Early-night deal for young drivers

Young motorists who agree to leave their cars behind at night or take a pledge to drive carefully can see their insurance costs slashed under two schemes unveiled today.

Insurer MoreThan's new young-driver policy is offering a 40% discount to motorists between 18- and 25-years-old who agree not to drive between 11pm and 6am.

Government figures show these are the peak hours for accidents involving young drivers. MoreThan estimates accident rates among 18- to 25-year-olds could be reduced by 25% by keeping them off the road at this time.

In a pilot scheme to be launched on Sunday, motorists who sign up for the policy will have a "DriveTime unit" installed in their car, which will monitor when they are making a journey.

In return the cost of their insurance will be reduced by an average of £332.

Mr Sellors said the new policy was designed to do two things: cut costs for young people who don't use their cars at night and encourage those who do to cut down their journeys.

He said the 40% of 18- to 25-year-olds who only use their cars during the day and early evening are being penalised because insurers do not distinguish between them and those driving at night when the risk of an accident is higher.

"Insurers look at young drivers and price them all the same - if we can identify those who aren't using their car at night we can offer them lower premiums," he said.

"But we would also like people to think about whether they do need to drive at night. If we can get some young drivers to stay off the road at these times that's going to cut the number of accidents."

If the car is used for a journey starting or ending after 11pm, the motorist will pay a £25 fee.

"We've set it at £25 because that's high enough to act as a deterrent and make them think twice about it, but not prohibitively high if they need to make a journey," said John Sellors, a spokesman for MoreThan.

A motorist who saves the average £332 would be able to make 13 night-time journeys before they lost out on their discount.

Mr Sellors said MoreThan would only receive details of what time journeys started and ended, so drivers need not be concerned about what information was held on them.

NFU Mutual, an insurer which specialises in cover for customers in rural areas, has also announced a scheme for young drivers today.

It is offering a one-off discount of £100 for motorists aged between 17- and 20-years-old who make a series of promises about their driving drawn up by the Royal Society for the Prevention of Accidents.

As well as committing to stick to some basic safety rules - wearing a seatbelt, not driving under the influence of drugs, for example - the driver must also promise to inform their parents about any journeys and to drive only between agreed times of the day.

Chris Holland, a spokesman for NFU Mutual, said the scheme was designed to offer an incentive for drivers to be more careful and think about their driving.

The pledge must be signed by the driver and a parent, and the discount is available on standalone policies and where a child is added to their parents' insurance.

Mr Holland said the insurer was relying on people to be honest and stick to the rules once they had signed up.

Richard Mason, director of insurance at comparison website Moneysupermarket.com, said insurance for young motorists was "notoriously costly" adding that "any reasonable initiative to make it more affordable should be applauded".

He added: "For too long, level-headed young motorists have had to subsidise those who take more risks on the road. DriveTime takes one positive step towards tackling this issue, and we expect other insurers to launch their own innovative takes on this new technology in due course.

"But young people seeking motor cover should be aware that a few £25 penalties for late-night drives could negate any savings they might have made with this policy. If taking the car out after 11pm would prove frequent and unavoidable then we would advise them to shop around for more suitable cover elsewhere."