Fronting - how to prove it

TheHolly

I recently got hit by a 17 year old boy racer. The damage to my car will probably be about £200 (bumper damage) and his £400. At the scene he admitted liability and then he back tracked saying it was me who hit him. I am guessing with no witnesses it could well be 50:50 and I'll lose my £500 excess but in my eyes it was clearly his fault.and he even said so. I am happy not to claim for my car but I was surprised that given his age and likely high insurance and excess costs, he wants to claim. It all became clear when I spoke to his dad.

It seems that his dad is the main policy holder and the boy is insured as a named driver on a second car also owned by the dad. I'm pretty certain that this is fronting and illegal. If proven this means that this could invalidate their policy.

Does anyone know how I can go about finding out if this is indeed fronting and if so how I would go about reporting it?

rtho782

You would need to prove he was the main driver, which you have no way to do. His insurance company wouldn't get out of RTA level cover so this would not be in their interest, so I don't suppose you will be very sucessful.

As to it being your fault.... google streetview link to the accident site?

McKneff

I would leave it all to your insurerers to be honest, that's what you pay them for.

Even if you dont claim for anything, you will be in breach of contract if you dont, at least, inform them.

Aretnap

Whether it was fronting would depend on whether or not he actually was the main driver (it's just possible, if unlikely, that his dad is the main driver of both cars) but also the actual terms of the policy - some are more explicit than others about the difference between first and second named drivers.

It also depends on what they've actually told the insurers. If his dad owns the car then dad should be the policyholder as it's him who'll be looking for a payout if it gets written off. This isn't fronting as long as they're upfront with the insurer about the fact that the son is actually the main driver.

If they've breached the terms of the policy it wouldn't enable their insurers to avoid their liabilities under the Road Traffic Act, but their insurers might be able to recoup any payout they had to make from the father and/or son, so it may be something his insurers would pursue.

Unfortunately for you, if he was breaching the terms of his insurance policy that wouldn't invalidate his right to claim from you for any damage which was your fault - but it might make him less keen to make a claim if he thought that it would encourage his insurers to look into the fronting issue.