Car Insurance Blues : (

sinclasc

Hi guys,
I've been driving for around 4 years, but only got a policy "of my own" a few months ago (so no "no claims").

About 1 month after, my wife crashed the car. According to the insurers, that counts as me making a claim, since I'm the lead driver.

Now we are looking to buy a new car. Is there a way she can be insured without being a "named driver"? I.e. insurance is in my name and she can drive - it might be cheaper?

And does the 1 claim we had count as a claim by her and as a claim by me?

Trying to work the costs down. No "no claims" plus a claim against each named driver is pretty bad news!

Tim_Dodd_2

Hi Sinclasc,

You've got a few questions in this one. I'll try to break them down.

"Now we are looking to buy a new car. Is there a way she can be insured without being a "named driver"? I.e. insurance is in my name and she can drive - it might be cheaper?"

A normal motor insurance policy consists of one policyholder only. You seem to be describing a policy for which you are the policyholder and your wife is also insured but isn't a named driver - to my knowledge this isn't possible. Yourself or your wife must be a named driver.

And does the 1 claim we had count as a claim by her and as a claim by me?

To be absolutely sure about this one I would get on the phone and ask a couple of insurance companies about how they deal with this situation. Whatever you put forward as your details, you are bound to. If you put forward - knowingly or not - false information, you can invalidate your policy...leaving you uninsured.

Always worth checking out properly.

I wouldn't worry about the claims against each driver. Admittedly, it is much better to not have any, but there are hundred or insurance brands out there and each one specialises in a particular set of business - high risk, low risk, convictions, claims, female, sports car etc etc etc.

If you do your research, you should be able to find an insurance provider who is more 'forgiving' about your claims history.

The best suggestion for people with claims is to get on the phone. You can explain so much more when speaking to someone than you can with an online form of set questions.

Use the internet to narrow down the options and then get on the phone.



...and on other thing, you mentioned that you had driven for 4 year before you got your own policy (I'm assuming this is without making a claim). This is the perfect sort of information you can give to someone over the phone to see if it helps to reduce your premium as many insurers are taking into account a good driving history as a named driver or on a company car policy.