Help 
You’ve started lessons with a driving instructor and maybe even passed your theory test. You’re feeling confident on the roads but know that some extra practice will help you become a much better driver. There’s only one problem. You need to convince your parents to let you practice driving in their car!
You might feel like they’re being totally unreasonable but we’re giving you the tools to understand and address their concerns. You’ll soon be on your way to driving test success!
Understanding your parents’ concerns
As confident as you are in your driving skills, your parents may not feel the same way. This is hardly shocking as they’ve probably spent decades behind the wheel compared with your hours. However, it’s still important to understand just why they might be concerned with letting a learner driver take the wheel.
Protecting their no claims bonus
They have been building up their no claims bonus, which gives them discounted insurance, for years – maybe even decades. If they let you drive their car and you have a bump or are involved in an accident, they could lose their no claims bonus and see the cost of their insurance go through the roof.
The cost of insurance
There’s no getting around it, learning to drive can be expensive. Your parents are probably expecting it to cost a fortune and a lot of time to sort out insurance for you to drive their car.
The stress of teaching someone to drive
They could be worried that the experience will be stressful; after all they’ve probably never taught anyone to drive! As a supervisor they will be worried about falling out, or even jut making it out alive. Supervising a learner driver is a big responsibility and takes some preparation.
So how do you convince your parents to let you drive?
Address their concerns
Being in control of any vehicle is a huge responsibility, so use this opportunity to show that you are mature and responsible, and are ready to be on the road. As a starting point, why not organise a meeting between your parents and your driving instructor?
This will give them the opportunity to hear about your development from a trusted professional. They can learn about your driving strengths and weaknesses, which will hopefully reassure them that you are ready to be behind the wheel. Your instructor should also give them pointers on how they can best support you in the areas in which you need improvement.
You could also send them this guide on how to teach someone to drive.
They may also be interested in our FAQ on teaching your child to drive.
Provide a solution!
Flexible and affordable insurance
There’s a solution that will allow you to practice and put your parents’ mind at ease. With our learner driver insurance you can insure yourself to drive your parents’ car from as little as two hours (to get them used to the idea), right up to 180 days. You can get instant cover online and you only need to pay for the length of cover you want.
Their car is safe and protected
The best part is that you will have your own completely separate fully comp insurance policy. This means that if you do need to make a claim, their policy isn’t affected and they won’t lose their no claims bonus. They don’t even need to declare it to their own insurers! They can rest easy knowing that their car is always covered up to the market value.
If all this insurance talk is a bit confusing – check out our car insurance jargon buster.
You could save money on learning to drive
Practising privately is much cheaper per hour than a driving lesson with a qualified instructor. Using private practice to really nail down what you’ve been learning in your driving lessons can help you get test ready faster.
Here’s some more tips on learning to drive on a budget.
Practice makes perfect!
The DVSA recommends around 22 hours of private practice on top of your professional driving lessons. This is because the more you drive, the better your skills will get! Learning to drive in your parents car is a great way to speed up the process and help pass your driving test first time.
Passing as quickly as possible will not only save money and time in the long run – for your parents it means that they will regain their freedom even sooner as they won’t have to give you lifts everywhere anymore! In fact, you can even start to give them lifts. It’s a win-win all round.
