for the next few years. Basically, do a quote and start you insurance not on the day but 3-5 days later and you'll see the prices drop.
 
Speeding doesn't make a bad driver. Lack of awareness and forward planning make a bad driver. You can do 50 in a 70 or 30 in a 40 yet be a brain dead idiot, much more dangerous than someone who's switched on and exceeds the limit slightly.

Try adding parents/partner on as a named driver. How many years NCB do you have? Setting the policy start date a few weeks in advance is worth a try. Speak to some of the specialist insurers too, don't just go off comparison sites.
 
agw_01 said:
Speeding doesn't make a bad driver. Lack of awareness and forward planning make a bad driver. You can do 50 in a 70 or 30 in a 40 yet be a brain dead idiot, much more dangerous than someone who's switched on and exceeds the limit slightly.

Try adding parents/partner on as a named driver. How many years NCB do you have? Setting the policy start date a few weeks in advance is worth a try. Speak to some of the specialist insurers too, don't just go off comparison sites.
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My parents won't let me do that, I've only been driving since March and that was as a named driver, so 0 years as far as NCB is concerned. I need the insurance to start for the 2nd and so putting the date any further in advance isn't really a solution for me. I tried GTI solutions a while back but they weren't much help.

Minstadave said:
Have you phoned goskippy and asked for the original price, quoting the black box prices? That's what I'd try.
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Phoned them last night and they said they'd ring me back. I'm yet to hear from them, I'll give them another go if I've not heard by lunch.

grudas said:
I'd avoid black box at all costs. The risk of getting your insurance cancelled is massive. If you get that you'll be paying through the roof for the next few years. Basically, do a quote and start you insurance not on the day but 3-5 days later and you'll see the prices drop.
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Having the insurance cancelled is a fear of mine but as @Shivy011 has said, it can be fine and that is what I have found when driving the Corsa with the black box. WRT getting a quote that doesn't start on the day, that was the plan with GoSkippy but it turns out they don't save the quotes and if they do it must be for a few minutes at most. I've managed to secure a £2,000 quote with GoHastings which I'm slightly more tempted by because they appear to be more reputable than GoSkippy; the quote is also saved until the 2nd September.

Unless I can get the GoSkippy quote back down to £1,600 I will bite the bullet and have a black box. I'm generally a safe driver bar the occasional bit of speed on the motorway and given how few miles a year I'll be driving, it might be worth it.
 
Mucky_Pup said:
Why won't your parents be named drivers?
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This issue seems to come up a lot, it's usually because they think their driving record is at risk if he has an accident. Surely it's entirely useful and sensible for them to be insured on the car incase they need to move it or use it?
 
Black box and sticker in the back to alert other drivers, saw one the other day 'I'm not a OAP I have a black box fitted sorry!'
 
Have you already got the Audi? Maybe a change of car for the first year or so?

First time drivers usually have a crash in their first year anyway. :p
 
theone8181 said:
Is there as much of a saving now as there used to be (assuming you are main and add them as named rather than be naughty and use them as main).
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For younger drivers there are

For me on my own on a 1.25 fiesta is around £2000, with grandad as named (I share it with him) and dad on it came down to £1198 last year, and £750 ish this year
 
theone8181 said:
Is there as much of a saving now as there used to be (assuming you are main and add them as named rather than be naughty and use them as main).
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Surprisingly, I got a pretty decent discount by adding my Dad as a named driver on my 370Z (roughly 20%) - could be due to my car history (boring hatchbacks) but I didn't expect it at all given I turn 30 this year.
 
Always had my dad on as a additional drive and always brought the price down . up until my latest car when the price went up and so he came off this year . Sorry dad ha he always likes to drive my cars
 
I'm a named driver on my Sons and step daughters. We found adding me and my wife onto the step daughters brought hers down by about £200 and its handy tbh. Both have telemetric boxes fitted. I did a fair bit of searching to find out if being a named driver would affect me but everything I read said it was fine.

Recently the whole lot seem to have skewed right towards black boxes, hundreds of pounds more to get it without.
 
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