Young drivers and insurance - the facts - Is cheap insurance safe?

Flux Insurance's survey revealed that a classic Volkswagen Beetle of up to 1600cc, built long before the introduction of many of today's safety features such as airbags and side impact protection, is by far the cheapest car for a 17-year-old driver to insure for third party, fire and theft cover.

Flux says it will insure a man for £932 per year and a woman for £714 per year in an old-shape Beetle, some way cheaper than the next-cheapest, a 1.0-litre Vauxhall Corsa, which costs £1320 for a man and £1052 for a woman.

They are joined on the list by other cars with sub-1.0-litre engines, such as the Peugeot 106, Fiat Panda, Austin Mini, Fiat Uno, Citroen AX, Peugeot 205, Renault 5 and Vauxhall Agila.

While the safety provisions on these cars vary enormously, and especially according to the age of the vehicle, only the latest versions of the cars still in production today record top-level Euro NCAP crash-test ratings.

Corsas built from 2006 onwards, for instance, record five stars for adult protection today, but the 1997 model records just two stars, and the 2000 model three stars.

It could be argued, then, that the insurance premiums are actually putting young drivers at greater risk of death or injury because they have to drive less-safe cars to afford those premiums.

It could also contribute to the fact that a disproportionate number of road deaths are people aged 17-21. The Association of British Insurers (ABI) claims that 17-19-year-old motorists are 10 times more likely to be killed on the road than drivers in the 40-59 age bracket.