Young drivers face rising costs of getting on the road

A new report out today from GoCompare Car Insurance has revealed that the cost of getting a young driver on the road has risen to £6,574 – the highest since 2019, representing a shift backwards to pre-pandemic costs.

Costs for young drivers – those aged between 17- 21 – and their families dipped to £6,394 in 2021 and £6,071 in 2020, a sharp fall from £6,846 in 2019.

The research shows that, in the last 12 months, the combined cost of a new motorist learning to drive, buying, taxing and then insuring their first car has risen by 2.82%, with the increase solely attributed to young drivers spending more on buying their first car (£3,592 compared to £3,366 in 2021) .

However, the cost of insuring a first car has dropped this year, from £1,472 for an annual policy in 2021 to £1,430 in 2022.   But despite this, additional research commissioned by GoCompare has revealed that more than one in four parents (27%) found the cost of insurance to be far greater than expected.

Those living in the South West saw the lowest cost of car insurance with an average of £1,221, with London experiencing the highest costs at £1,896.

And according to the research, driving lessons represent a fifth (20%) of the cost to get on the road, with an average spend of £1,350 needed to pass a driving test.  The same research also found that nearly a fifth of parents (19%) said getting their child on the road had been a significant drain on their finances this year. In addition, the various costs associated with learning to drive – insurance, fuel and running costs – were the top most concerns for parents, over safety and any other worries.According to the report, young drivers spend an average of £3,592 on their first car, and it seems that nearly half of children will be relying on mum and dad to help out with getting the keys, with 44% of parents saying they had either contributed or were planning to contribute to the cost of their first child’s first car.

On top of this, a significant 86% had already, or were planning to contribute to the cost of driving in one way shape or form, whether it be the initial outlay of the car, the insurance costs, driving lessons or all of the above.

As part of the report, GoCompare looked at its quote data and revealed the top ten cheapest cars to insure for young drivers. Topping the list this year were the Skoda CitiGo (£908), the Volkswagen Up! (£930) and the Seat Mii (£960).

Ryan Fulthorpe, Motoring Expert at GoCompare, said “Our ‘Cost of getting on the road’ report always serves as a good benchmark to breakdown the costs that young people and their families will be up against once they come of driving age.”

“We knew that this would be a challenging year for a number of reasons – the global increase in second-hand car costs, the cost of living crisis happening in the UK and not to mention this being the first year that we are somewhat back to normality following the pandemic.”

“Sadly, it appears that while costs for young drivers were going in the right direction over the past couple of years, we are now seeing a slight rise in prices – though thankfully not as high as they were in 2019.”

“It is a concern that the cost of buying a car is rising, although it’s encouraging to see that the cost of insurance is coming down somewhat. Car insurance for younger drivers will always be more expensive than those motorists who have been driving for longer, but it’s still important to look around and make sure that you’re not paying any more than you need to for a policy.”

The costs of getting on the road in 2022 are as follows:

Average spent buying first car	£3,592
Vehicle Excise Duty (road tax)	£66
First year insurance premium	£1,430
Provisional driving licence (if applied online)	£34
Driving lessons to successful test (45 lessons)	£1,350
Driving tests (theory and practical – if taken on a weekday)	£85
Driving licence application	£17
Total cost of getting on the road	£6,574