What is learner insurance?
Learner Insurance is a short term, flexible solution for learner drivers that allows you to get insured quickly on a car. The insurance works to protect you and the owner of the car’s insurance policy so that it will not be affected if any accidents occur.
How it works…
It is vital that young drivers supplement professional training with private practice to increase their chances of passing first time. However it is not always that straight forward and affordable to get insurance in the car which you want to practice in.
There are a few options available to you for getting insurance when doing private practice.
1. You can be added to your parent’s or guardian’s policy, this will normally be for a 12 month period and a significant additional premium will be required.
2. In recent years a new insurance product for learners has become available. You can now take out insurance in your own name called Learner Insurance.
Learner Insurance lets you practice in somebody’s car and instead of being covered by their insurance, it’s insured by your own policy. If you have a bump, it wouldn’t be a claim against their policy so it doesn’t have an impact on their no claims bonus.
Learners need to check if the provider covers your postcode as not all of Northern Ireland is covered by all providers. Policies generally range from a few hours to several months.
Learners need to be sure to understand any policy restrictions like the engine size and value of the car you can cover on these learner insurance policies and what requirements the Insurer has for your supervising driver.
For instance, whoever supervises you may need to be over 25 and have held a licence for 3 years. Finally, you will also certainly have to buy a separate policy if you want to practice in more than one car.
