for new drivers with little experiance and no ncb insurance is extortionate FACT.

another fact is that insuance for young drivers is TWICE the price for male drivers than female drivers. tried it several times for different friends only ticking the male box instead of female (same girl name etc) and price DOUBLED!!

£1k sounds about right.

also, dont buy into the idea that small eco cars are cheap to insure. very often a bigger family car (that may be a fair bit quicker) is much cheaper to insure. eg. a 1.6 focus instead of 1l saxo. not to mention the focus is a lot safer