Getting car insurance when you are 17, is it possible?

Nowadays, you can get your driver's license as early as age ¹⁷. However, this does not mean that you can drive a car independently. You then get a driver's license with a companion pass. As a minor driver, you must always have a companion with you. Are you 17 and want to get car insurance? This is not yet possible in your own name. Read here what options there are if you want to get car insurance as a 17-year-old.

Car insurance in the name of a companion as a 17-year-old

As a 17-year-old, you are not allowed to have a car in your own name. In the Netherlands, you must be at least 18 to have a license plate registered in your name. Without a license plate in your name, you also cannot get car insurance. Therefore, it is not possible to buy and drive a car on your own when you are only 17 years old. Driving around in an uninsured car is also not an option. Not only do you risk hefty fines from the RDW and the police, if you cause damage in an uninsured car, all costs are your own responsibility. Repair costs on a car can add up considerably, let alone if personal injury is involved. Driving an uninsured car will cost you a lot of money. Money you probably don't want or can't afford to lose at ¹⁷.

Then you can't drive your own car at all? Yep, luckily there is a solution. If you are 17, you can arrange car insurance through your companion. Often this is a parent, but it can also be a sibling or an adult friend. The chaperone can put the car in his or her own name and then get car insurance. So the policy is then in the companion's name. Once you turn 18, you can transfer the car into your own name. The companion's car insurance can be cancelled with a copy of the release certificate.