Motoring costs for younger drivers hit £2,440

YOUNG DRIVERS face paying £2,442 to run their car in the first year, a cost which has increased by £61 in the past six months, a study has found.

When similar research was carried out in February, the typical cost was lower, at £2,381, Compare The Market’s Young Drivers Report found.

Over a two-year period, the cost of running a car has increased by over £140, following large hikes in the cost of insurance, it said.

Using data on the Compare The Market website and from other sources, the report looks at the typical annual cost of running a car for 17 to 24-year-old drivers, including insurance, fuel, road tax, MOT costs and breakdown cover.

It said insurance costs for young drivers had significantly increased over the two years, growing by around £67 to an average of £1,324 and making up over half of the annual cost of running a car.

Hikes to insurance premium tax (IPT), which affects the price of policies, had helped push up these costs, it said, and it suggested IPT should be abolished for young people.

The increase in the cost of fuel has also been a major driver in the rise in overall motoring costs for young drivers, the report said.

Dan Hutson, head of motor insurance at Compare The Market, said: “Fuel costs have always been volatile but the significant rise in price over the past six months will have a large impact on the affordability of driving, especially for young people.

“The unaffordability of keeping a car has significant ramifications on young people’s ability to travel to work and hold down jobs, especially when a large proportion of their salary may be spent on travel alone. Not all parts of the country benefit from public transport.”