10 tips: how young drivers can save money on car insurance
Kathrin gotthold is a qualified lawyer. She completed her traineeship as a business editor in frankfurt am main and then worked for six years at a major daily and weekly newspaper in berlin, where she was responsible for consumer finance. She also gained experience working for the magazines "Betriebsberater" and "der steuerberater". In the finanztip editorial department she is mainly concerned with insurance topics.
- As a novice driver you pay the highest insurance premiums. But you can push the price.
- Insure your car as a second car or have a no-claims bonus transferred to you.
- As a young driver, you can save even more with telematics rates.
- The choice of your car makes a lot of difference.
- If possible, choose a car that is not a classic beginner’s car.
- Check whether insurance through your parents or taking over the no-claims class from relatives is possible and sensible.
- Finanztip recommends: first calculate the cheapest car insurance on verivox or check24. Then do a cross-check with huk24.
In this guide
Finally: you’ve got your driver’s license and your first car is just around the corner. Then often comes the shock of seeing the premium for car insurance. Pretty expensive. But finanztip has put together a list of the best tips to help novice and young drivers with save money without much effort can.
Tip 1: insure the car as your parents’ second car
The easiest and cheapest way is to have your parents insure your car as a second car insure and you as enter driver. Alternatively, the car can also be insured through grandparents or other relatives. In most cases, however, insurance through parents is the cheapest option. The premium for the parents’ first car does not become more expensive as a result.
Insurance companies classify a second car in at least ½ of the no-claims class (SF class). Often they grant an even higher class, in the best case they grant you the same no-claims class with which the first car is insured.
Car insurance through the parents still has other advantages: these usually have better actuarial values, for example because they own real estate or have a certain profession. In return, the providers often grant further discounts. This means that the premium is lower than if the novice driver were to insure himself/herself. However makes the admission of the novice driver to the driving group more expensive the premium considerably, as we found out in a 2018 finanztip study.
By the way, parents don’t have to worry that their SF class for the first car will deteriorate if the child has an accident with the second car. In this case, the downgrade only applies to the second car.
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Tip 2: use family rates
Not all parents want to insure their child’s car as a second car and be the policyholder for it. What sounds a little heartless at first doesn’t have to be a disadvantage. As a beginner driver, you become an insurance policy holder from the very beginning and have a own no-claims bonus. In addition, the parents’ contract can still be very useful.
Many insurers offer young drivers the opportunity to start with a better no-claims class than class 0 if their parents have insured their car with the same company.
With this option, you insure yourself and the insurance policy is in your name. This is usually more expensive than the second car insurance through the parents. But you can still save.
As part of our investigation into second car rates, we have many of these family tariffs found. These are special second car arrangements where the car may be registered to a person other than the policyholder.
Be registered as a keeper and be rated with the claim-free years that correspond to the length of time you have held your driver’s license, but at least SF class ½. This is particularly worthwhile if you already drove a moped or a motorcycle before you got your driver’s license, because these times also count.
The family rates you can not take out with comparison portals. You have to pay directly from your parents’ insurer inquire.
Tip 3: take part in accompanied driving
For some years now, young people have been able to a driver’s license for a car at the age of 17 make. The prerequisite is that they are always accompanied by an experienced driver in the first year – so they are not driving alone.
Statistically, novice drivers who take part in accompanied driving cause fewer accidents – after all, it’s usually their parents who sit in the passenger seat and keep an eye on them.
This controlled driving pays off. In a random sample in 2016, we calculated the premium for car insurance for three different scenarios: in the first case, the novice driver uses his parents’ car, in the second a second car belonging to his parents, and in the third a car of his own:
Savings through one year of accompanied driving
| -38 % | -10 % | -6 % |
| -37 % | -12 % | -5 % |
| -18 % | -20 % | -10 % |
| -31 % | -14 % | -7 % |
source: finanztip calculation (as of july 2016)
Here’s how insurance cost in the sample for the first year after getting your driver’s license when driving with an attendant on average 31 percent less than after obtaining their driver’s license at 18 years of age. The savings are particularly high if the new driver’s license is registered with a car owned by the parents. then the family even saves a good 38 percent compared to the driver’s license at 18 years of age.
