Insurance for young driver with provisional licence?

[Charles P]

The Austin Seven "movement", through multiple Clubs and a central association have a dedicated insurer.
You shouldn't need to know the GM's mobile phone number to plead special circumstances in answer to a question that comes up so regularly in old car circles.

There has to be a better way

Charles

[flywheel1935]

If I recall correctly RH allowed my son to drive my Ruby as a 'named driver', despite having a full licence at 17, so long he was accompanied by me until he was 25.
He was 1 day old when I brought him home from hospital in it, and at 17 drove me around Silverstone at a 750MC meeting.

[Adam Brown]

It may well be different for my family as we have a fleet of vintage vehicles (20 or so) and so have a fleet policy. This is by Hagerty but via One Broker (whom are local to us and looking to work their way into the vintage market, though I think fleets is their main focus).

They proposed an 'over 25' policy for us, which doesn't work as my youngest sister was at the time 22. She also owns some of the more valuable vehicles so their second proposal of only the cheaper stuff also didn't work.

Eventually we came to a common sense compromise. We agreed a list of vehicles she could and couldn't drive individually (so basically the master policy was Over 25's and she was a named driver on individual vehicles). Within two years, and with no misadventure they dropped the Over 25 from our policy so anyone with a valid license can drive now.

How useful this is to you I don't know. What it says to me is that with the right broker taking the right approach the underwriters are persuadable but its on a case by case basis. Do consider many younger drivers may look at a Classic as a way to 'game the system' and get cheaper insurance before tuning the thing to high heaven and wrapping themselves round a lamp post. Vintage Cars don't quite fall into that bracket but I'm not sure underwriters quite 'get it', to us Veteran, Vintage, Classic make sense, to most of them I'd imagine its just historic vehicles.

For what its worth I think the personal approach with a dedicated broker / contact is probably the only easy way forward. I can't see many firms when rung out of the blue saying yes to an Under 25.

Prior to the fleet policy we put our Chummy in her name and she did get insurance on that at around 20/21 for not a huge amount though I can't remember the specifics.

[Ruairidh Dunford]

RH will allow 18 year old drivers, with a full
licence and access to another vehicle, to drive an Austin Seven, provided the owner/policy holder is in the car with them.

This is issued on a case by case situation and may be of use in the future.

This was arranged with RH through the A7CA.

[Ray White]

I understand the frustration ... but is it really a good idea to learn to drive in an Austin Seven? As one now needs to show proficiency in a modern vehicle to pass a driving test, perhaps it is better to learn to drive one.

I was always told by my parents to "bide your time". It's not bad advice, actually.

[Chris Garner]

How things have changed. Nearly thirty years ago, Hazel, my eldest, having passed her tractor test aged sixteen, drove my '29 RF saloon on her seventeenth birthday the 120 mile round trip to a VSCC meeting at Cadwell Park. Fully insured through RH or whoever they called themselves in those days.

[Andy Bennett]

I have an article somewhere from 'Car' I think arguing that every learner driver should have a lesson in an Austin 7.
It went along the lines of better road awareness, planning ahead, reading the actions of other motorists and feeling a little vulnerable, rather than being cocooned in a modern and believing that you can do whatever speed your right foot can achieve without any danger and that if you do hit something then all parties will bump off each other and go on their merry way since all cars use F1 technology which can hit barriers at 150mph without so much as a bruise to the driver.

[andrew34ruby]

I have an article somewhere from 'Car' I think arguing that every learner driver should have a lesson in an Austin 7.
It went along the lines of better road awareness, planning ahead, reading the actions of other motorists and feeling a little vulnerable, rather than being cocooned  in a modern and believing that you can do whatever speed your right foot can achieve without any danger and that if you do hit something then all parties will bump off each other and go on their merry way since all cars use F1 technology which can hit barriers at 150mph without so much as a bruise to the driver.

That makes a lot of sense Andy. A wide experience must be good. When I taught my wife to drive, aged 18, and then both kids as they reached 17, they drove in as varied conditions as possible. They drove on dual carriageways, fast main roads, narrow country lanes and steep winding hills with blind bends. We didn't have a seven in those days.

[Ray White]

I passed my driving test while still at school.  We had an enterprising Headmaster who arranged for 6th form pupils to have driving lessons with BSM.  Three students to a car sharing for an hour or more; we learned the finer points from each other's mistakes.  I had an advantage in that since I was 16 I had been driving a three wheel 'bubble car'  on a motorcycle licence... but I have not heard of such a scheme for many years.