A survey claims the 45% of young drivers named on their parents’ insurance policy could be driving without valid cover.
The practice, known as fronting, usually involves a parent claiming to be the main driver and including the young person as another named driver.
An insurance firm claims as many as a quarter of a million young drivers are doing this.
They could be get up to 6 points on their licences if caught.
The findings are based on a survey of 2,000 young people by insurer Young Marmalade.
Claims rejected
As well as a licence endorsement, insurers say drivers risk having claims rejected and even the possibility of having to sit their test again.
Insurance for young drivers can cost thousands of pounds, so there is a clear motive to resort to fronting.
The insurance industry says they are simply passing on the higher costs of cover for youngsters.
Female drivers
“17 to 21 year olds are up to 10 times more likely to be involved in an accident than more mature drivers and we have to reflect that in the costs of insurance”, says Malcolm Tarling of the Association of British Insurers.
Although he adds that young female drivers tend to be a better risk for insurance purposes than young males.
Those fronting are often spotted by tell-tale signs such as the family having two cars, one of which is an ‘old banger’ or kept hundreds of miles away at university.
When I got my first car at 21 I put my mother on as a second driver (not fronting), and this reduced the cost anyway. She never drove the car.
Keiran Raine.
If young people cannot get or afford their own insurance it is because they are in the risk category. OK so what do we have to do, well is it not better to be added to the family car so that they can learn, get practice and become better drivers, thus lowering accident rates and hence lowering insurance claims?
If insurance companies try to stop named drivers they will find that they are penalising good young drivers, i.e. those that will be paying their income in the future, or do they want the mums and dads to force better public transport from government and thus take business away?
Nadim Bhatti.
My son is just about to purchase his first car at 17. The premiums are too high. Why not charge an affordable premium and if they make a claim their premiums are then loaded for the next couple of years. Why hit them with a big stick before they have done anything wrong. I guess they are easy targets. Insurance companies are just lining their pockets.
Tony Ranson.
Fronting isn’t the only problem, some keep their ‘official’ address as their parent’s address to avoid paying higher premiums for a high risk area even if they are living in rented accommodation and working in full-time employment/studying elsewhere. Many do not declare modifications from standard spec and have go-faster wheels etc. I see too many youngsters driving around in modified cars and showing little or no thought for other road users.
Maybe stricter proof of residence should be asked for e.g. where is that young person registered to vote, where are they registered for Council Tax, where are they banking? What is the address of their employer? If these don’t match up, cover should be refused. One has to be a bit careful as many young people would simply revert to driving uninsured.
Trouble is that it’s honest motorists who are paying for this, rather than instigating more punitive measures for those who are found to be breaking the law. It is after all, a form of fraud.
Joanne Mead.
- news.bbc.co.uk -