How many of us are Fronting??

[Nickersnackersnockers]

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???

This is really interesting, thanks for raising it OP.

My car has become our family car, in that it has the kids car seats in it. I'm the legal owner and policyholder, I deal with tax and MOT etc. I WFH so no commute - during the week I only use it for errands, the odd evening with a friend etc and once or twice a month for work (yes, I'm insured for business travel).

My DH has a company car that he commutes in, and does the odd child-free errand, but it's rarely used for anything else.

On weekends if we're going somewhere with the kids we'll use my car. 9 times out of 10 DH will drive - he's a named driver. Same with holidays - he does most of the driving in my car. When I went to stay with a friend for the weekend I used his car, so that he had mine for the kids.

Thinking about it, DH probably does over 50% of the miles my car is driven. However, I'd argue that his company car is his "main" car as that's the one he uses most days. My car is also the only one I drive, apart from that one exception of a weekend away; 99% of my miles are in my car.

Would we be under scrutiny should either of us have an accident in my car?

@NeverChange It's no different to putting your spouse on your insurance really.
When I used to do it for mine, I was the cars legal and registered owner.

We're have always flagged this weekend insuring, we're alternate both cars although both are in my name. Couldn't tell you who does the most miles or who is the main driver on either but no one on the phone at the insurance company had ever seemed all that bothered! I could see it being more of an issue if it's clearer cut.

@LadyMacduff

It's so common that Pharrell made a song about it.

This was actually why I opened the thread 😂😂

A friend’s brother and parents actually got a police visit because of this about 10 years ago. It was never clear how the police knew (we assumed an annoyed neighbour) but they changed the insurance after the visit.

I wouldn't think there would be a problem in that kind of scenario PeacefulInTheDeep Lots of couples drive each others cars, and you do have to pick one to be named driver.
Fronting is when a higher risk driver is deliberately hiding behind a lower risk one in order to reduce the insurance premiums, not when members of a family genuinely share a vehicle. I was worried when I couldn't drive for a good few months post surgery but DH was still driving my car periodically and was therefore really the main driver. I spoke to my insurers and they were fine about it as we had a rational reason, DH is no bigger insurance risk than me, and his own car was still his main vehicle. They just made a note of it and asked me to ring when I was driving again. But if I'd given my car to my 18 year old son to drive as a daily vehicle during that time, but kept myself as the named driver, then that would be fraudulent definitely.

Decades in insurance claims.
Yes, it happens. Chances of being caught? Fairly negligible unless the car has a personalised plate with dcs initials (yes really), you register the car in your dcs names (yes, again that stupid). Your dc are interviewed by the police or insurance investigator and admit it_people do tend to tell the truth straight after an accident, the car is stolen from outside dcs uni lodgings which are hundreds of miles from the insured address.
My favourite. Grandad insured grandsons car in his name, with grandson as named driver. Grandad was registered blind.

DD is on my insurance, I'm the main, she is learning. But we were told that once she has passed, only one of us can use the car for commuting, which is crazy as it means we can't share a car.

@HeDidWhattt

How would they know you’ve never used or driven the partners/childrens car though?

And so what if you don’t, your a named driver of the vehicle, doesn’t mean it’s compulsory to use it, it means you can use it if you want and your insured.

Friend did this for her daughter. The daughter drove the car every day.Mother was apparently the main driver but rarely , if ever, drove it. Daughter had a serious accident. The assessor came out to look at the car. It was an absolute heap of teenage girl stuff, quite clear that she was the only driver. The insurance didn't pay out and the mothers insurance on her actual car was also cancelled. Her name was recorded so that everytime she tried to get insurance for anything and with any company it would be flagged up and she would be refused. It is absolutely not worth it.

[quote Norgie]@NeverChange It's no different to putting your spouse on your insurance really.
When I used to do it for mine, I was the cars legal and registered owner.[/quote]
It's totally different. And it's illegal.

Spider, is there any option for genuinely ‘all of us drive it about equally’? And how fine grained do the periods of driving/no driving need to be?

I’m a named driver on my kid’s car and though i rarely drive it, kiddo has been away at uni for whole terms, leaving the car at home till the holidays. Who is the main driver in that case? Kiddo, or the somewhat grumpy parental carpark supplier?

