Wednesbury engineering firm 'quoted £22k apprentice driving insurance'

Zachary Macey said he would not be deterred from following his father and grandfather into a career in engineering

An international engineering firm has said it was being quoted more than £20,000 per apprentice to insure them to drive company vehicles.

Black Country firm GenAir UK has warned that soaring insurance premiums could soon stop manufacturers from taking on new apprentices.

"A couple of companies won't even give us a price," said David Timmins, the Wednesbury firm's managing director.

This was the case even with much older vehicles, he added.

Increased costs are preventing them from allowing trainees, some as young as 18, to deliver air compressors to customers' sites across Europe, and sometimes en route to the Falkland Islands, where they are used in the rail, highways, food and petro-chemical sectors.

"We were quoted £22,000 each. The figures we are talking about are in some cases more than their wages," said Mr Timmins.

"Something needs to be done about this, otherwise companies like ourselves are going to stop investing in the kids of tomorrow."

David Timmins says the government should intervene to work with insurers to bring down their bills to provide cover for apprentices

Zachary Macey, 18, is an apprentice at the company and said he would not be deterred from following his father and grandfather into engineering.

However, his own personal car insurance premium is £4,000 a year and he believed young motorists deserved a financial break.

"It's way too much money; the insurance companies should be trusting younger drivers more to be able to not cause accidents and they should lower the premiums," he said.

"I know people who have had to quit their apprenticeship because they physically can't get to work because of the distance and no insurance company will have them for any car."

Mr Timmins said the government should intervene to work with insurers to bring down their bills to provide cover for apprentices.

A Department for Education spokesperson said: "We are helping more SMEs [small and medium-sized enterprises] take on apprentices by paying 95% of the apprentice's training costs."

Meanwhile, the number of young people starting apprenticeships in the West Midlands has fallen to a five-year low, according to government figures.

In 2018-19, some 45,670 apprentices began their training in the region, but this had fallen in consecutive years and was at 38,860 in 2021-22, which was a drop of 15%.

While some business leaders said it was an inevitable result of a turbulent marketplace with burgeoning costs, some training providers were more optimistic.

In-Comm Training, based in Aldridge and Telford, has recently reported a 35% increase in people starting engineering apprenticeships.

Almost 200 had been recruited to its technical academies, gaining skills such as robotics, welding, mechatronics and tool making.

"We have been able to fill nearly 90 additional vacancies this year, which is great news for local employers and a massive indication that vocational learning is in the ascendancy," said Paul Hodgetts, business development manager at In-Comm Training.

"There is a lot of opportunity for industry at the moment, but the ability to scale up is being held back by access to both the right people and the volume of individuals in the labour pool."