According to information by the AA, 49% of drivers think it’s ok to lower a young person's car insurance premium by claiming they will not be the main driver, when in fact they will be. A typical full licence policy, for somebody aged 17 – 22, can be upwards of £1,400. That's quite a lot, and it's because of this large price tag some people are seeking out alternative solutions. Unfortunately, this seems to be leading people to break the law.

What is Fronting

Fronting is a type of insurance fraud. It is illegal to do and can lead to prosecution. But still nearly half of UK drivers think this it is a legitimate way to reduce insurance premiums. Fronting is where someone is named on the policy as the main driver, when someone else will – in fact – be the main driver.

Young drivers and fronting

A commonly known example of fronting is where a young driver’s parents take out an insurance policy and the young driver is put as the second (named) driver, when in fact they are the main driver. If the young driver is the main user of the car, the policy would be set up based on incorrect information. This would be fronting.

Why insurance for young people is so expensive

A common reason for fronting is to avoid the hefty cost of insurance for young drivers. Although young driver car insurance costs are high, they are supposed to be reflective of the level of risk involved with insuring a young driver. 23% of young drivers have an accident within their first 2 years of driving. Unfortunately, these high accident rates mean that the cost of cover needs to be made much higher too.

Why fronting is a bad idea

Insurers are very good at spotting fronting and if they find fraud they can treat the policy as though it never existed. This means they’d be at risk of not being covered when they have an accident. Fronting also means that the young driver doesn’t start to build up a no claims bonus. So, in the long run, the cost of insurance remains higher. Additionally, if the young driver does have an accident, because the parent is put as the main driver, the cost of the parent's car insurance increases. Fronting can lead to criminal prosecution and can make finding insurance in the future difficult.

Insuring a provisional driver without the need for fronting

If funds are tight, instead of getting an annual provisional licence policy, why not take out a temporary learner driver insurance policy? This covers a learner whilst practising their driving, and because it's only for a temporary basis, the cost of a single policy is much lower. However, if you would like to get an annual provisional policy, and own your own car, Insurelearnerdriver can provide that too. Why not compare the cost of anywhere between 28 days cover and 365 days cover. Click here to use our quick, simple quoting system.

Telematics – cost effective and not illegal

Once a young person gets their full licence, what options are available to them? These days a young person can get their own insurance policy, in a cost-effective way, through telematics. Telematics is hardware that is fitted to a car. It is designed to record a person’s driving and is commonly used by insurers to record how safe a person drives. In addition to potentially receiving discounts at renewal, for good driving, telematics insurance policies are usually a great deal cheaper at initial purchase. We ran a quote on a price comparison website for a 19-year-old student, living in Potters Bar, with less than a year’s full licence experience, looking to insure a Toyota Aygo. We found the cheapest telematics policy was almost £3,000 cheaper than the cheapest standard policy.

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After you’ve passed your driving test your learner driver insurance with Insurelearnerdriver will expire. You will need to get insured as a full licence holder. Our parent company Sky Insurance can help you there. They have a telematics insurance scheme perfectly designed to keep the costs down for young drivers. Find out what Sky Insurance can offer you – click here