For Kaljeet Bansal, the joy of passing her driving test at the first attempt was not to last long.
After buying a £400 secondhand car, the 18-year-old went online to sort out her insurance – and that's where her problems began.
For the first quote she got for her 800cc Daewoo Matiz, which should be in one of the lowest insurance categories, was an astonishing £33,000.
And the premium offered by a second firm was a similarly unaffordable £20,000. Kaljeet, who is taking her A-levels this year, said: 'When I saw the numbers come up on my laptop screen I thought it must be a mistake.
'But I've tried it four times now and it's the same every time.'
After passing her test last week, the schoolgirl used price comparison websites, including confused.com, to seek quotes – and only two companies offered to cover her.
Goodgirl.co.uk quoted the teenager from Harehills, Leeds, £19,997 (or £21,687 for monthly instalments) and Flux Direct, £33,845 (or £37,900 for monthly instalments).
Her brother Pardeep Bansal, 28, a forklift truck driver, asked his own insurance company for a quote but was told it could not cover her.
He said: 'I thought she must have put the details in wrong, like she'd accidentally put that she's got a gold-plated Rolls-Royce or something.
'But we've checked so many times. There is no justification for charging that kind of money. The Starship Enterprise would be cheaper to insure.'
He added: 'It might be because of the area, her age or the car. The area used to be rough but now it's not as bad.'
A Flux Direct spokesman said the company always tried to provide a quote and often it was reduced once it could further evaluate the risks.
Goodgirl.co.uk refused to comment.
An Association of British Insurers spokesman said it was 'acutely aware that premiums like this are off the scale', but said young drivers were five times more likely to be in a serious crash where there was a personal injury award of £500,000 plus.
The average annual insurance bill for women aged 17 to 20 is £2,256 – up 20.7 per cent on a year ago.
Insurance deal
Insurance deal
“If you trust in yourself, and believe in your dreams, and follow your star. . . you'll still get beaten by people who spent their time working hard and learning things and weren't so lazy.”
Re: Insurance deal
Sounds like a situation where on-line searching was not useful. She needed to visit a competent broker (licensed, representing multiple insurers), in person.
But it would be interesting to see what parts of her application set off the alarms.
But it would be interesting to see what parts of her application set off the alarms.