The initial cost of buying and running either a car or bike is huge for youngsters. Add the cost of renting or buying a home and the vehicle probably is a step too far if they can use public transport instead. There is very little pleasure to be had from driving or riding in urban areas in the UK now.
Are they on the old street bike site or have they moved, been a while since I’ve been to or through Dudley.
Each quote will be heavily dependent on his circumstances however it sounds excessive compared to my Sons initial quotes of around £1200 on a Aprilia MX125SM. However we live in a semi rural location, bike in a garage overnight and an insurance recognised lock. He also put his Mom and me on the policy which helped bring it down a little. . Most people just go to a comparison website these days, I know we as a family do every year. Daughter managed to halve her quote on her A1 from £1100.
My youngest is now 17 and passed his car test, saved up bought a 1.0 ford focus. 4800 a year to insure with a black box. highest quote was 16K with most wanting 7K a year. He is desperate to do his bike test next year but with his new outgoings what chance have young people got.
Daughter at 18 bought her a Nissan Micra for £650 during Covid as she couldn’t have lessons due to restrictions. Cost her £250 to insure as a learner passed after her Mom taught her cost her £800 for the year after she passed. Not sure where these outrageous quotes are coming from tbh, but the Micra was a shed but she learnt not to make daft mistakes in it, now drives an Audi A1 £650 per year with both parents on the policy. IMO it’s unrealistic to want to own both a bike and a car at such a young age. At that age I had to make a choice and stopped riding. My Son has both licences but if he had stayed in the UK would have kept the bike as he doesn’t particularly like driving.
Those costs are in line with the experience of both our sons from just a few years ago. We were prepared for quotes in the £1000s and just didn't see them in the end. Our youngest lad at 17 went with a Black box policy to keep the quote down to @£800 fully comp on a 1.3 Ibiza, and they told him to unplug it and post it back to them after a few months.
I think all the insurance stuff has really kicked off this year and end of last year. it needs governing.
It’s based purely on risk assessed by a computer and statistics. Nearly every kind of risk is run by underwriters first before approval these days.
The risk is heavily based on tables drawn up by Actuaries - these dayes that’s all fed into the database, which Underwriters refer to and then they will take into account more specific details to arrive at a premium.
That makes a big difference but even in a medium sized town, buses and uber on the way back is better for a night out, or where I am, train back from Birmingham. Only time I use the car is if I go to see bands and can’t be certain when they will finish. Especially going into Birmingham a car or bike is a liability and theft/ stripping off of parts is scarily common in some areas. No way would I park any of my bikes out of eyesight in Birmingham. The other thing I notice is that the younger generations just don’t go out like we used to. They seem far happier to sit round playing computer games than blasting around in cars or on bikes.
I’m a grumpy older guy and I sometimes would rather sit around playing computer games than go outside too. (Waiting for a barrage of ‘agree’s)
To get the thread back on track, this is what comes up now if you try to access the Completely motorbikes website https://www.completelymotorbikes.co.uk/
