Car insurance know-it-all's I need advice...

[jimxms]

After a recent non-fault accident my insurance has gone through the roof. So I decided to do a bit of tweaking to see if/how I could get the cost down. Bear in mind that this is all with 1 insurer....


Quote 1

---

- Insurance policy in my name
- All mods declared
TOTAL: £1400


Quote 2

---

- Insurance policy in my name
- Wife (who is on L plates), added as named driver
- All mods declared
TOTAL = £1100


Quote 3

---

- Insurance policy in WIVES name (who is on L plates)
- Me added as a named driver
- Me set as 'main driver' of car
- Me set as owner of car
TOTAL = £700


Aside from maybe not adding to my NCB this year, can anyone tell me why I shouldn't go with option 3?

I'm telling the insurance co that I'm the main driver and that I'm the owner. The wife will probably drive the car once a week under my supervision. Unless I'm missing something, I can't see any moral or legal issues?

[Robatr0n]

I believe option 3 may be classed as Insurance Fronting which is Fraud.

Edited to add - I wasn't aware you could add yourself as a name driver AND be the main driver if you're the registered owner/keeper? Happy to be told otherwise though.

Edited by Robatr0n on Tuesday 19th April 14:40

[jimxms]

I knew the first post was going to say that, so I forgive you

But yes, this particular insurance co asks:

Who is the registered owner of the car: me
Who is the main driver of the car: me

But, the policy is in the wives name with me as a named driver.


Also, I think it'd be hard to call my particular situation 'fronting' even if ti was deemed to be that way. I drive the car on a saturday, then she gets lessons from me on a sunday.

[kambites]

It doesn't matter whose name the policy is in as long as the main driver is correctly specified. So it's perfectly valid to have the policy in your wife's name as long as you tell them that you're going to be the main driver. If you claim that she is the main driver, it's fronting.

Edited by kambites on Tuesday 19th April 14:46

[jimxms]

kambites said:

It doesn't matter whose name the policy is in as long as the main driver is correctly specified.

In which case I've just saved myself £700?

Am I right in saying that wifey will get the NCB for this year tho?

[kambites]

jimxms said:

In which case I've just saved myself £700?

Am I right in saying that wifey will get the NCB for this year tho?

Yes, I think you're correct. Of course if you do it for more than two years you'll lose your own no claims bonus entitlement (if you have one).

[kambites]

swerni said:

I don't believe it's fronting when it's your spouse.

You still have to correctly specify the main driver.

I do this with my wife's insurance. The policy is in my name with her as the main driver (since I have a no claims bonus and she doesn't). The insurance company said that we have to correctly specify the main driver, although it didn't actually affect the premium.

[ensignia]

As long as you specify you will be the main driver you should be OK.

[jimxms]

Game on

£700 left over to do more mods, which will in turn raise my premium even more.

[DannyVTS]

jimxms said:

Game on

£700 left over to do more mods, which will in turn raise my premium even more.

But you'll be fronting and wont get any NCB...

Go for option 2

[kambites]

DannyVTS said:

But you'll be fronting and wont get any NCB...

No he wont. "Fronting" is lying about who the main driver is.

[Alec]

DannyVTS said:

But you'll be fronting and wont get any NCB...

Go for option 2

As swerni said above, IIRC it's not fronting if it's your spouse, as in the eyes of the law all your property is jointly owned or some such. Now I've written it it sounds wrong though. I'm sure one of the knowledgeable insurance types will be around soon enough.

[DannyVTS]

kambites said:

No he wont. "Fronting" is lying about who the main driver is.

I just re read this and it doesn't really make sense

jimxms said:

Quote 3

---

- Insurance policy in WIVES name (who is on L plates)
- Me added as a named driver
- Me set as 'main driver' of car
- Me set as owner of car
TOTAL = £700

The "main driver" and the "policy holder" are surely the SAME thing? I don't see how you can have a policy in some ones name and have you as the main driver.

[kambites]

DannyVTS said:

The "main driver" and the "policy holder" are surely the SAME thing? I don't see how you can have a policy in some ones name and have you as the main driver.

No they aren't. Main driver and policy holder are completely independent, any named driver can be designated the main driver. I've done this for years on the wife's car - policy in my name using my NCB with her designated as the main driver.

[nouze]

Sorry, can anyone enlighten me why having the policy in someone else's name reduces the risk by 50%? He's still going to be main/named driver so WTF?

[kambites]

nouze said:

Sorry, can anyone enlighten me why having the policy in someone else's name reduces the risk by 50%? He's still going to be main/named driver so WTF?

Some weird quirk of the statistics. Maybe those bright enough to try it in their wife's name are statistically less likely to crash.

[nouze]

kambites said:

Some weird quirk of the contistics. Maybe those bright enough to try it in their wife's name are statistically less likely to crash.

EFA

[kambites]

nouze said:

kambites said:

Some weird quirk of the contistics. Maybe those bright enough to try it in their wife's name are statistically less likely to crash.

EFA

[jimxms]

kambites said:

Some weird quirk of the statistics. Maybe those bright enough to try it in their wife's name are statistically less likely to crash.

Definitely a quirk. Because fk me, if they think my wife on L plates is less likely to crash than me, they are in the wrong business.

[kambites]

jimxms said:

kambites said:

Some weird quirk of the statistics. Maybe those bright enough to try it in their wife's name are statistically less likely to crash.

Definitely a quirk. Because fk me, if they think my wife on L plates is less likely to crash than me, they are in the wrong business.

Well OK "less likely to crash" was the wrong term. "Likely to cause less damage in a given period of time" would be more accurate.

As I understand it, it's quite rare for learners to have big, expensive accidents.