INSURANCE Query: Wife main driver
Discussion
Hi community,
I'm buying a car under my name and insurance policy.
My wife will drive it more often in days (although ill probably do more miles/long journeys) hence I'm putting her as main driver ( I have another daily shed).
I'm getting decent insurance quotes online (cheaper than if I was main driver or all under name only).
Question is...is this a common situation? and insurance will take the money now but what I don't want is them to call in few weeks to cancel it for whatever reason or use the situation to avoid paying in case of a claim.
TIA
I'm buying a car under my name and insurance policy.
My wife will drive it more often in days (although ill probably do more miles/long journeys) hence I'm putting her as main driver ( I have another daily shed).
I'm getting decent insurance quotes online (cheaper than if I was main driver or all under name only).
Question is...is this a common situation? and insurance will take the money now but what I don't want is them to call in few weeks to cancel it for whatever reason or use the situation to avoid paying in case of a claim.
TIA
For a husband and wife, of around the same age, usually they couldn't care less.
My wife is the main driver on our car, insured by me and registered in my name. Just answered the question honestly, never been an issue.
Most insurers go by mileage, so if you do the long drives, and she does most of the local drives, it might be that you're the main driver anyway. Even though she uses it 6 days a week and you use it once. You'll need to check how they decide, number of times used or mileage driven.
My wife is the main driver on our car, insured by me and registered in my name. Just answered the question honestly, never been an issue.
Most insurers go by mileage, so if you do the long drives, and she does most of the local drives, it might be that you're the main driver anyway. Even though she uses it 6 days a week and you use it once. You'll need to check how they decide, number of times used or mileage driven.
AdamsAs said:
Hi community,
I'm buying a car under my name and insurance policy.
My wife will drive it more often in days (although ill probably do more miles/long journeys) hence I'm putting her as main driver ( I have another daily shed).
I'm getting decent insurance quotes online (cheaper than if I was main driver or all under name only).
Question is...is this a common situation? and insurance will take the money now but what I don't want is them to call in few weeks to cancel it for whatever reason or use the situation to avoid paying in case of a claim.
TIA
If your wife is using it on a day to day basis then I would put her as the main driver, the fact you may use it once every 2 weeks for a long journey and clock up more total mileage doesn’t change that. I assume it is insured as the insured and spouseI'm buying a car under my name and insurance policy.
My wife will drive it more often in days (although ill probably do more miles/long journeys) hence I'm putting her as main driver ( I have another daily shed).
I'm getting decent insurance quotes online (cheaper than if I was main driver or all under name only).
Question is...is this a common situation? and insurance will take the money now but what I don't want is them to call in few weeks to cancel it for whatever reason or use the situation to avoid paying in case of a claim.
TIA
TwigtheWonderkid said:
For a husband and wife, of around the same age, usually they couldn't care less.
My wife is the main driver on our car, insured by me and registered in my name. Just answered the question honestly, never been an issue.
Most insurers go by mileage, so if you do the long drives, and she does most of the local drives, it might be that you're the main driver anyway. Even though she uses it 6 days a week and you use it once. You'll need to check how they decide, number of times used or mileage driven.
We were typing together. The OP’s scenario is similar to our own and the missus ins co told her to be the main driver if she uses it as a daily which she doesMy wife is the main driver on our car, insured by me and registered in my name. Just answered the question honestly, never been an issue.
Most insurers go by mileage, so if you do the long drives, and she does most of the local drives, it might be that you're the main driver anyway. Even though she uses it 6 days a week and you use it once. You'll need to check how they decide, number of times used or mileage driven.
My wife has had her car for years. She paid for it, owns it, and is the registered keeper.
I always do the insurance on both our cars, it is sometimes a multi car policy, sometimes separate policies. The insurance is always taken out in my name, but she is the main driver on her car (but it would make no difference if I owned her car).
There should be no issue in your situation.
I always do the insurance on both our cars, it is sometimes a multi car policy, sometimes separate policies. The insurance is always taken out in my name, but she is the main driver on her car (but it would make no difference if I owned her car).
There should be no issue in your situation.
The insure should define a term like "main driver" when they ask the question - hover over the little "i" and see what appears.
If they define it as "the person who drives most often" put your wife down. If they define it as "the person who drives most miles" put yourself down. If it's put in an ambiguous way like "the person who drives most" then you can interpret it in any reasonable way - if they have a more specific definition in mind the onus is on then to make that clear to the customer.
