Released on: November 9, 2009, 9:52 am
Author: uSwitch.com
Industry: Consumer Services

•Over one in ten learner drivers (12%) taught solely by amateur instructors

•Further one in ten (13%) mix and match by taking lessons with a qualified driving instructor and family and friends

•72% of learners being taught by amateurs cannot afford professional driving lessons

•17% say learning to drive with a family member or friend is a ‘bad experience’ - they would not recommend it to other learners

•The downside of learning with family and friends: ‘in-car’ arguments (46%), picking up bad driving habits (27%) and finally feeling forced to take proper driving lessons with a qualified instructor anyway (46%)

•At risk: over a quarter of novices (27%) learning with family and friends are unsure whether their instructor checked their car insurance first - (7%) say that they definitely didn’t.

Learner drivers are increasingly turning to amateur instructors to combat the costs of learning to drive, according to new research from uSwitch.com, the independent price comparison and switching service. Learning to drive with a qualified instructor now costs an average of GBP1,127, but over one in ten learner drivers (12%) are avoiding this by being taught solely by family and friends, while a further 13% mix and match by combining amateur tuition with professional driving lessons.

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