Young drivers face insurance whiplash - Irish Independent (10/April/2003) The crime is to be young. The penalty is don't drive - or be prepared to be hit hard in your pocket to do so, until late into your twenties and perhaps beyond. But as the latest Irish Independent car insurance survey clearly demonstrates, it pays to shop around - hundreds, even thousands of euro can be saved and benefits can differ greatly. What can only be described as massive price differences can be seen - well over a €1,000 in lots of cases. Likewise, there are huge benefit disparities - ranging from not bad to almost zero. This can all can be seen in three Irish Independent surveys that compare quotations across nine car insurers for young drivers in Dublin, Cork and rural Galway. In some cases, insurers would not quote, and in many others the quotes given can only be described as extremely daunting. This came despite the car insurers being dealt all the cards. Our sample drivers were flawless - bar the fact they were young. All passed their driving tests first time bang on their 17th birthday, and went on to wrack up the maximum no-claims bonus conceivable for their ages. As such, the survey clearly shows the extremely high bar that must be vaulted in the best of all possible scenarios by young drivers. But what of the mere mortals then. . . We asked a leading Munster Rugby player, a talented actress, and an airline pilot how things were going on the car insurance front. While good enough to hold their own in a ruck, star in movie about to be released nationwide, and handle air turbulence, when it came to car insurance, they all were struggling. One claimed he was being "ripped off"; one said "not a hope" without for her parents, and the pilot said "I can't fly that high." Read about their trials and tribulations on how they are being asked to pay exhorbitant charges for what is a fairly run of the mill product. Donncha gets a mauling DONNCHA O'Callaghan at 6'6" and playing second row for Munster is a fearsome opponent for any team. But while he can handle himself on the field of play, when it comes to car insurance, he may have met his match. Like most other 24-year-old male drivers, it is an up-hill struggle to meet premiums. "We are being completely ripped off," he claims. "It is incredible when you think about it. You have to allow the cost of paying your car insurance every month in your spending." "It is tough; I pay about €3,000, which is a lot when you are trying to buy a house as well and trying to save for that." Mr O'Callaghan drives a one-year old Ford Focus 1.4L with a value he estimates at about €16,000. "I wouldn't even be able to look beyond 1.4L at my age. I know, for instance, Peter Stringer is paying huge money to drive a bigger car. A lot of fellas are having to get cars they don't necessarily prefer, or they have to remain as a named driver well into their twenties." He is on his second provisional licence having sat, and failed, his driving test once, but he plans to take it again as soon as he can take time out from his hectic international, provincial and club schedule. "I have inquired about what difference it would make if I had a full licence, but I will only get about €300 off, I was told." The Munster player has been driving for five years and has a full no-claims bonus. He hasn't noticed that much difference in his premiums as a result, although he thinks his premiums have come down about €810 since he started paying insurance at 19. However, he also recently upgraded to fully comprehensive cover. But although he finds it a heavy financial burden, he is not about to give up his car. "Driving is hugely important to my career, especially in Munster. We're based in Cork and Limerick, and I have to travel up to Limerick two or three times a week. I have no option but to take out my own insurance to get there."They tell me it is basically down to my age; maybe they also think being a professional rugby players we are in a higher risk category, and are only into fast cars and fast women!" Katy gets stage fright at insurance quotes EMERGING young Dublin actress Katy Davis at 21 has a film and theatre career that stretches back eight years. On April 25, her biggest film role yet in black comedy thriller Dead Bodies gets its nationwide Irish release. But while her career may be gaining momentum, owning her own car and getting the money together to put it on the road is still well out of reach. As she put it herself: "I wouldn't even contemplate getting a car at the moment, and it is not just the price of the car. To be insured by myself at the age of 21, it's too much!" "I drive a Volkswagon Golf Estate, which is my mother's car, and she pays the premiums, so I am not sure how much they are. I would love a car of my own, but I don't have a nine-to-five office job, and my income is very sporadic. "I don't have a steady income; like many actors, it would be too much of a commitment. "I am not necessarily complaining; this is the career I have chosen. It is something that goes along with the job. Part of the territory is a lack of resources. I have to use the bus quite a bit!" "I know so many actors that just want a place of their own - four walls and chairs. A car is very much out of the question!" But if Ms Davis did have the funds to get a car on the road and make the insurance payments? "I'd get a Beatle, especially a new one, or one of those little sports cars that can only fit two people. Maybe a convertible BMW, but that'll be a few years away! It's more likely to be a mini, but even that is still some way off." Taking a look at the hefty premiums offered by insurers on a modest five-year-old Opel Corsa valued at €5,000 - her dream of owning her own car is some distance down the road. Flying high but paying through the nose AT just 23, Shane Carroll is a fully qualified airline pilot for two years. He estimates he has flown over 36,000 people calmly and smoothly to their destinations since last May. But he claims he is frustrated by the high premiums charged by car insurers. The latest quote he has received for a 1997 Audi A3, 1.6L, comes in at a hefty €3,173 even after he accumulated a two years no-claims bonus. But this is still well down on the €6,600 he paid starting out for a 'bare bones' third party fire and theft insurance. "Insurers do not trust people like me enough to drive, although I can fly up to 200 passengers at a go. "There seems little link between responsibility and driving ability to the price of my premium. "I am being discriminated against based purely on my age and sex. "Only three insurers will quote me, although I have a full licence and not been in an accident," he states. "I have had to save for the last eight months to get this year's premium together. I have a good job, but I don't know how other guys do it." "I have paid over €12,000 in premiums over the last three years. I am absolutely the only person I know, outside my pilot friends my age, that has a car and can afford to pay his own insurance." But Mr Carroll can do nothing about it - other than stump up, he claims. "I have to have a car. I have to be able to get to the airport within an hour anytime of the day or night. A taxi, besides the expense, would not always be available, and public transport requires two buses from where I live in Dublin, and that can take up to three hours. "I cannot get around it. I have to pay this huge amount of money to drive my own car." Back to Media Index