Are car insurers legally obliged to provide Named Driver information?

MySonEd · 19 February 2019 at 11:35AM

My daughter has been the named driver on her husband's car for about 9 years. She never made a claim. She has been the sole driver for the last 2-3 years.

Divorce proceedings are ongoing.

My daughter's solicitor persuaded husband to giver her the car.

She now needs to insure the car. Details:Ford C-Max Estate 1.6, 5dr, 2009. WhatCar buy trade evaluation: £4,200

Up until now, husband has been trying to hold back as much help and information as possible.

On that basis, I have some questions below.

Some details might be sketchy, or even incorrect. I need to do everything by WhatsApp because I have hearing difficulties. But I can seek clarification on specific points if necessary.

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Q1: Is husband legally obliged to inform wife of the names of his previous insurers? (So that she can ask them for Named Driver (ND) info, such as no claims by Named Driver.)
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Q2: Are husband's insurers legally obliged to provide wife with ND info?
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Husband told daughter that last (current?) insurer was Sainsburys Bank. Daughter phoned them. During course of conversation, SB said that she was "high risk", and would quote £4,000.

An online quote from Brightside based on same info was £1,000

Q3: I'm wondering if husband has been falsifying info to Sainsburys? Objectively, for the car details shown above (and with no claims in 9 years), how can it be possible to arrive at a quote of £4,000?

dunstonh · 19 February 2019 at 12:03PM

Q1: Is husband legally obliged to inform wife of the names of his previous insurers? (So that she can ask them for Named Driver (ND) info, such as no claims by Named Driver.)

No.

Q2: Are husband's insurers legally obliged to provide wife with ND info?

no. Their relationship is with the policyholder.

Q3: I'm wondering if husband has been falsifying info to Sainsburys? Objectively, for the car details shown above (and with no claims in 9 years), how can it be possible to arrive at a quote of £4,000?

You can wonder as much as you like but it wont achive anything.

A quote of £4000 is an insurance company's way of telling you that they do not want you. A passive blocker. A common business method used in many industries.

Why do you need proof of NCD? It only belongs to one person and can only be applied to one vehicle. This will be the husband. Your daughter needs to start her own.

forgotmyname · 19 February 2019 at 12:04PM

Q1. His policy so its his personal data.

Q2. Its his policy and his personal data, Your daughter doesnt have any no claims to carry forward. The policy holder earns the no claims.

Q3, His insurer may quote that, my insurer wanted £7000 to add my daughter to my £300 policy. But she only paid £700 on her own policy.

System · 19 February 2019 at 2:17PM

I see the point of asking, because many insurers do give an introductory discount to a named driver, and this can be as high as if it was a real NCD. But it would only apply if you took out a policy with that company.
But they have already said that she is high risk and don't want her, so there would be no point in asking even if you could get the information.

MEM62 · 19 February 2019 at 3:22PM

MySonEd wrote: »

My daughter has been the named driver on her husband's car for about 9 years.

MySonEd wrote: »

She has been the sole driver for the last 2-3 years.

You daughter might want to be discreet about those facts. Certainly she will want to be wary about sharing them with a potential insurer. What she has effectively done is called fronting (Google it for further info) and underwriters take a very dim view of it.

MySonEd · 20 February 2019 at 9:43AM

MEM62 wrote: »

You daughter might want to be discreet about those facts. Certainly she will want to be wary about sharing them with a potential insurer. It is called fronting (Google it for further info) and underwriters take a very dim view of it.

I was momentarily puzzled by your response, because I was aware that "fronting" is an attempt to get a lower premium by providing FALSE info.

None of my info above was false, but maybe there's a statement missing. A better statement might have been:

My daughter has been the named driver on her husband's car for about 9 years. For the first 6 years, she drove the car for 80% of its usage. For the last 3 years, she was the sole driver.

Does that address the issue?

I'm still puzzled that you suggest that drivers should "be wary about sharing them with a potential insurer." I thought ALL info had to be shared with a potential insurer, under the (justifiable, IMO) threat of legal action.

Thanks.

DCFC79 · 20 February 2019 at 9:58AM

MySonEd wrote: »

I'm still puzzled that you suggest that drivers should "be wary about sharing them with a potential insurer." I thought ALL info had to be shared with a potential insurer, under the (justifiable, IMO) threat of legal action.

Thanks.

What MEM is saying is your D is named driver but has been using it majority of the time as though she is the main driver.

What they mean by "Certainly she will want to be wary about sharing them with a potential insurer" is dont go sharing the facts with potential insurers eg dont say Oh I'm a named driver but I do most of the driving.

dunstonh · 20 February 2019 at 10:36AM

I'm still puzzled that you suggest that drivers should "be wary about sharing them with a potential insurer." I thought ALL info had to be shared with a potential insurer, under the (justifiable, IMO) threat of legal action.

Maybe that disclosure is why the insurer you mentioned previously considers her high risk.

MySonEd · 20 February 2019 at 10:36AM

DCFC79 wrote: »

What MEM is saying is your D is named driver but has been using it majority of the time as though she is the main driver.

What they mean by "Certainly she will want to be wary about sharing them with a potential insurer" is dont go sharing the facts with potential insurers eg dont say Oh I'm a named driver but I do most of the driving.

That's all clear now.

Thanks.

Quentin · 20 February 2019 at 10:55AM

Your daughter should have been the nominated "main" driver throughout, though that was the responsibility of the policyholder to deal with, and not your daughter

The policyholder will have agreed he was telling the truth about everything in his application including which driver was the main one

So that aspect is not her concern

MEM62 · 20 February 2019 at 4:48PM

MySonEd wrote: »

I was momentarily puzzled by your response, because I was aware that "fronting" is an attempt to get a lower premium by providing FALSE info.

None of my info above was false, but maybe there's a statement missing. A better statement might have been:
My daughter has been the named driver on her husband's car for about 9 years. For the first 6 years, she drove the car for 80% of its usage. For the last 3 years, she was the sole driver.
Does that address the issue?

I'm still puzzled that you suggest that drivers should "be wary about sharing them with a potential insurer." I thought ALL info had to be shared with a potential insurer, under the (justifiable, IMO) threat of legal action.

Thanks.

As others have already pointed out. As the main driver she should have been the insured with her husband as the named (secondary) driver. This process is used to obtain cheaper coverage for someone that is high risk. (A favourite of parents looking to secure cheaper insurance when their kids learn to drive until the insurance companies got hot with it.)

Whether this was intentional or an oversight is not really relevant. What is relevant is that you are specifically asked who will be the main user of the vehicle when you take out and/or renew the policy. The policy holder was not truthful and you daughter was complicit the deceit.

Are car insurers legally obliged to provide Named Driver information?

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