Admiral LittleBox listed a range of items young people typically spend money on to find out where a car ranks in their spending priorities. Surprisingly new clothes were the item most of them were willing to forgo to be able to afford to keep driving. With 69% saying they’d do this. The next most popular things they’d ditch were socialising with friends and going to gigs and festivals, 60% said they’d rather spend money on their car than either of these.
The least popular items young people would be willing to give up were saving for a deposit on a house (13%) and food (18%), suggesting the under 25s are a lot more pragmatic than some people may give them credit for.
Admiral LittleBox found young drivers on average spend £3,435 a year on motoring costs, with fuel accounting for £1,077, (31% of their costs) and insurance making up an average of £1,014, (30% of the total). Other expenses include maintenance and repairs, which take £558 (16%), vehicle excise duty or road tax which costs £411(12%) and getting the car through its MOT costs an average of £375 (11%).
Young men spend a lot more on motoring than young women, with the average woman, aged 17 – 24, spending £2,914 a year and the average man spending £4,264; 46% more.
Head of Telematics at Admiral, Jo Garcia, said, “Our research shows just how important being mobile is to young drivers, whether that’s for their work or their social life. It also shows they’re not as frivolous as some people might expect. In fact two of the things they’d most be willing to sacrifice spending money on are new clothes and going out with friends.
“Running a car is costly for anybody, but for younger drivers the expense can take a bigger share of their income. There are simple ways they can cut their bills however; buy a car with lower fuel consumption and one with lower vehicle emissions; they’ll save money on fuel and road tax. And a car in a lower insurance group is cheaper to insure too. They should also consider black box insurance like Admiral LittleBox. The technology monitors your driving, so your insurer can set a premium based on how you drive and not how your peer group drives.”
So would young drivers be willing to take Jo Garcia’s advice and consider getting a black box policy to try and get cheaper insurance? More than half (53%) said they definitely or probably would, while around one in eight (12%) said they already have one. But that still leaves more than a quarter (27%) who said they wouldn’t consider it, and who could be missing out on cheaper insurance.
Admiral LittleBox has found a lot of myths still surround black box insurance, which could be putting off some young drivers from buying it. When asked what would put them off taking out black box insurance, the biggest factors were:
Black box insurance allows an insurer to track where I’m driving, which 53% said would put them off
Black box insurance sets a curfew so you can’t drive at night, which would put off 44%
Going over a speed bump, swerving or braking to avoid an obstacle could affect my premium, which would put off 43%
I would have to drive perfectly every journey to get cheaper rates which would put off 40%
I would have a limited mileage with black box insurance which would put off 36%
None of these are true with Admiral LittleBox. They have produced an interactive website for young drivers to find out more about the myths surrounding black box insurance. Black Box Insurance Myths Busted can be found here
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