@AngelinaFibres Yes, but in theory no.
I'm the legal owner and registered keeper of my car, with my DH on my insurance.
I'm the legal owner and registered keeper of my car with child on my insurance.
The two are the same.

People aren't aware that it's illegal to put them down as the named driver to save money.

Not sure who these people are, as it literally asks you, as you search for quotes "Who will be the main driver of the car"

If people are fronting, they have lied on the form, it isn't that they aren't aware.

No I’ve never done this
My DC learnt to drive at 17 and had own vehicle but they were main driver - putting me on as an additional driver did reduce their insurance costs and very rarely it might’ve been true if my car was off the road for some reason
We found that swapping occupation on comparison sites was more helpful to reduce costs eg DD was at college studying nursing and also working part time in local supermarket
Just changing from student to student nurse to part time retail was interesting and all were true!

I'm getting Journalist vibes.

I think it can get complicated when you have teenagers/young adults close in age who share the car. You can't keep swapping the drivers around multiple times a year, surely depending on whether it's cricket season, or one's current boyfriend lives 20 miles away?!

DM used to have a policy where anybody could drive her car, fully comp. I don't know if that type of insurance even exists nowadays, I suspect it would be very expensive.

I had no idea it was illegal.

I assumed the insurance made up for it as the inexperienced driver wouldn’t have any no claims so would pay more and the experienced driver lost their no claims in the event of a crash.

Mine passed their test yesterday! Cheap as chips to insure them as a learner. Vaguely terrified about the insurance now.

I think you are being alarmist. This would be a contract law issue (civil not criminal) and most parents insure their children on their own car rather than buying a new one for the teenager’s exclusive use. In such circumstances it is perfectly legal she the insurance is valid.

I did buy DS a cheap car so he could get to College whilst I’m at work. That’s only 3 days a week he needs to be in and approx 60 miles
If I have it in my name as a second car and drive it at the weekends and longer trips over the year, then it’s really as much mine as his and I can be the main driver surely?

@Genevieva

I think you are being alarmist. This would be a contract law issue (civil not criminal) and most parents insure their children on their own car rather than buying a new one for the teenager’s exclusive use. In such circumstances it is perfectly legal she the insurance is valid.

The insurance world seems to disagree. A quick Google produces multiple sources (insurance companies, motoring organisations, solicitors) which all state that a)it's common and b)criminal. Best case scenario if caught is just that the insurers void the policy but even that means you will have to declare that you've had a policy cancelled when you apply for insurance in the future, putting your premiums up or leading it to being refused. If there's a claim you may find yourself responsible for all the costs. The insurers are legally obliged to still cover 3rd party claims but will most likely then pursue you to reimburse them. And you can be prosecuted for fraud and driving without insurance/allowing a vehicle to be driven without insurance, with penalties including an unlimited fine, licence points or a ban.

When my son got his first car we insisted he got his own insurance (it cost more than the car) so that he could start building his own no-claims bonus. Also, I'd heard from a girl at work he was on her dad's insurance and had a serious accident. Insurers didn't accept he was the main driver when he was shown as main driver on another policy for a different car. They rejected the claim and the girl was bankrupted paying it.

Who was on her dad's insurance - not he was.......

Pretty much everyone I know with teenage children does this OP. I guess it would be pretty hard to prove otherwise particularly if said child still lives at/close to home.

Nope (insurance is bloomin expensive!) we put our daughter on my husband insurance as a named driver while she was learning (we can’t afford 3 cars so when we replaced husband car we did with her in mind) she passed with 5 months left to go she stayed as a named driver and both used the car - husband more for work etc. When the insurance was due for renewal we changed ownership of car to our daughter and got her own insurance (ouch) We are trying to not replace it and use 1 car! We will flip the insurance yearly on mine in order for husband not to loose his no- claims. We are both named drivers on her insurance as well - as occasionally we will need to use it.

Funny but when we only had one car and did roughly 50/50 driving, the insurance company (Privilege) said it was arbitrary. Even if it fluctuated it wasn't an issue.

Although I guess it would be more of an issue for more than one car in the household.

I have always done the opposite. Put my self as named driver and newly passed child as primary. Expensive for the first year but black box makes it doable .. and then once the first year is done it comes down rapidly if no claims .