Is your child planning to learn to drive?

How Much Does It Actually Cost to Get on the Road?

Learning to drive involves several standard costs before your child even buys their first car:

• Provisional licence: £34 (standard DVLA cost)

• Driving lessons: Around 40–50 hours of tuition — typically about £40–£45 per hour — total bill can be £1,500 + just for lessons.

• Theory and practical tests: £23 for the theory test, and approximately £62–£75 for the practical test.

Many learners now spend well over £2,000 before they’ve even considered buying a car or paying insurance.

And It Doesn’t End There 

• First car: Young drivers often pay around £3,000 for a first vehicle.

• Insurance: Car insurance remains one of the most significant ongoing expenses. While prices can vary a lot by age and car type, recent figures show that premiums for 17-year-olds are commonly between £2,200 and £3,000+ per year.

That means the total cost of learning to drive, buying a car and insuring it can easily run into the £6,000 – £7,000+ bracket for a first-time driver.

Planning Ahead Makes a Big Financial Difference

We offer JUNIOR ACCOUNTS (for ages 0 - 15 years) and family accounts for those aged 16 years+.

Savings Example: Save just £45/month for your child/grandchild, from birth up to the age of 15 years (180 months), and your junior could have at least £8,100 in their account.

OR

For those 18+ years we offer a range of loan products where you can borrow 5 times your savings.

Borrowing Example: You would need to have £2,000 saved to borrow £10,000.

And we have a NEW Flexi-Loan allowing you to borrow up to £3,000 no pledged shares required!

Questions? Contact us today!

We are open Monday to Friday 8am - 4.30pm.

Email creditunion@harpandcrown.co.uk or phone 028 9068 5198.

“Save regularly and borrow only what you need”.

The Harp and Crown Credit Union provides safe, ethical and flexible finances to the Police and wider Police family in Northern Ireland.