Midlands-based Independent Chartered Insurance Brokers Hazelton Mountford speak out about young and inexperienced drivers and insurance related difficulties.

Jake Mountford, Director at Hazelton Mountford says: The insurance market’s attitude towards insuring younger (under 21) or inexperienced drivers is, as most will have found, varied – to say the least.

Some insurers already recognise the need to accommodate their policyholders’ requests to cover younger drivers and will adopt a sensible approach of simply increasing the policy excess whilst they are driving, others will have a far stricter acceptance criteria and the terms they apply, if cover is agreed.  I have known certain insurers ask for increased excesses, additional premiums and conditions to state the driver must be accompanied for a period of time – almost a triple whammy!  Sadly there are still those insurers that may flat refuse to assist, though far less than in previous times.

Unfortunately, there is not a uniform approach across the insurance market and the response can often be different for clients with the same insurer depending on their claims experience and risk management practices, even possibly depending on the experience of the broker handling your insurances.

I feel that things will and must become easier for fleet operators especially when business success may depend on the flexibility afforded to them by their insurer. Making sure you have a quality broker who has good experience and expertise in the transport industry will be an advantage in this market.

As seen in Commercial Motor’s Sector Insight December 2021 Hot Topic here.

Digital copy via the website :www.commercialmotor.com/cmspecials and click on Sector Insight 2022.

For more information about Hazelton Mountford, specialist haulage and fleet insurance please contact Jake and the Hazelton Mountford team on 01905 611 951 or click here.