Is it illegal?

lilluigi

Ok this may seem like a very stupid question but I'm curious...

For my little clio, the best car insurance quote I got was £1200 which I was actually really pleased with. Just for the fun of it I decided to see if it would fall by a few pounds if I added my mum (who has never even did a lesson in her life never mind got her licence!). To my surpise it fell by a whole £300 which I'm sure everyone would be happier off with in their pockets!

I don't think I would ever have the guts to do it anyway just incase but would it be illegal if I did?

rev_henry

Oh now that's an interesting one. Don't you know anyone with a license who is of 'equivalent specification', if you will, to your mother in insurance terms, who you could add?
Or here's another idea. Check if it still saves you anything if you say she has a provisional licence instead of a full one. Then if it still saves you more than £50 just get her to get herself a provisional!
I think actually you'd probably be ok doing this haha. She's never going to actually drive it so she won't commit a criminal offence of driving without a licence, and as she'll never drive it she'll never crash it so they'll never check her details.

Rolandtheroadie

As said, i cant see there being a problem as long as you've been honest with the insurer (does she have a provisional and you've declared it as a provisional?)

cardinalbiggles

If she doesnt have a licence and you have told them she has they wont pay out if they find out, I suspect its technically fraud.

dacouch

If she has no licence it is fraud.

The Insurance is based on the principle of "Utmost good faith", if you intentionally miss lead the Insurers they have the option to declare the policy void refund the premiums (They can actually retain the premium if you intentionally miss lead them). If they do this you will find it very very difficult to find any insurance in the future.

As other posters have mentioned, have you tried other potential drivers who actually have a licence instead

december

I agree, you need to find someone else to add as otherwise it is fraud. If you have any older friends/ family members who have a full licence, try adding them instead. They don't necessarily have to drive the car but they do need to have a full licence and for the best results a clean licence and no accidents would also be best.

200888

scotsman4th wrote: »

As said, i cant see there being a problem as long as you've been honest with the insurer (does she have a provisional and you've declared it as a provisional?)

the OP said she has never had a lesson in her life, i doubt she has a provisional....

interesting question though, i never thought of it, as long as you dont lie about anything on your insurance then how could it be illegal? adding someone that never actually drives isnt a lie, you could say that it was going to happen and then didnt get round to driving or something - unless yeh you say they have a licence when they dont

Mankysteve

There will something about it tucked away in the small print. It will be fraudulent.

dacouch

Mankysteve wrote: »

There will something about it tucked away in the small print. It will be fraudulent.

It's not tucked away in the small print, it is made very clear when you apply for a quote and when you accept a quote that you are duty bound to answer the questions truthfully / to the best of your knowledge.

Rolandtheroadie

200888 wrote: »

the OP said she has never had a lesson in her life, i doubt she has a provisional....

Ahh, but would your doubts hold up in a court of law lol.

Homersimpson

If you put you mum down as having a provisional licence and she does have one then whether she drives the car or not it would be fine as long as shes down as a named driver not the main driver.

If you put her down as a full licence and she doesn't have one then that would be fraud.

If you put her down as the main driver then thats fraud (they call it fronting).

My brother has the same thing that he gets cheaper insurance with myself and my dad as named drivers on his policy. He's the main driver and drives it 99% of the time, I drive it perhaps 4-5 times a year and my dad once maybe. His insurers were happy with this.

I wouldn't try to figure out why this is, insurance is all based on risk forumlas that in a lot of cases don't seem to make much sense.