Halfords Team up with Provisional Marmalade
A revolutionary type of car insurance is helping learners drivers slash the cost of getting on the road.
Motoring to camping accessories group Halfords has teamed up with young driver specialist Marmalade to offer a new deal, launched today which provides comprehensive cover for just £3 a day.
Parents and helpful friends who allow an L plate driver to practise in their cars can face paying out staggering additional premiums, often in excess of £3000. The car owner also risks their no claims bonus if the learner is responsible for a collision.
To make matters worse some insurers have raised the minimum age of the driver they will insure to 21 or 25 and consequently will not allow young drivers to be added to a parents’ policies.
The high cost of insurance has led to young drivers putting off attempting to learn - the number of 17-21 year olds with a provisional licence has fallen by almost a third (from 46% to 32%) over the past 15 years - while an estimated 300,000, one in four provisional licence holders, drive uninsured.
This new insurance policy is written in the name of the learner driver allowing him or her to practise in a friend’s or family car and costs between £90.95 and 99.50 per month - a fraction of the cost of adding a learner to a parent’s policy. As it is a separate policy, it does not affect the existing car insurance, even in the event of a claim.
Halfords spokeswomen Diane Perry said: 'The high insurance premiums for young drivers deprive many of the opportunity to gain that vital practice needed to supplement tuition from qualified driving instructors. Parents are being put off helping youngsters learn to drive in the family car as a result. This scheme makes it much easier and cheaper for them to learn.”
Nigel Lacy from Marmalade added: "Learner drivers can now put in extra hours of vital practice without parents and friends being heavily penalized for allowing them to use their cars. The Driving Standards Agency recommends over 20 hours of private practice alongside professional tuition and this insurance policy has removed one of the biggest concerns facing parents when helping their children behind the wheel – the risk to their No Claims Bonus.”
Cover is arranged though our website www.halfordslearners.co.uk in minutes. Packets of L plates on sale in stores carry details of the scheme.
