Should I become a named driver on my son's policy

bigpat

My son is shortly moving to London. He'll have no need of his car there, but he wants to keep it at my house in the Midlands for occasional use.

I work from home now and barely drive my own car, so I'm thinking of selling it, as it seems extravagant to have two cars sitting here not being driven much. So the idea is that I would become a named driver on his policy and no longer have a vehicle or insurance in my own name. Before I decide on this course of action, what are the downsides?

Presumably my son would need to declare that I would be the main driver, not him. Is that likely to have an effect on the cost?

If things change and I was to buy a new car a year or two later, would I be disadvantaged by not having my own no claims bonus? I have nine years now, but if I didn't have a policy in my own name for, say two years, would I retain those nine years by being a named driver, or would I have to restart all over at zero?

Anything else I should be aware of?

[Deleted User]

If you are clearly the main driver, you have to be the main person on the policy with him as a named driver. It's technically fronting, though of course it's normally done the other way around. As such, he will lose the no claims bonus after 2 years, not you (if you do, illegally, put yourself as a named driver but are the main driver, he will keep his no claims and you will lose yours).

You can keep the no claims provided you were a main driver again after a year

bigpat

Thanks. I have little idea of how this works and no intention of doing anything illegal.

So can I be the main policy-holder with him as a named driver, even if he is the legal owner of the car?

Sandtree

The other issue... is he declaring that he is not keeping the vehicle at his home address? This 

theoretica

Some insurers do have some relative of no claims for named drivers eg https://www.sainsburysbank.co.uk/car-insurance/named-driver  might be worth looking into.

bigpat

Sandtree said:

The other issue... is he declaring that he is not keeping the vehicle at his home address? This 

Yes, he would tell them that he's not keeping the car at his (new) address, but is keeping it at mine which is actually his (old) address.

I suppose we just have to go through the insurance comparison websites and see what the costs come out as.

Sandtree

bigpat said:

Sandtree said:

The other issue... is he declaring that he is not keeping the vehicle at his home address? This 

Yes, he would tell them that he's not keeping the car at his (new) address, but is keeping it at mine which is actually his (old) address.

I suppose we just have to go through the insurance comparison websites and see what the costs come out as.

Most people in these circumstances fraudulently claim their parents address is still their own and that their car is left at home overnight but if he is declaring his London address as home and saying his car isnt kept there then thats ok... its irrelevant from a pricing/fraud perspective if he has a correspondence address of your address or not (though most are all done electronically these days).

Some insurers do allow you to declare who the main driver is independently as to who the policyholder is but read the fine print on NCD, I have historically seen some where the NCD must come from the main driver not the policyholder.

[Deleted User]

bigpat said:

Sandtree said:

The other issue... is he declaring that he is not keeping the vehicle at his home address? This 

Yes, he would tell them that he's not keeping the car at his (new) address, but is keeping it at mine which is actually his (old) address.

I suppose we just have to go through the insurance comparison websites and see what the costs come out as.

Do be very careful on price comparison sites, don't use your own details. They have anti fraud measures that would see you swapping addresses and who is the main driver and assume you are fronting i.e. he is really the main driver but you are pretending to be in order to get cheaper deals for him.

You can swap around main and named drivers after a year to retain any no claims bonus provided that he is the main driver next year

macman

There's no connection between legal owner/named driver/registered keeper.

bigpat

macman said:

There's no connection between legal owner/named driver/registered keeper.

I was hoping that was the case.  Good to know, thank you!

Sandtree

macman said:

There's no connection between legal owner/named driver/registered keeper.

No legal requirement for a connection but insurers will want to know the connection between the three and the more remote the less comfortable some insurers will be.