Fronting car insurance

Caz3121

Also interested in this, DSS passed his test yesterday, has a car in his own name and previously had insurance in his own name on provisional licence. Car obviously young boys car with sound system etc. He has now taken out insurance in his mums name using her full no claims etc and is happily driving around.
As mum has her own vehicle which she insures I am guessing he will not be able to provide her proof of no claims certificate etc within the 28 days so he is likely to get found out in a months time. What are they likely to do?

dacouch

Caz3121 wrote: »

Also interested in this, DSS passed his test yesterday, has a car in his own name and previously had insurance in his own name on provisional licence. Car obviously young boys car with sound system etc. He has now taken out insurance in his mums name using her full no claims etc and is happily driving around.
As mum has her own vehicle which she insures I am guessing he will not be able to provide her proof of no claims certificate etc within the 28 days so he is likely to get found out in a months time. What are they likely to do?

They will demand proof of the no claims bonus, if this is not provided they will either rerate the premium without no claims bonus which will more than double the premium or cancel and base the charge for cover provided without no claims.

If the car is registered in his name they will probably discover it when he has a claim especially a write off. If this happens see earlier in the thread for the potential consequences which can cause major problems

mikey72

dacouch wrote: »

They will demand proof of the no claims bonus, if this is not provided they will either rerate the premium without no claims bonus which will more than double the premium or cancel and base the charge for cover provided without no claims.

If the car is registered in his name they will probably discover it when he has a claim especially a write off. If this happens see earlier in the thread for the potential consequences which can cause major problems

I would think with such an obvious example they would cancel, and charge excessively for the period on cover, although cynically they may take the money, but would be marking the policy to be voided if there was any claim.

System

Caz3121 wrote: »

What are they likely to do?

Sounds like an obvious case of "Fronting"

When the insurance company finds out (which they will) the son's insurance record will have a black mark which will make him almost uninsurable or very expensive in future, but it will also impact on his Mum's insurance too, unless she can prove that she was not aware that her son had taken out this policy in her name.

bouncydog1

Clear case of fronting and it is highly likely there has been non-disclosure on the appliction regarding ownership etc of the vehicle. Fronting amounts to fraud as it is with-holding information from the insurers with the intent to secure a lower premium.

Depending on who the insurers are they may cancel the policy and possibly ask for additional premium for time on risk as it will be significantly more expensive for your SS to insure in his name.

Your wife will have a cancelled policy that will have to be declared making it very difficult for her to obtain insurance going forwards.

In the event that there is an accident in the meantime, insurers will make enquiries, pay out for third party damage (which they have to) and then have the option of pursuing your wife and SS for their outlay.

In your wife's shoes, I think the best option would be to contact the insurers (they won't speak to the SS as he has no contract with them) and take it from there.

dacouch

mikey72 wrote: »

I would think with such an obvious example they would cancel, and charge excessively for the period on cover, although cynically they may take the money, but would be marking the policy to be voided if there was any claim.

They could not charge more for the fronting and then mark the policy for voiding at a later date.

For such a blatant front, they would almost certainly void the policy upon discovery (Normally a claim). They would quite likely have the option of retaining the premium as it could be classed as intentional / fraudulent.

I've seen quite a few fronted policies voided, we even get the customer to sign a disclaimer which points out the potential pitfalls if we suspect fronting and the customer is swearing blind that it's not fronted. A fair amount subsequently turn out to be fronted.

The amount of people who suddenly buy a Citroen Saxo etc at the same time their kid turns 17 or passes their text to add the both the parents existing cars is amazing

Phantom247

Exactly, generally speaking if such a blatant front was found they could as Dacouch has stated void the policy ab initio if they could and retain the premium.

It is dependent on the policy wording and whether or not they believe they are going to be overturned by the Ombudsman, but they generally don't like fronting and normally side with the insurer, although there are exceptions.

The most likely outcome although dependent on the insurer is that they will refuse to pay your claim if you are claiming without the current policy being cancelled/amended to show the actual main user of the vehicle but either way they are legally obligated to pay out the TP claim.

mikey72

dacouch wrote: »

They could not charge more for the fronting and then mark the policy for voiding at a later date.

For such a blatant front, they would almost certainly void the policy upon discovery (Normally a claim). They would quite likely have the option of retaining the premium as it could be classed as intentional / fraudulent.

I've seen quite a few fronted policies voided, we even get the customer to sign a disclaimer which points out the potential pitfalls if we suspect fronting and the customer is swearing blind that it's not fronted. A fair amount subsequently turn out to be fronted.

The amount of people who suddenly buy a Citroen Saxo etc at the same time their kid turns 17 or passes their text to add the both the parents existing cars is amazing

I meant the same thing as you.

Either, they void the policy when the ncd isn't supplied, but charge a horrifically expensive premium for the period on cover at the recalcutaed no ncd rate.

Or, they take whatever premium they finally agree to at the start of the policy, with or without proof of ncd, then simply void it for the fronting if they are ever asked to pay out on it.

win/win

angelfire

JimmyTheWig wrote: »

I suggest that once you've got a quote you like the look of you phone them up and tell them this is what will be happening.
Be up-front with them and you'll be fine.

[Why is this poster's name blocked in the quote?]

Hi, this is exactly what we have done - narrowed our car search down to three vehicles; fiesta, jazz and fabia, then rang my insurer for quotes on all three. They asked about how often my daughter will be driving and i explained the above, they checked with underwriters who said that would be okay. They also confirmed, that my daughter would accrue a year's 'bonus' with them to be used against a policy in her own name (with them)next year in a similar way to no claims, should she get herself her own car. They also will not increase the premium once she passes. They ALSO happen to be the cheapest. They are aviva.....