Please or to access all these features

Add post

Watch this thread

Save thread

Start a new thread

Flip thread

Hide thread

My feed

Active Unanswered threads

Getting started FAQ's

Unanswered threads Acronyms Talk guidelines

Hide shortcut buttons

Talk

AIBU?

Share your dilemmas and get honest opinions from other Mumsnetters.

Flip

1 2 3 4

Original poster

How many of us are Fronting??

99 replies

Nickersnackersnockers · 11/04/2022 10:03

Fronting is a type of car insurance fraud where a more experienced driver claims to be the main driver of a car, when in fact they're not. People do this as a way to get cheaper car insurance, often for their children, or sometimes their partner.

I'm asking as I have friends who have unwittingly done this, and listed their child as a named driver when in fact they are the main driver. They had no idea it's illegal, and saved huge amounts of money.

I told them their insurance policy would be null and void if they are found to be fraudulent and they were horrified that they were breaking the law, changing it immediately. In one case they were saving hundreds of pounds.

It appears that that this practice is rife and the way that many people insure their vehicles. Most have no idea its against the law.

It made me wonder how common it actually is???

OP posts:

MrsAvocet · 11/04/2022 13:11

I'd be surprised if many people truly don't realise this is illegal, I think they just think they'll get away with it. The info on insurance websites and documents is pretty clear.
As someone who has unfortunately had to have protracted dealings with insurers in recent years, my experience is that they look at things very carefully if you make a claim and will look for reasons not to pay even if your claim is completely legitimate. So if a young driver had an accident driving "his Mum's car" I doubt very much that they'd take that at face value. Especially if the car is a typical young driver's car, that the parent just happened to buy at about the same time as their offspring passed their driving test, is regularly parked in the college carpark, and Mum also happens to have another car insured in her name!
When I had my accident, I was questioned more thoroughly by the insurers than the police, and the other driver's insurers were still trying to get out of admitting full liability even after he had pleaded guilty in court. I can't imagine any insurer NOT being suspicious of a youngster driving as a named driver on someone else's policy.

randomsabreuse · 11/04/2022 13:14

DH and I use our cars pretty interchangeably at the moment. Whoever is going further takes the main car (owned and insured by DH).

Norgie · 11/04/2022 13:17

Most people do realise it's illegal.

Mummy1608 · 11/04/2022 13:22

I almost did this with my dh as he had many years no-claims when I got my first car. But we got some quotes and we found it was pretty equally priced whether he was the 1st or 2nd driver (still way cheaper than if he wasn't named at all!) So I don't know why people do it, you don't save money!

In my first year, the prices were:
Just me - like £1k
Me no1, DH no2 driver- 800 ish
DH no1, me no2 - 750ish.

So we just told the truth and put him down as 2nd driver, he did drive it occasionally. We laughed that it was actually cheaper having him on it than not at all because it diluted my dangerousness lol! Tbf I'm a much more irritable driver than him and I do cut ppl up! I call it "decisive" driving

Original poster

Nickersnackersnockers · 11/04/2022 13:26

Lol mummy1608 my husband calls it positive driving 😁

OP posts:

CheapFoodShits · 11/04/2022 13:28

When I got my car last year while I was learning to drive, my DM suggested I put her as the main driver to save on insurance. I said no, because it is quite obvious that it is illegal no matter how much ignorance people plead. Granted, I'm 36 and don't even live with my parents, but fraud is fraud. If teenagers are so dead set on learning to drive, they should be researching the cost of insurance and getting one of those job things they hear adults talking about and save up.
My brother wrote my parents car off the day after they started their new insurance policy when he was 18. They weren't stupid enough to put him on their insurance again.

chickenpestopanini · 11/04/2022 13:40

My children have black box policies so they are the only ones who can drive their cars.

starfishmummy · 11/04/2022 14:06

It's only the main driver that builds a No claims discount so might be cheaper to start with but all those named teenagers won't be building any

Not just teenagers. I know a lot of women in a group I go to - mostly retired - who discovered this.

Tomnooktoldmeto · 11/04/2022 14:15

I own 2 cars Op, I have 2 teens currently learning to drive and one is registered as a named driver on each car

When they pass they will hopefully both be attending the same Uni from home but not necessarily on the same schedule

Sometimes they will travel in their cars separately and sometimes they will travel together. Depending on my needs and theirs any of us could be in any car

Car one has my many years no claims attached, car 2 has a completed different policy with no no claims attached but interestingly recognises I do have no claims bonus elsewhere

They are my cars, I own them and they were chosen for my needs (disabled) my dc can however drive them but are not the main drivers

I also have access to a 3rd car as I’m covered to drive DH’s company car which since covid has spent most of its life as an ornament on our drive.

Sometimes I drive this out of choice when one of my conditions flair as it’s an automatic but I’m still quite legally the main driver of cars 1 and 2

Eventually I will not be able to drive, at that point I will transfer ownership of my cars to each DC and then they will insure in their own right but I’m damn well not handing my cars over yet whilst I still can because they’re mine and I’m still for now the main driver

ThisUserIsNamed · 11/04/2022 14:47

This is soo common, people know they're doing it. I'm amazed they were horrified and changed it, I think more likely they just said they did.

yellowsuninthesky · 11/04/2022 14:51

Not me. I bought my car in 2019, due to covid etc DS passed his test in 2021. When he is home from uni I add him to the insurance temporarily, but I definitely do more miles in it than he does even when he's home. If that were to change because he had a summer job and was eg driving to and from the job, I guess we'd have to rethink it.

