On your parents insurance & told a little porkie?

merlin · 12 Feb 2007 at 11:41

I got a newsletter from NU this morning -

HOT TOPICS Feb 2007

This is the 11th edition of the ‘Hot Topics’ newsletter which aims to provide a personal update on developments and initiatives from NUI that I feel will be of interest to you.

These are only brief headline articles but if you would like to know more please contact me direct.

Important information on ‘Fronting’

Fronting is the means of obtaining insurance by deception. A parent may ‘front’ a policy for an inexperienced driver in order to reduce the insurance premium. If fronting is proven insurers can treat the policy as void, return the premium and repudiate any claims reported. The premium may be retained against claims already paid and the difference recovered from the policyholder/ driver. Third party claims may become the responsibility of the vehicle owner/main user. In addition from 15th Jan 2007 fronting becomes an offence under the Fraud Act 2006, and can lead to imprisonment, fine or both. Please help us to avoid this by ensuring all policy details are correct at both quote and renewal stage.

So the message is clear - they're onto you.

Kroegen · 12 Feb 2007 at 11:44

That would effect a lot of people.

hardc0re_tid · 12 Feb 2007 at 11:49

my dad is the main driver but more recently my mum and i drive the car more than him as he is using the mondeo

Jez · 12 Feb 2007 at 11:51

Surely proving this would be very very difficuilt. Even if it is plainly obvious (rusty fiesta, mum also happens to have a brand new BMW) i do not see how the insurance company could PROVE that the parent didnt drive the car too.

Homer-Simpson · 12 Feb 2007 at 11:52

Jez said:
Surely proving this would be very very difficuilt. Even if it is plainly obvious (rusty fiesta, mum also happens to have a brand new BMW) i do not see how the insurance company could PROVE that the parent didnt drive the car too.

Surely they could prove the main driver wasn't the parents though seems as they drive to work in the shiny BMW every day

Well I have my fingers crossed....

merlin · 12 Feb 2007 at 11:55

Jez said:
Surely proving this would be very very difficuilt. Even if it is plainly obvious (rusty fiesta, mum also happens to have a brand new BMW) i do not see how the insurance company could PROVE that the parent didnt drive the car too.

You would be absolutely astonished at how many private investigators are used by insurers.

cymatty · 12 Feb 2007 at 11:56

TBH insurers deserve to be screwed over at any opportunity, they do it to us.

Jez · 12 Feb 2007 at 11:57

merlin said:
You would be absolutely astonished at how many private investigators are used by insurers.

Didnt know they would ever bother looking into things in this much detail

Homer-Simpson · 12 Feb 2007 at 11:59

cymatty said:
TBH insurers deserve to be screwed over at any opportunity, they do it to us.

Maybe they only screw "us" over because people are constantly screwing them over - chicken and the egg etc etc

JRS · 12 Feb 2007 at 12:00

Question:

My mother drives the Seicento every weekday. Lots of short trips, to work, to town, to the post office etc. I drive it fairly infrequently these days, as I don't need it for work where I'm living right now. When I do drive it, it tends to be long distances.

Mum is the primary driver on the policy, I'm added on. I worked out our mileage last year, and it turned out that I drove almost as many miles as Mum, maybe a few more. So who is the main driver? The one who drives the car the most frequently, or the one who drives it the greater distance?

Firestar_3x · 12 Feb 2007 at 12:02

Jez said:
Didnt know they would ever bother looking into things in this much detail

Yes, if they can get out of paying say 20k for the damage you have caused.

About time this was sorted out imho!

cymatty · 12 Feb 2007 at 12:02

Homer-Simpson said:
Maybe they only screw "us" over because people are constantly screwing them over - chicken and the egg etc etc

Yeah hence the wink

However it seems silly to me that insurers can do the following

Mum drives 6000miles per yr
Son drives 4000 miles per yr

Premium £800

Mum drives 4000 miles per yr
Son drives 6000 miles per yr

Premium £2000

Stupid.

Firestar_3x · 12 Feb 2007 at 12:02

JRS said:
Question:

My mother drives the Seicento every weekday. Lots of short trips, to work, to town, to the post office etc. I drive it fairly infrequently these days, as I don't need it for work where I'm living right now. When I do drive it, it tends to be long distances.

Mum is the primary driver on the policy, I'm added on. I worked out our mileage last year, and it turned out that I drove almost as many miles as Mum, maybe a few more. So who is the main driver? The one who drives the car the most frequently, or the one who drives it the greater distance?

Based on distance iirc

merlin · 12 Feb 2007 at 12:03

Jez said:
Didnt know they would ever bother looking into things in this much detail

You don't think they'd stoop that low?

lol, HUGE mistake. I've presently got three claims under my control with people being watched by PI's and I doubt I have any more than 80 claims allocated to me atm.

One claim is a real big un, but the other two are probably only reserved @ £10k.

It doesn't take much for a £200 Fiesta to cause £10k worth of damage on the way to College or Uni & if it's insured in the parent's name with the parent delcared as the main user....this is going to get closer attention from now on. Insurers are on the look-out, detection isn't rocket science.

Simple solution is for people to tell the truth - if the young driver is the main user - tell the insurer and pay the extra premium or get young driver to insure the car him/herself.

JRS · 12 Feb 2007 at 12:07

Firestar_3x said:
Based on distance iirc

Oh well, will just have to drive the Olds more then. What a shame....

Stonedofmoo · 12 Feb 2007 at 12:11

merlin said:
So the message is clear - they're onto you.

Not me!

z0mbi3 · 12 Feb 2007 at 12:15

I don't care tbh.

My Mrs is the main driver and I'm named simply because she's been driving longer. It's cheaper and you can only have 1 policy on a car so there you go.

I don't pay attention to who does more driving. In fairness though I'm not a scummy student

Adam · 12 Feb 2007 at 12:18

Make insurance more affordable for new drivers and this problem would not arise. My brother got quoted £6k for a Ford KA having just passed his test when he temporarily moved to liverpool. £6k insurance for a £3k car? Not likely.

Jez · 12 Feb 2007 at 12:23

Adam said:
£6k insurance for a £3k car?

I will never ever get my head round people comparing insurance premium to the cost of the car, they completely and utterly do not have anything to do with one another.

Trojan · 12 Feb 2007 at 12:28

Jez said:
I will never ever get my head round people comparing insurance premium to the cost of the car, they completely and utterly do not have anything to do with one another.

If that's the case how come I get differeing quotes from some companies if I put the same details in but on one quote state the car is worth £2500, and on a second quote state £12,500?