Young Drivers Warned

YOUNG drivers could see their annual car insurance premiums soar to more than [pounds]3,000 by 2017, it was revealed yesterday.

Motorists aged 17 to 21 are already paying more than double the annual average insurance, research from uSwitch. com found.

Over the past ten years, the cost of car insurance for young drivers has gone up by 92 per cent. And by 2017, it could cost a young driver as much as [pounds]3,097 to insure a Ford Fiesta, said uSwitch. com Average premiums for all drivers are now about [pounds]409 a year, but for 17 to 21-year-olds, the figure is [pounds]948, with young men forking out [pounds]1,181.

Young drivers represent only 4.2 per cent of the market, yet they account for 16 per cent of motoring offences, and under-21s account for 34 per cent of dangerous driving offences.

This, combined with the fact that young male drivers are also ten times more likely to be involved in an accident, explains why insurers charge younger drivers higher premiums.

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