Help! Complete car newbie

splutterbug

Hi there, Yesterday at the ripe old age of 33 I've bought my very first car, (Well it's for wife and in her name). I've had a licence for about 15 years and never driven, my wife has just passed her test, we're now looking at insurance and quite shocked that with my wife as the main driver the cheapest I've found so far is about £580 3rd part fire and theft, but for me to be the main driver it's over £150 cheaper. My question is, Is this legal for me to do being that my wife is going to be the main driver of the car. Also should I really be looking at fully comp insurance, is the extra worth it?

I still need to go through all the other comparison sites, the guide on the main page is a huge lifeline, but some absolute basic advice for someone that's never had a car would be much appreciated many thanks.

Oscar_The_Grouch

Hi there

Insurance is based on "material facts". This means that you have to tell the insurance company the truth about everything they ask. If you lie and tell them you are the main driver when your wife is, this is otherwise known as FRAUD which is a criminal offence.

Aside from the fraud aspect, there are warnings all over the policy and proposal forms, as well as the on line forms that you fill in, advising you that if you do not give them all the facts, you will invalidate your policy cover. This means that if you were to get comprehensive insurance with you as the main driver, your insurer would be legally entitled to cancel your insurance, keep the money you have paid them, recover any expenses (including the full costs of compensating someone you may injure in an accident) and not pay your claim.

You may think that I am just trying to scare you, but I see cases like this every day where someone has lied and thought they could get away with it.

The simple solution is to tell your insurers the truth. They will charge the increased premium for the first year (they consider you are more likely to claim in the first year after passing your test) and then it should drop like a stone - 30% no claims discount if you have a claim free year and the removal of the loading for 1st year of licence.

As for comprehensive insurance, it depends on the value of your car. The policy will have a standard excess (the amount you have to pay for your own repairs if the car is damaged in an accident) of at least £100 and possibly more. There is also an "inexperienced driver excess" of probably £150 or more. This is going to mean that you will pay at least £250 towards any repairs anyway and if the car is worth less than £2,000, it's probably not worth claiming for minor scrapes and such.

Check the policy document (they are available on line from the insurer most of the time) for the terms on the excesses.