In the following years, according to our research, the additional year of driving experience was reflected in lower premiums. If the 18-year-old is allowed to drive after one year without the accompaniment of his parents, the car insurance costs on average 14 percent less than if the 18-year-old would start without driving experience.
Particularly with his own car, the 18-year-old saved through experience. 20 percent discount granted by providers on average. Those who only wanted to insure their car with liability insurance saved almost a quarter of the premium in the 2016 finanztip sample.
If you want to buy your own car at an early age, you should still use your parents’ car when you are 17 and only then buy your own car. As finanztip calculations showed, the driver’s license at 17 then paid off, although a year earlier costs for the insurance are incurred. You can find out more about our spot check procedure at the end of this text.
Tip 4: take SF classes from your parents’ contract
It’s hard to get started – and car insurance costs so much in the first few years after you get your driver’s license, because the driver has to pay a lot of premiums premium rate still high is. Over time, however, your insurance will become cheaper if you remain claim-free.
Then it is also a good moment to become a policyholder in the car insurance contract yourself. You can get at best the no-claims bonus from the second car contract transfer to your parents. Of course, this only applies to the number of claim-free years that corresponds to the duration of the driver’s license. However, it is important that you jump over the hurdle of class 0 or SF class ½.
When taking out the new insurance, state that you want to take over your parents’ no-claims bonus. The insured parent must sign this agree to take over in writing. you then start with the new insurance with your own no-claims bonus. You can also switch to a new insurer and do not have to stay with the previous insurer. Find out how to do this in our guide to changing your car insurance policy.
It is essential to clarify in advance with the insurer of the parents under which conditions the discount can be transferred. Question above all, which no-claims bonus he gives you. Many insurers are uncomplicated in this respect.
Some providers, however, do not always allow the surrender of no-claims classes when you switch to another insurer. Then you have to calculate whether it is cheaper to stay with the old insurer with the possible discount or to start with another insurer with the SF class ½ – because you will then have the necessary three years of driving experience.
Tip 5: take over the SF classes from relatives
SF classes you can usually also from relatives and life partners take over. This variant is especially worthwhile for drivers who have had a driver’s license for several years, but have never had their own car insurance. Ask your relatives if they have recently deregistered a vehicle or are planning to do so. It’s especially worthwhile if your grandparents can’t or don’t want to drive anymore and can cede their high discount to you. Not all, but many insurers grant this transfer.
When taking over a no-claims bonus the old policyholder loses all his SF classes in this contract. So it is only worthwhile if a contract is not needed at all. If, for example, an 83-year-old female driver in your family decides to give up driving in the future, you can take advantage of this and take over the claim-free years of the relative.
However, only as many claim-free years can be transferred as the recipient already has the driver’s license.
Examplea 25-year-old driver who obtained his driver’s license at the age of 18 can take on a maximum of seven SF classes. at the age of 21 he bought his first car and insured it as a second car through his parents. So he can take over four claim-free years from this contract.
But if at the same time there is the possibility, more than four SF classes to transfer from the contract of a relative is this variant cheaper for him.
the example shows: you can only take on as many classes as you even had achieved, if you had insured a car yourself right after passing the driving test. You can usually still take over the SF classes six to twelve months after deregistration from a car insurance policy. Therefore, also check whether any of your relatives have deregistered their vehicles some time ago.
Tip 6: use the SF classes of scooters and motorcycles
you can not only transfer the SF classes from one car to the other, but also from motorcycles and scooters to a car. This must be at least a scooter from 50 cubic centimeters. Maybe even your parents had insured a motorcycle or something similar a few years ago, so that you can now take over their discount.
| light motorcycles (50 – 125 cc), motorcycles, passenger cars, camping vehicles | mopeds (up to 50 cc) |
You can also always swap no-claims discounts between your vehicles. If you have already accumulated a number of damage-free years with the motorcycle, for example, this is a good starting point for this exchange. the discount scale for motorcycles is not as long as that for cars, it currently only goes up to SF class 20 and is much flatter: it also starts in class 0 at 90 percent in motor vehicle liability insurance, after one claim-free year the premium rate drops to 50 percent.
