Parents are lying to help their children get car insurance cover
16 per cent of young UK drivers have admitted to driving a car insured in their parents’ names. The survey, which was carried out by price comparison website Gocompare.com, revealed that parents are naming themselves as main drivers despite their children regularly driving their cars.
It’s a risky attempt to cut down on the high costs of motoring. Insurance industry experts have warned that this can have serious financial and legal consequences, including the policy provider refusing to settle claims.
If the insurer refuses to pay out, it is the young driver who will suffer. They can be viewed as ‘uninsured’ in the eyes of the law and could face a large fines, driving bans and even prosecution.
In the survey, 24 per cent of 17-19 year olds said they often struggle to afford to keep their cars on the road, and 30 per cent said their parents helped them out with the costs. This isn’t surprising considering it costs them an average of £1,753.34 a year in running costs, and swallows up 22 per cent of their income. 16 per cent of 17-19 year olds said it costs them over £3,000 a year, or more than £250 a month, to run their cars.
Scott Kelly, head of car insurance at Gocompare.com, said: “The costs of getting your first car on the road can seem sky high to a young driver and certainly the insurance premiums for new, inexperienced drivers can be substantial. However, we’d warn people against fronting in an attempt to reduce the cost of their cover.”
Mr Kelly stressed that the practice, known as ‘fronting’, is fraud and that the young driver could end up “in a lot of trouble.” He added: “Not only will the policy be invalid but you may find yourself open to prosecution, liable for accidental costs and find it hard to get insurance in the future. Worse still are those risking a criminal record, penalty points, disqualification, a large fine and the possibility of having their car turned into scrap metal by ignoring car insurance altogether.”
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