This story came through on the newsfeeds. It mentions a new insurance scheme called Red Marmalade (nee Provisional Marmalade), which is taken as an add-on to any existing insurance.
It is a pay-as-you-go system, so learners can use it to get private practice in between lessons. I also suspect it will get a few people hot under the collar, since the “Red” part of the name is… yes, Red Driving School.
In the example given, a typical 17-year old learning in a Nissan Micra could add the equivalent of £500 plus per month to the parent’s insurance (in my experience it is nowhere near as much as this), whereas this separate policy just costs just £85.50.
I’d still advise shopping around – when I was training to be an instructor (it was a long time ago, I have to admit) my own insurance was costing me about £25 a month. Adding a 17-year old female to the policy took it up to £80 a month. It’s quite possible that this kind of mark-up is still obtainable – not everyone lives in Kensington and uses the most expensive insurer on the planet, as many “typical” examples seem to suggest.
Indeed, the so-called “average” premiums being touted by the national press are massively greater than any my pupils get quoted.