With the exchange, you transfer a very good no-claims class to the car and significantly reduce the premium rate there. And your motorcycle will be classified as a second vehicle in the ½ damage-free class. At huk-coburg, for example, the premium rate is then 65 percent for automobile liability and 85 percent for fully comprehensive insurance.
Tip 7: use car sharing
If you participate in carsharing, do you regularly drive, without owning it yourself. This is a very good way for novice drivers to gain driving experience without having to pay a lot for a car and insurance.
But if you do eventually need your own car because you commute to work or want to be more independent, you don’t have to start from scratch with insurance. Just as some insurers count the accident-free periods of the company car as pre-insurance periods, some providers also accommodate carsharing users. This is what we have found out in our research on second car insurance.
If you have accumulated the required number of days and kilometers, you will be credited with the corresponding number of claim-free years. The carsharing provider must confirm this data in writing.
Especially if you can bridge the critical years between no-claims class ½ and 4 with car sharing, this is worthwhile. Then, after these four years of driving, you can start with SF class 4 instead of SF class ½.
Tip 8: use telematics tariffs
With telematics tariffs, car insurers offer discounts for a safe driving style. Usually in combination with a plug or sensor, an app on the smartphone evaluates, for example, acceleration, braking behavior and speed. With a very good driving style, novice drivers can save 20 to 30 percent. But even an experienced driver can hardly achieve the highest discounts, also because factors that are difficult to influence are often included in the score, such as driving in larger cities in commuter traffic.
Nevertheless, the telematics discount can at least somewhat cushion the disadvantage of the missing no-claims class for young drivers. So check whether your insurance company also offers a telematics option.
However, you should be aware that with telematics you pass on a lot of your driving data to the insurance company.
Tip 9: don’t choose a typical beginner car
Whether it’s the VW polo, opel adam or ford fiesta: these are the cars that car dealers like to recommend to new drivers looking for their first own car. These models are more frequently involved in accidents. This is reflected in high type classes – and makes insurance more expensive. As a general rule, the higher the type class, the higher the risk of damage and the higher the insurance premium.
The type classes range from 10 to 25 for liability insurance. The type class to which a vehicle is assigned depends on many factors, such as the year of manufacture and the engine.
Check for car traffic lights before buying a car.De or on the website of the German Insurance Association (GDV), find out the respective type class of your car and compare it with similar vehicles. Pay particular attention to the exact type designation of your car, because the type classes of a golf IV, for example, differ by up to four levels, depending on the number of horsepower and year of manufacture. Choose a car with a lower type class to save money on the insurance premium.
Tip 10: don’t take out comprehensive insurance on very old cars
liability insurance is required by law for every car in germany. Comprehensive insurance on the other hand voluntary. There is no point in taking out fully comprehensive insurance for older cars with a low residual value. It is usually only worthwhile if the car is less than five years old. The question of partial cover insurance remains. There are three main factors you should consider: the residual value of your car, the price of the partially comprehensive insurance and the question of whether you’re in financial difficulties come if it was stolen.
compare offers with and without partial cover insurance. And weigh up whether the additional costs are in a reasonable ratio to the residual value of your car. Also consider whether you can choose a higher deductible to lower the premium. In a 2018 finanztip study, we found that a deductible of 500 euros per claim saves a considerable amount of money. If the residual value of the vehicle is still significantly higher than what you would have to pay yourself in the event of a claim, then partial casco is definitely worthwhile.
Note that partial coverage insurance usually only covers the following types of damage:
- Theft,
- Fire, explosion,
- Storm, hail, flood,
- Collisions with hairy deer.
Your way to the cheapest car insurance
You can find the cheapest car insurance by comparing several providers. our big portal test has shown that it’s best to combine at least two comparisons. Not all insurers are represented on all comparison portals.
Save money with a combination of comparison portal and direct insurer. First calculate the cheapest suitable car insurance on either check24 or verivox. then calculate an offer at huk24. Conclude the contract with the most favorable provider. How to find the right car insurance on a comparison portal, we explain in our guide to change car insurance.