Quote:
Originally Posted by Othen
I'm not sure anyone is getting ripped off Dave - it is just that the risks are enormously high and the costs of fixing things if they go wrong can be very high also. I've just cut and pasted this from some place on the internet (the first result that came up):
How many drivers crash in their first year of driving?
Nationwide, 43 percent of first-year drivers and 37 percent of second-year drivers are involved in car crashes ... so nearly half of all new drivers have an accident in their first year, and not many less in their second year.
I won't like the idea of having to pay 2 grand to insure a Skoda Fabia (or similar) when Dan passes his test and gets his first motor, but then given the above I don't see why all other motorists should subsidise new drivers just because they are careless.
Looking at it from the insurance underwriter's perspective, a couple of grand to cover a new driver seems cheap if he/she has almost a 50-50 chance of a prang in the first year. Motor cars have become very expensive to repair because we have chosen to have a high cost/high wage society and indeed very fixable vehicles are frequently written-off as a result. We have also chosen to become a compensation culture society, indeed it seems almost an expectation that victims of minor accidents will expect a few thousand for made up whiplash or similar un-disprovable conditions. I don't agree with the compensation culture, but someone has to pay for it.
So, whilst I won't like having to stump up the cash to get Dan insured, I can understand the reasons why.
:-(
Alan |
I get all that Alan and also agree we shouldn't subsidise new drivers - perhaps we should be educating them better and making the standard of competence to drive higher to start with.
As for whiplash, i bought my second Jag with part of the payout i had for mine. The Jag is long gone, however 20+ years on, i'm still suffering the effects of the whiplash. Genuine whiplash is a horrible thing but i do know many try and fake it.