The Student Room Group

I don't remember ever being this angry.

I have searched for hours on end, I have been on comparison websites, I have been on individual websites, I have talked to locan companies, I have asked family and friends for help, my fingers are numb from repetitively filling out forms and answering questions, and I still fail to find car insurance for under £2000.

I am currently studying a Foundation Course at USW on a campus 15 minutes away from home. I receive around £5000 maintenence from a SF company and most of it goes into food, clothes and transport.
Next year, I will have no choice but to move to a campus 25 miles away from home, and with no alternative other than staying at home, I will have to commute to Uni every day. Either I go on buses and trains and spend around 3 hours a day and most of my maintenence doing that, or I get a car and spend 45~ minutes a day commuting but spend most of my maintence and probably being left with no choice other than to get a part time job to pay for the car, insurance, tax and petrol.
Seeing as I spend all of the summer and all time off of uni abroad, I will find it near impossible to find a job accomodating to my needs.
I know people who are younger than me eith cars better than I am trying to get whos insurance costs them £1000~ or less. Is my neighbourhood so bad that it's causing my insurance to nearly double compared to other people? Am I just choosing the wrong cars to get quotes for? Am I doing SOMETHING wrong? I really don't understand how an insurance company can expect somebody my age to pay that much.. It's just unreal..

Please somebody enlighten me as to what I am doing wrong or to what I should be doing instead.
Which insurance company is best for students?
Which should I avoid?
How much should I settle on paying? Because at this point, £1500 seems dirt cheap to me right now, after seeing premiums for £3000 and £4000 and even £15,000...
Try Ensleigh insurance
Reply 2
Original post by Blondie987
Try Ensleigh insurance


Got quoted £4200 with them. :colonhash:
Oh and that was after they told me they wouldn't insure like 4 cars that I picked.
Consider getting a bike? Better on insurance, petrol etc. Some may argue it's more 'dangerous'...but yeah.
Maybe you can just scrap the car/own transport idea all together?
Also..try this company called 'carrot insurance' unless you've already done so :smile:
Area plays a massive factor...
One car I looked at would cost £95 per month if I moved into the bushes...however, where I live now it would cost me £180 per month MINIMUM. Major difference..only thing that changed was area.
Reply 4
Original post by MaseratiJay
Consider getting a bike? Better on insurance, petrol etc. Some may argue it's more 'dangerous'...but yeah.
Maybe you can just scrap the car/own transport idea all together?
Also..try this company called 'carrot insurance' unless you've already done so :smile:
Area plays a massive factor...
One car I looked at would cost £95 per month if I moved into the bushes...however, where I live now it would cost me £180 per month MINIMUM. Major difference..only thing that changed was area.


A bike is out of the question for me. :/ I've previously been in an accident involving a bike and the aftermath just put me off all together..
Haven't heard of them, I will check them out now. Thanks for the suggestion!

And also, yeah if that happened with you then it's definitely my area that is causing the insurance to be so high... I don't get why though as I've said that the car would be kept in a locked garage when I'm not driving it...
Original post by belalbenfadhel
A bike is out of the question for me. :/ I've previously been in an accident involving a bike and the aftermath just put me off all together..
Haven't heard of them, I will check them out now. Thanks for the suggestion!

And also, yeah if that happened with you then it's definitely my area that is causing the insurance to be so high... I don't get why though as I've said that the car would be kept in a locked garage when I'm not driving it...


Oh damn, sorry! Yeah I can imagine. Okay well scrap that idea then!

That''s just how it works really. But it's a shame you live somewhere that's high on insurance, it's same with me!

If it doesn't work then your best bet maybe just public transport although you did say it'll take a while, sometimes we just got to take risks for a bit and reap rewards later!

Hope that company works out, I did some quotes with them and found them to be decent.

Also try getting a car in a lower/the lowest insurance group. Don't go for 1.6 or 1.8 litre etc. Peugeot 107; vauxhall corsa; fiat punto; vw polo that sort of thing. Maybe even a smart car - mpg on it is really good; can park pretty much anywhere it's so tiny etc etc.
I was going to suggest a bike. But yeah, I can understand your point.

Have you considered moving out?
Original post by belalbenfadhel
I have searched for hours on end, I have been on comparison websites, I have been on individual websites, I have talked to locan companies, I have asked family and friends for help, my fingers are numb from repetitively filling out forms and answering questions, and I still fail to find car insurance for under £2000.