With the NCD issue, you have to weigh up the extra cost of having a teen as a main driver against the lower premium they will pay anyway once they get older.

yellowsuninthesky · 11/04/2022 14:52

@starfishmummy

It's only the main driver that builds a No claims discount so might be cheaper to start with but all those named teenagers won't be building any

Not just teenagers. I know a lot of women in a group I go to - mostly retired - who discovered this.

it depends on the policy, I was the second driver on my husband's policy for years and years, but was given 3 years NCD when I bought the car in 2019 and it was and is buttons to insure (when teen ds isn't driving it!)

Silverclocks · 11/04/2022 14:55

I did have DS1 as a named driver on our second car, which he was genuinely at the time, but as we came out of lockdown and he was using it more and more, he became the main driver almost by stealth. I did change it as soon as I realised though and actually, it wasn't as much extra as I expected.

Champagneforeveryone · 11/04/2022 15:00

It saves hundred of £s so people risk it, or are unaware.

DS passed his driving test at 17 and has his own policy, with DH and I as named drivers. He goes to uni in September and his insurance renews in October, at which time we will amend it so that either DH or I are the main driver and DS is named. This is entirely correct and the right thing to do, also the difference financially is huge.

I can completely see how you would risk it if your finances didn't stretch to doing it "the right way"

ToesAndFingersCrossed · 11/04/2022 15:39

It’s a bit annoying really, we only have one family car and we drive it pretty equally, so we had to choose who the main driver was, and chose my husband. It’s been like that for 14 years now, and I don’t have a no claims bonus at all, busy I don’t suppose we’ll ever get a 2nd car anyway so it doesn’t matter.

guessmyusername · 11/04/2022 16:41

We had to do something similar a few years ago following the insurance company's instructions. My dh was purchasing a new car which came with a years free insurance. We gave the insurance company the details and asked for my dd to be added as a named driver (age 19 recently passed test). They told us that they couldn't do that as anyone under 25 had to be the main insured with a blackbox and dh and myself as named driver. My dh was in fact the main driver and used it for commuting.

MrsToothyBitch · 11/04/2022 17:48

My parents were advised not to do this when I passed mine. No one mentioned illegality, it was purely because DMs friend found out it had cost her Dd more in the long run because she didn't get a no claim discount . My parents have driven for ages with good records though so insuring them as secondary on my then car still helped bring it down. This was 2012 so maybe it wasn't illegal then?

I have advised people to do the above if correct in terms of owner/ primary driver as better in the long run, but didn't know about "fronting" and it being illegal, thanks OP.

Antarcticant · 11/04/2022 17:52

I don't drive and we don't have DC so my husband is the sole person named on the car insurance and the only person who drives it.

Not guilty.

ChiefWiggumsBoy · 11/04/2022 17:58

I think those that are 'unaware' are lying.

@Antarcticant genuinely, why did you post?

Lazzaroni · 11/04/2022 17:58

We laughed that it was actually cheaper having him on it than not at all because it diluted my dangerousness lol! Tbf I'm a much more irritable driver than him and I do cut ppl up! I call it "decisive" driving grin

What a completely prattish thing to say. How can you possibly find it funny that you're a dangerous driver? Would you find it funny if someone killed your child in a car accident and said "lol"?

Antarcticant · 11/04/2022 18:02

@ChiefWiggumsBoy

I think those that are 'unaware' are lying.

@Antarcticant genuinely, why did you post?

Because the OP asked how many people were doing it. I was answering the question.

satelliteheart · 11/04/2022 18:07

My parents were investigated for fronting many years ago when my brother first passed. They genuinely weren't, it was my mum's car and she drove it the majority of the time, including to and from work every day, but my brother used it evenings and weekends. He had two crashes in 3 months and when the second claim went in the insurance company got suspicious. Fortunately my mum was able to prove that the car was parked at her place of work for 8 hours a day mon-fri which showed she had use of the car most often. The second crash wrote the car off and my mum refused to put him on the insurance for her replacement car as she didn't consider him to be a competent driver

Weareallvirgins · 11/04/2022 18:23

My goodness your a goody two shoes 🤣

NeverChange · 11/04/2022 18:39

I don't see how people wouldn't be found out in the event of an insurance claim.

Surely, any insurance company worth their salt would investigate.

How does named driver and additional driver get to work daily?
Where is the car parked during the day? At whose workplace? Which of the insured requires a car for their job? Where is car stored overnight? I suspect that employer testimony and CCTV evidence would be sought and have to be provided?
What were the circumstances of the crash? Who was driving? Why? Where? Why wasn't the named driver using the car at the time etc?

There's no way the situation would be accepted at face value in the event of a serious claim!

FloydPepper · 11/04/2022 19:54

@Weareallvirgins

My goodness your a goody two shoes 🤣

Brilliant , so not committing insurance fraud is considered to be being a goody two shoes.

Flip

1 2 3 4

Swipe left for the next trending thread