"Fronting" Could Put You At The Back With Car Insurance
by : Michael Challiner

The cost of motoring is shocking these days, not least when we pull into the petrol station to fill up. However, young drivers are used to this - they know all about the high premiums of being a "young" driver, it's just the way it is when you are in the lower age bracket. The problem is statistics show that younger drivers are at higher risk of having or, being involved in, an accident and more likely to have a car stolen. As a result the premiums are hit hard.

Keith Maxwell of More Than says, "Young drivers can routinely pay upwards of 1,500 pounds for car cover. The quickest way to reduce this is by building up a "No-claims Bonus", which gets you on the ladder towards rewarding premium discounts.

The other fashionable way round prohibitive premiums is to be put on their parents' insurance as a named driver with the parent as the main driver. This means huge savings because the premiums are calculated on the main drivers' past record not the younger drivers. The add-on cost to the premium, as a named driver, is often as little as 10%.

However, this is a dangerous game for those who choose to do it and as we all know the younger driver is usually the main driver. This is in actual fact fraud and called "fronting" in the industry. At the beginning of the new academic year when thousands of teenagers go off to study at various colleges and universities around the UK, it is prime fronting season.

Keith Lewis from insurer Zurich says, "Students and their parents are often unwittingly committing fronting. The younger person takes the car away and in effect becomes the main driver, yet the policy still has the parent's name on it."

"People either don't think about what they are doing or simply assume it's legal. It's not. Not only can it lead to a claim being refused but also both the young person and their parents can be charged with insurance fraud."

Until, a claim is submitted the insurers admit that it is hard to tell if fronting is going on.

"People are at their most honest when they are calling initially after an accident. They don't have time for a cover story, so this is often when they tell us they are the main driver, rather than their parent" Mr Lewis added.

However, there are other indicators if the claimant doesn"t confess. Mr Lewis says, "Our claims handlers will look at where the accident occurred and compare it to the address on the insurance policy. For example, if the car is insured in a parent's name at an address in Newcastle but is involved in an accident in a university town such as Oxford, then fronting may be happening."

Also, in the event of an accident it is likely the insurance will be proven invalid which will cost and you will not be building up any no-claims bonus which is essential to reduce premiums. "This is the passport to cheaper premiums. It's best to bite the bullet and start building it up as quickly as possible," says Norwich Union's Erik Nelson.

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