As above most insurance won't really care where husband and wife are concerned, perhaps unless there's a big age gap or one of you has a long string of convictions. They're looking for blatant cases like Dad pretending that he's the main driver of his teenage son's car which he actually rarely or never drives, not demanding that you keep a log of every trip you or your wife do in your shared car.
If they define it as "the person who drives most often" put your wife down. If they define it as "the person who drives most miles" put yourself down. If it's put in an ambiguous way like "the person who drives most" then you can interpret it in any reasonable way - if they have a more specific definition in mind the onus is on then to make that clear to the customer.
As above most insurance won't really care where husband and wife are concerned, perhaps unless there's a big age gap or one of you has a long string of convictions. They're looking for blatant cases like Dad pretending that he's the main driver of his teenage son's car which he actually rarely or never drives, not demanding that you keep a log of every trip you or your wife do in your shared car.
martinbiz said:
If your wife is using it on a day to day basis then I would put her as the main driver, the fact you may use it once every 2 weeks for a long journey and clock up more total mileage doesn’t change that.
If they class the main driver as the driver who does the most miles in the car, then it absolutely does change it. Aretnap said:
The insure should define a term like "main driver" when they ask the question - hover over the little "i" and see what appears.
If they define it as "the person who drives most often" put your wife down. If they define it as "the person who drives most miles" put yourself down. If it's put in an ambiguous way like "the person who drives most" then you can interpret it in any reasonable way - if they have a more specific definition in mind the onus is on then to make that clear to the customer.
I've had this debate on the phone with insurers in the past with Bertish sprogs where it rather does matter (from a fronting perspective) who is main and who is named driver. They were unable to be definitive and kept saying the main driver is the person who is the main driver! I did twice the miles, but Bertish sprog did probably four times the number of journeys!If they define it as "the person who drives most often" put your wife down. If they define it as "the person who drives most miles" put yourself down. If it's put in an ambiguous way like "the person who drives most" then you can interpret it in any reasonable way - if they have a more specific definition in mind the onus is on then to make that clear to the customer.
TwigtheWonderkid said:
martinbiz said:
If your wife is using it on a day to day basis then I would put her as the main driver, the fact you may use it once every 2 weeks for a long journey and clock up more total mileage doesn’t change that.
If they class the main driver as the driver who does the most miles in the car, then it absolutely does change it. martinbiz said:
As per my second post, they all seem to have a different view, asking them is correct answer
From the perspective of having a simple life and not making trouble for yourself down the line asking probably is the right answer. From a legal perspective though the onus is on the insurer to ask questions where the meaning is clear - if they use an ambiguous term like "main driver" without explaining what it means, they can hardly complain if different customers understand it to mean different things in marginal cases. You might just end up having to go to the Financial Ombudsman or worse to make that argument though.
C69 said:
Will your wife be using the car for commuting to work? That could be a factor.
It could be a factor in making sure you have the correct use on the policy, but it's only a factor in who is the main driver if they decide the person who uses the car for the greater number of journeys and the greater number of days is the main driver. If it's based on the driver doing the most miles, then nothing else is a factor apart from that. TwigtheWonderkid said:
C69 said:
Will your wife be using the car for commuting to work? That could be a factor.
It could be a factor in making sure you have the correct use on the policy, but it's only a factor in who is the main driver if they decide the person who uses the car for the greater number of journeys and the greater number of days is the main driver. If it's based on the driver doing the most miles, then nothing else is a factor apart from that. So not particularly helpful. For our main car (for insurance purposes I am the main driver) I do vastly more mileage and hours, but my wife almost certainly does more journeys. Our other car (my wife is the ‘main’ driver) does a couple of thousand miles a year, and I have no idea how that pans out in terms of journeys or time - probably about even I should think.
Yet another ambiguous insurance requirement (specifying a main driver) that only seems to be there to catch people out (although I’ve no evidence that it has ever been an issue for anyone). Why not just have the policyholder and named drivers? If a named driver turns out to be a much higher risk than the policyholder, then the insurers charge accordingly anyway, there is no longer any real possibility of ‘fronting’.
There is also a further complication - the Main Driver (by most of the definitions) might not even be mentioned on the policy. My son took our second car on holiday last year on his Marmalade policy. My daughter now drives it on her Veygo policy when home from Uni. Both could inadvertently become the main driver of this low use vehicle and both are (presumably?) unknown to the main insurer.
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