Best car for insuring learner driver

[Salvadore]

My son is approaching driving age and is interested in doing lessons etc.

Ultimately, he will be added to my car for insurance purposes. I don’t do huge mileage and it makes no sense to have two cars.

For new drivers, I guess the impulse is to buy a 1.0 or 1.2 litre engined cars. I like cars though and currently drive a 2.0Tdi A4. I suspect it’s too powerful for a novice driver and probably too expensive anyway for the purposes of insuring a learner driver.

What are the main considerations for adding provisional drivers to a main driver’s policy? Is it principally engine size? Any suggestions on what might be a good compromise in the circumstances?

Thanks in advance.

 

[S class]

Aviva had an offer of free insurance on the parents policy if the learner took driving lessons from the Aviva Driving School. Check out if this still applies.
You can then go to Aviva's website and get online quotes for different car types with your son added as a named driver on your policy.

 

[Zobeda]

Hi Salvadore.
I too drive a 2 litre (150bhp) car, a large estate, and added my son to my policy as a named learner once he'd started his cycle of lessons.
When I added him my policy had 8 months left to run and the cost was circa €800, with Allianz through a broker.
On renewal last year he was still a learner and the 12 month cost to keep him on the policy was again circa €800.
I will say he wasn't at all confident in my car initially (he was doing the lessons in a Corsa), but over time his confidence in himself grew to the extent that he happily did his test in it, and passed first time. The power was definitely a concern of his initially, as well as the size of the vehicle, but with patient practice we both got over it without falling out.
He's now in his own mid size 1.6 diesel (95 bhp I think) and his first policy in his own name was a shade under €1,700 with Asgard (Axa).
I'm told the prices quoted to newly fully licenced drivers, and learner permit holders and their parents can vary wildly, possibly depending on how much of that particular risk category is on an insurers books at any given time.
Maybe someone in the industry could shed more light on that? Maybe that's as big a consideration as any other?

 

[Salvadore]

Hi Salvadore.
I too drive a 2 litre (150bhp) car, a large estate, and added my son to my policy as a named learner once he'd started his cycle of lessons.
When I added him my policy had 8 months left to run and the cost was circa €800, with Allianz through a broker.
On renewal last year he was still a learner and the 12 month cost to keep him on the policy was again circa €800.
I will say he wasn't at all confident in my car initially (he was doing the lessons in a Corsa), but over time his confidence in himself grew to the extent that he happily did his test in it, and passed first time. The power was definitely a concern of his initially, as well as the size of the vehicle, but with patient practice we both got over it without falling out.
He's now in his own mid size 1.6 diesel (95 bhp I think) and his first policy in his own name was a shade under €1,700 with Asgard (Axa).
I'm told the prices quoted to newly fully licenced drivers, and learner permit holders and their parents can vary wildly, possibly depending on how much of that particular risk category is on an insurers books at any given time.
Maybe someone in the industry could shed more light on that? Maybe that's as big a consideration as any other?

Many thanks @Zobeda for the very helpful reply