Piggybacking?

fedupnow

My husband used to have use of a company van for getting to and from work. I have a company car. And we also share a family car.

Up until now the family car has been registered in my name, it's my insurance with my husband as named driver. (I don't make a 'good' passenger - I nag about his positioning on the road and get car sick if not driving.)

Anyway, my husband has lost the use of the van and will need to use the family car to get to and from work which will mean him becoming the main user.

As the 'family' car is an old banger (only really used to take dog to beach etc.) we need a decent car and so are trading up.

I rang the insurance and explained all the above and she said we can keep the insurance in my name, keep my husband as 'named driver' but also name him as 'main user'. The car will be registered in my husband's name.

I'm a little concerned this doesn't count as piggy-backing. She did sort of sound like it was her first day. Perhaps I should ask for confirmation of this agreement in writing?

Anybody know?

Thanks.

thegirlintheattic

Do you mean fronting?

RK has to be down as the RK
The policy holder can be anyone with an insureable intrest in the vehcile - usually RK or main driver.
Main driver is person who drives the car most.

If your OH is the person who drives the car most he should be the main driver. RK - OH, you policyholder and named driver.

fedupnow

It's much cheaper if I'm the policy holder and husband is the named driver. But I thought if he now has to use the car to get back and for to work (and hence become the main user) it would be illegal to continue as before.

Is it illegal or not? The girl on the phone said 'not', but I'd always believed it was.

If it's 'not' surely I can be the policy holder on my daughter's car too. It would save her a fortune. And I don't want to think about what my son's insurance might cost. He currently borrows my company car when necessary, but if I can be the policy holder ...

I thought the term was piggy-backing. I could be wrong about that too then.

Not the brightest, am I?

Thanks for your reply.

forgotmyname

The main driver will have the most influence on the premium.

So you can be the policyholder on your daughters car but as soon as you put her as the main driver the premium will increase accordingly.

Do online quotes, Maybe the person on the phone didnt realise what you meant?

Dont forget if your daughters policy is in your name she wont earn her own no claims bonus properly. They may allow a a discount but when you swap companies they may not recognise it, And if its in your name and she crashes you have to declare that on ALL of YOUR policies. Your initial saving will soon vanish.

thegirlintheattic

It doesn't matter who the policy holder is - what matters is who the main driver is. Some insurance forms give you an option for setting the main driver as different from the policy holder, otherwise you'd have to call up because they assume the policy holder is the same as the main driver (and some will not let the policy holder and main driver be different people).

The main driver MUST be the person who uses the car most (and usually is the person commuting in it but not always). Otherwise it is fronting which is illegal. It is most commonly seen in parents being the main driver on offspring's cars.

If you decide to go with this insurer as things currently stand I would want some kind of confirmation that you had fully explained the situation and they had agreed.

Here are some links (most deal with parent/child fronting):
http://news.bbc.co.uk/1/hi/programmes/moneybox/7052569.stm
http://www.guardian.co.uk/money/2011/oct/14/fronting-car-insurance-costs-parents

mikey72

If you are the policy holder on both cars, you can only use your ncd on one. So if you start a new policy, on the new car, you either start at 0, or try to find an insurer that will give you a discount. You may be better off switching your policy to the new car, and trying to get an introductory discount on the old car for a new policy in your husbands name. You may get it based on his time as a named driver, combined with the years he has driven the van.

fedupnow

Thanks for the replies.

I think I understand now.

We are getting rid of the old banger - else I think we'd each be the main driver on one each, but the continuation of the no claims isn't worth running an extra car.

We have already asked his work if he can have something to show he's made no claims. They say that claims have been made as a company - individual drivers are not claimed against. Not sure if that sentence makes sense, but bottom line is, 'No.'

It's one of my concerns actually. I have a long 'no claims' which I will lose if it now goes into his name and he will have to start anew. I suspect my company insurance works on a similar basis (We enquired previously about my daughter.) Hopefully him being a named driver will be worth something.

I think we shall change it onto his name. He will be the registered keeper, policy holder and main user. There is no room for suspicion then if anything unfortunate were to happen.

Thanks again.

Nearly_Old

It might be worth checking again with your current insurersw as we have mixture with our cars as originally we had:

Family car: owner, RK, policy holder and main driver: me with my wife as a named driver.
Her car: owner, RK, policy holder and named driver: me with my wife as the main driver.

When we added a 3rd car (my retirement/weekend car) I rang our insurers and they suggested putting the new policy in my wife's name as if I started a new policy there would be no NCD. Because my wife was the main driver on one existing policy and a named driver on the other they gave her a discount equal to the full NCD. So we ended up with:

His car: owner, RK and main driver: me with my wife as the policy holder and a named driver.

bouncydog1

I would get your husband to go back to his work and advise that he wants a letter stating that whilst he has been a driver of company vehicles for x no of years, he has not had any accidents, nor have any claims been made in relation to his use of the company vehicle.

Although there is a company policy, insurers keep records of individual drivers and often supply these letters. If the Co won't go to the insurer then possibly a letter from the HR department may suffice.

I would keep your car as it is, but advise insurers your OH will now be main driver. You could transfer your bonus over to him, but there is little benefit to you in doing that. If you get a second car, then he could insure it in his own name and he probably would get a starter bonus from your insurers if he has been a named driver for years.

On the children, best thing is to bite the bullet and get their own policies - don't even consider fronting regardless of how many of their friends parents do it. They will come unstuck when their insurers find out!

fedupnow

Sorted it now, thanks everybody.

I had a long chat with a different advisor - very helpful - and he is the RK and MD but it is staying as my policy as I have the NCD. Apparently many couples have it this way around. The premium did go up a little, but not as much as starting anew with 0 NCD.

I mentioned I had been fretting it was like 'fronting' for your kids. She says that too is done all the time, but the price reflects the kid being the main user. It's only 'iffy' when the parents claim they are the MU and the kid borrows it 'occasionally.'

Personally I think kids should be encouraged to start their own as soon as possible. It's better to bring the cost of insurance down before having a mortgage and wotnot to fork out for. When my eldest got her first car it was virtually the only expense she had. Also, in my estimation, when they pay for things themselves they tend to be more careful.

Thanks again to everybody.

fedupnow

Nearly_Old wrote: »

It might be worth checking again with your current insurersw as we have mixture with our cars as originally we had:

Family car: owner, RK, policy holder and main driver: me with my wife as a named driver.
Her car: owner, RK, policy holder and named driver: me with my wife as the main driver.

When we added a 3rd car (my retirement/weekend car) I rang our insurers and they suggested putting the new policy in my wife's name as if I started a new policy there would be no NCD. Because my wife was the main driver on one existing policy and a named driver on the other they gave her a discount equal to the full NCD. So we ended up with:

His car: owner, RK and main driver: me with my wife as the policy holder and a named driver.

That's interesting. Thank you. I asked if my husband could have any reduction from being a named driver on my clean history and they said 'no'. But then again, he'd never been the main driver. But maybe a few years down the line they will give him something.

His work are very stubborn about providing anything to say he hasn't had a bump in any of the work vans. Maybe it's because they are all pool vehicles that they don't log who did what when.

Having said that, they must do. Surely. They must want to know if any one person was being particularly careless and ramping up their premium. They're just being lazy more likely.

Still, done now.