I am currently studying a Foundation Course at USW on a campus 15 minutes away from home. I receive around £5000 maintenence from a SF company and most of it goes into food, clothes and transport.
Next year, I will have no choice but to move to a campus 25 miles away from home, and with no alternative other than staying at home, I will have to commute to Uni every day. Either I go on buses and trains and spend around 3 hours a day and most of my maintenence doing that, or I get a car and spend 45~ minutes a day commuting but spend most of my maintence and probably being left with no choice other than to get a part time job to pay for the car, insurance, tax and petrol.
Seeing as I spend all of the summer and all time off of uni abroad, I will find it near impossible to find a job accomodating to my needs.
I know people who are younger than me eith cars better than I am trying to get whos insurance costs them £1000~ or less. Is my neighbourhood so bad that it's causing my insurance to nearly double compared to other people? Am I just choosing the wrong cars to get quotes for? Am I doing SOMETHING wrong? I really don't understand how an insurance company can expect somebody my age to pay that much.. It's just unreal..

Please somebody enlighten me as to what I am doing wrong or to what I should be doing instead.
Which insurance company is best for students?
Which should I avoid?
How much should I settle on paying? Because at this point, £1500 seems dirt cheap to me right now, after seeing premiums for £3000 and £4000 and even £15,000...


Sorry to sound harsh but welcome to the real world.

You have a choice

a) pay the huge insurance premiums

b) get a moped - and I know you said you didn't want one

c) rent a room closer to the uni

d) share a room closer to the uni - ask them for help

e) work the weekends and summer to pay - why are you abroad

f) take a gap year and save some money.

I am sorry for you but you have to cut your cloth according to your means.
Reply 8
Original post by OU Student
I was going to suggest a bike. But yeah, I can understand your point.

Have you considered moving out?


I can't move out, I have certain responsibilities at home that I cannot ignore.. Would be such a money saver though..
Reply 9
Original post by squeakysquirrel
Sorry to sound harsh but welcome to the real world.

You have a choice

a) pay the huge insurance premiums

b) get a moped - and I know you said you didn't want one

c) rent a room closer to the uni

d) share a room closer to the uni - ask them for help

e) work the weekends and summer to pay - why are you abroad

f) take a gap year and save some money.

I am sorry for you but you have to cut your cloth according to your means.


Yeah haha the real world is really all up in my face right about now. :colonhash:
I mean I'm not trying to sound like a brat on a tantrum or anything, I just really needed to vent and find some sort of solution.
I also have responsibilities, or am required to see and take care of certain people abroad so that's why I go..
But I'm starting to think it's a huge waste of time so I'll probably start to only spend the summer.. Try and get a job in the meantime.
Original post by belalbenfadhel
Yeah haha the real world is really all up in my face right about now. :colonhash:
I mean I'm not trying to sound like a brat on a tantrum or anything, I just really needed to vent and find some sort of solution.
I also have responsibilities, or am required to see and take care of certain people abroad so that's why I go..
But I'm starting to think it's a huge waste of time so I'll probably start to only spend the summer.. Try and get a job in the meantime.


Go to a company that uses telematics / fit a black box to your car? - Course it'll only bring down the premium if you're a careful driver or doesn't have a very high annual mileage.

Or you can increase the excess / deductible, get third party only (though beware of costs if you do have a crash). For the quotes you obtained, what's the excess?Or if your car is a high-end model or brand new, a lower priced model could get you a cheaper premium.
I'm going to move this one to Motoring. I think you're going to get more answers there.
Reply 12
Have you got a friend/relative that you could add as a second driver? Adding them as a main driver is called fronting and is illegal, but adding a second driver can help to reduce the premium. It does depend who you choose, though - my boyfriend increases things horrendously for me (about 5 times more expensive last year, and I didn't try this year), my dad added £6, but my sister reduced it. You do have to be truthful, but you can say that they just drive occasionally and this can help.
It then does mean that in an emergency, someone else can drive your car.

What price are you declaring the car at? Conversely, sometimes a cheap car will cost more to insure, because insurers think you're less likely to care. If you have a fancy car you will be more careful. One company that I got a quote with didn't want to insure me if I said the value was less than £1500, but increasing it got better prices. Again, you do have to be truthful, but car values can be subjective - if your car is close to a boundary, it could be justifiable to go for a higher price.

The occupation matters. Again, you have to tell the truth, so you can't say you're a doctor if you're not. But if you work in retail you might get lower premiums by saying you're a "customer advisor" than if you choose "sales assistant". Sounds crackers. but it works.

Where are you keeping the car? Can you keep it on a drive or in a garage? Adding an alarm might be cheaper than paying a higher premium. A different car might help for this as it might have different inbuilt security.
Reply 13
Which cars are you looking at. Pro tip: anything with an engine displacement bigger than 1.3l is a no go.
Tell me about it. Our cat insurance jumped from £20 a month to £50 a month this year with More Than! Ridiculous. I've switched immediately.

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