Are older drivers being unfairly penalised on car insurance?

Patrick, I’ve not experienced any serious problem due to age – but at 68, I don’t consider myself any more than middle-aged. (I expect the young will think I’m ancient, whilst the truly old will have a laugh!)

The usual problem is that often the ‘automated renewal’ tends to be a big hike, so I always hunt around. Several times, I have renewed by going on line to the same provider (think dog), got a new quote which I accepted and simply cancelled the automated renewal. Crazy. If the automated renewal was at the competitive rate, it would save my time and the dog’s administration effort.

I’m now with LV= because of Which? reporting better customer service. Time will tell!

PS I pay around £200 fully comp for the wife and I on an Octavia DSG estate. That seems reasonable.

Hi
I had the same problem, so I always get a letter from the insurer in the country stating my no claims in years and some (not all) companies accept the letter and credit you the NCB. In my case it was RAC who accepted the information. Hope that helps.

This situation is appropriate to all forms of insurance. On several occasions I have had a renewal request for both car and house insurance with increased premiums and have found lower cost alternatives. Invariably when I ‘phone the old company to cancel the policy, I am offered a more competitive price. If they had offered this in the first place, I wouldn’t have changed! They seem to operate on the ‘captive audience’ basis where the renewals requests are simply accepted without question.

Sorry to make it clear please sent a Quote as my above message for my Rover 75 car.

I have recently had a qouth from a well known web ‘compare site’

Being abroad temporarily I suspended my insurance for three months. On renewal the said site were qouthing me double my previous insurance.

I have an impeccable record at 78 including 12 years no claim so needless to say I refused the extorniate increase for allegedly being punished for having the temerity to stop paying needlessly for months alluded to andI told them it would be cheaper for me to hire a taxi.

Is there any way we can avoid the exploitation of aged drivers whose driving records is above the average etc etc ?
Maybe a creditable insurer will emerge !!!??? of insuring those with lowest proven risks in my age range, also as I drive for an average of only 2000 miles per year-they will be encouraged to insure low risk drivers like myself and hundreds of thousands of others!!!

Sadly, Daniel, the accident statistics prove the opposite. Young (below 25) people cause or are involved in most accidents.

Daniel have you heard the modern expression -ageism ?
“Old persons a nightmare on the road ” – not according to insurance companies where the vast majority of accidents are caused by —-young people especially -yes another modern expression -“boy racers ” showing off to their girlfriends and pals .
Dont take my word for that ask the Police.
This business of “anti old people ” is hyped up nonsense it doesn’t bear checking with reality .

The very reason you pay a high insurance premium is because your age group is the most accident prone , this is one area where growing older makes you wiser .

When I started out at your age I had a motorbike I had to pay more to earn a NCB that increased year by year . Insurance companies arent fools they deal with reality not conjecture –
Read-

https://www.brake.org.uk/news/15-facts-a-resources/facts/488-young-drivers-the-hard-facts

I feel sorry for those who pay high premiums when they are young and never have an accident. They are victims of statistics.

When they don’t make a claim they can build up a decent discount. Obtaining an advanced driving certificate from schemes like Pass Plus (still around?) can give a discount, as can a black box. Insurers work on risk assessment and, until you demonstrate you are a better risk they will use data for your age group, occupation, area you live, car type etc. Risks are assessed from “statistics” and you will benefit from statistics if you live in a lower-risk area, have a better-risk occupation and a lower-risk car. And when you have no accidents you will also benefit.

Young drivers are still being hit with higher premiums irrespective of whether they are good drivers, simply because young drivers on average have more claims. When I was young I drove my fathers car for years before taking out my own insurance, but not having made claims did not give me any discount on my insurance, and having taken over my father’s three year old car I was even driving the same car, living at the same address and doing the same job. I wonder if experience gained by driving a car on someone else’s insurance is taken into account these days.

Both of our two took the IAM Advanced Driving Test within a few months of passing the normal test. Their insurance plummeted. Pass Plus was a bit of a joke; when we investigated it seemed that the discounts were not very good from the very few companies that offered it, and as there was no pass or fail component in it it seemed a bit of a waste.

“irrespective of whether they are good drivers” . I’d suggest the way to assess a good driver is by more advanced tests, that are open to them,with reductions in premiums as Ian has pointed out, and by having an accident free record, also resulting in lower premiums. Black boxes seem a good way to monitor driving style and times when you are out and about; these also, I believe, keep premiums down. Any other ways an insurer can identify “good” – lower risk – drivers?

“because young drivers on average have more claims.“. Which is why they require higher premiums.

The present situation is akin to being assumed guilty until proved innocent. Why not take into account experience driving on someone else’s insurance without having an accident or incurring other claims?

I have nothing against people taking an advanced driving test and maybe we should all do this fairly soon after passing the driving test.

In terms of the risk factor of older versus younger drivers I would suggest that older drivers are much less likely to be driving in the dark which significantly reduces their risk of a collision.

It also seems from incidents reported in the press that more young drivers than older drivers are involved in single-vehicle collisions with trees or other solid objects off the highway. A tree is actually the worst thing to hit – a wall or post will usually give way and absorb some of the impact.

Young drivers should take especial care around Sandringham, however, where some older drivers can be back behind the wheel in a new car within hours of a write-off. I don’t think the insurance industry has an answer for that situation.

I wonder if those older drivers are insured, and if so perhaps with Royal and Son Alliance? Pulling out when you can’t see because of the sun is careless driving.

I realised after this post that the accident was actually the result of a Royal and Sun Alliance. 🙁

Ooooh, that’s truly groanworthy.

I haven’t found many “boy racers ” in older people but I have had plenty of young boy racers “up my b******e ” Wavechange .
One young “white van man ” was inches from me because I was not going fast enough.
If you check out government figures only 25 % of those in fatal accident group/major accident are female , its young guys with as they say in the USA – a lead foot.

I’m not doubting that young drivers, especially male ones, are on average more likely to have accidents and claims on their insurance, Duncan. That does not mean that all young males are dangerous drivers. Equally, I’ve seen a few older drivers who probably should not be on the roads but also many who are experienced, still fit to drive and don’t really deserve premium increases just because they are getting older.