Car insurance for 17 year-olds in Northern Ireland proving too costly

Young person’s car insurance in Northern Ireland is becoming so expensive that a national body is calling on insurers to cut policy premiums before young drivers are forced off the road because they can’t afford to insure their cars.
Most expensive in the UK

The Northern Ireland Consumer Council (NICC) say that car insurance, in general, is much higher than the rest of the UK, but young drivers in particular have seen their policy premiums increase by over 60% in just one year. They have asked the Northern Ireland assembly to investigate why youngsters in the province pay on average £300 more than their English counterparts.
Change in claims procedure should accelerate cuts

The council accept that insurers are reluctant to insure drivers in Northern Ireland due to historical evidence that, not only is there a high incidence of personal injury claims in the country, but payouts are also significantly higher than anywhere else in the UK. They do point out though that this was because of the system where claims were heard before a jury rather than in front of a single judge, and that the system has now been changed. And it really had to. The average pay out was over triple those on the mainland and scared insurance companies away.
Youngsters should not be driven to crime

Insurance providers have been slow to pick up on the change in the legal system and so have not realised there may now be lucrative business to be gained over the sea, and of course while there is a lack of competition, then prices will remain sky high. At a time when austerity measures and inflation are hitting most families in the UK, asking a 17 year old to pay £3,000 to get car insurance cover on an old car is not going to be feasible, and while everyone accepts that new drivers, and particularly young new drivers, are susceptible to accidents, pricing them out of the market should not be the answer. The last thing Police in Northern Ireland want is youngsters driving around without insurance at all. That is one sure way of putting premiums prices up for everyone else...........

Read More : http://www.motorquotedirect.co.uk/car-insurance-blog/2011/07/