cfoster

Quick question regarding car insurance / driving a car third party on your fully comp policy... Basically....

I'm fully comp on my Merc and Dad is fully comp on his car. I've just bought a van and due to my theft claim and using all my NCD on the merc its quite dear to insure, however as my dad's an old fart its a lot cheaper!

So.... If he insures it in his name Third party, fire and theft, would this allow me to drive it third party on my fully comp merc insurance (my policy does state I can drive any vehicle third party)? If so, and if I were to have an accident and it were my fault, would the insurance claim would be off of my dad's insurance or my merc one?

Cheers!

bookwyse

This is called fronting and highly frowned upon by the police.

If you were to do it and you had an accident then the claim would be against yourself and your insurance but as you would only be third party. However if the insurance company check to see who is vehcile owner and main driver and they are diffrent from the policy holder then they can cause problems.

bunnymofo

put the van into your dads name, and insurance in his name, then let him use it. then if anything happens its ntof ronting as its legally his and he still uses it. thats how i have my van insured as dad still uses it when he cant use his.

cfoster

Ah right ok cool, to me it doesnt matter who's name the van was in and he will be using it anyway, just that it will be kept at my house. It was the insurance side of things I wanted to know about as I didnt want my dad's NCD being affected if I have a prang in it!

Chris

squizxr

Thing to watch tho mate, is they view the van as a commerical vehicle and it may say in the small print that your not covered 3rd party on a commercial vehicle!!

If your Dad has the van on its own policy and his no claims aint being used then it shdnt effect them of you smash it up

focusv8

The claim will always be against the driver, so it's his insurance that will be affected.

Unless there was no driver in it, (rolls away after being parked?) in which case it will be the person insuring the car / van.

cfoster

Really, what if i'm the driver? Surely it will be my insurance?

Rick Astley

Be aware that some policies state the vehicle you are driving using your third party liability must itself be insured fully comprehensively for your insurance to be valid.

Also bear in mind third party insurance is very rarely cheaper nowadays.

tabetha

It's STILL fronting, insurers are NOT stupid, is your dad retired, or in the same trade as you ?, imagine he insures a vehicle that has your work tools in it at the time of the accident, what do you think they will make of it ?
As stated check your policy VERY carefully as most car policies don't cover trade use of other peoples cars/vans.
They will also if in any doubt actually knock on your neighbours doors and say do you know "johnny" with the van, to which your neighbours will unwittingly drop you in it, they'll also knock on the doors of your dads neighbours who have never seen the van he owns!!
Depends on the size of any claim as to how much effort they put in, but if you think insurance is expensive now, try it after getting caught defrauding the insurance industry out of money by fronting, your dad could also be prosecuted by the way.
If you do it I hope you get caught and that you and your dad are done for it, it's people like you who help put insurance up for others.
tabetha

cfoster

My dad is retired (not that it matters as he has a 4x4, does that make him a farmer?) and i'm far from being an irresponsible teenager, and fyi I wont be using it for work as I work in London, its purely a runabout thats a bit more practical size wise than a fiesta, and more economical than my mercedes (which I pay a lot to insure)...... As for hoping we get caught, we're doing nothing legally wrong if we both use it, so yuo could probably try and keep those comments to yourself which is probably quite a challenge ......

focusv8

That's what I said.
Unless the van is insured in your Dad's name including any other driver or you are named as a driver, then if YOU are driving and there's a third party incident it's your insurance that will deal with it.

BigChuck

if it is your dads van and you are only driving it occasionally there will not be a problem

just check the commercial vehicle thing on your policy, mine states that i can drive any vehicle that i hold a valid licence for, others will vary

Ginge !

chris at your age its prob no different to get your name down on his insurance as a named driver and im sure he is far from worried about his no claims should you have a accident as im sure there protected

i got my old man, missus and my sister on my policy and cost me nothing extra and im also added on my sisters policy and when she has the balls to let me borrow her car i will be added to the missus policy,,,

but for YEARS i was driving a cossie on my 1300 policy and got pulled and fuck all happened as they have to prove otherwise,,,,, and you owning a merc but borrowing your retired dads van who uses it for the rubbish dump runs and taking the dogs out,,,,,, well you work out what story works better ???

btw why do dads retire and seem to spend soo much time taking stuff to the dump,,,,,,,,,, im so no looking forward to getting old and mental ( wonder how old tabetha is lol)

cfoster

haha, ssssh Ginge dont say you were driving your cossie on the 1300 policy, certain members will get attitudey!!!!

See what you mean about a named driver though, i'll give it a go, I got a quote in my name and was £650 third party!!! I dont pay much more than that for the Merc fully comp!!!!

hahaha no what you mean about dads when retired, my old man has developed quite a physique since retiring from office work!!!

B19LRW

chris- get a traders policy, as you could pass for a part time trader the amount of cars you have had

cfoster

pmsl!! innit just!!! This ones a keeper (honest!!!!!!!!!!) :P

Ginge !

Hey I learned the hard way when my COSSIE was nicked it was a false economy, I get a discount have my dad on my policy hence he will always be on it, it also has another benefit but if I post that I fear I'll be hung, drawn and quartered

Ps: you tight arse over 650 quid, I pay that fir my clio and 685 for my impreza, do you squeak when you walk lol, there is people on here paying 3k a year for a fiesta would love to have that option pmsl

Chris Honeywell

If thats more or less how its going to be used then what you are doing is fine
but as said check your insurance as mine allows me to drive any motorcar not motor vehicle, just check you can drive the van.

Isaac.Hunt

Technically speaking, fronting is the process by which (usually) a parent insures a car to get cheaper insurance than a child who would otherwise be insured. You are planning to do exactly this, so it is insurance fraud. You actually meet and overreach the boundaries of the Fraud Act 2006 too. So illegality is there, 100%. That isn't being funny, just honest. You are intending to misrepresent the facts on the ground to save money.

How likely would somebody be if they chose to front insurance when not 17-25 sort of age range, much less likely I would imagine. I would bet a high number of people in their 30s with points/claims front on insurance. However, it doesn't make it any less of a point to raise.

Often issues with regard to fronting arise when a parent insured car is e.g. stolen whilst at child's university, which isn't likely to happen if parent is main driver.

I wish insurance costs were reasonable enough that so many people people would not have to consider fraud to pay for something that is intended to protect us all. That is the issue I have with the situation. Personally I think an insurance element should be put on petrol so the people who drive most pay the most 'insurance'. Nobody could avoid paying it then, either.

cfoster

Ginge - lol aint being tight mate, already pay out enough for insurances, mortgages etc and also was one of the mugs paying £2k + to insure cossies when I was younger!!!!! FFS its a van, can't believe how dear it is to insure!!!

Isaac - lets change the scenario then, I bought my dad a van to use, its in his name and i'm going to pay for his insurance. I would like to use it occasionally for tip runs etc, will the third party cover be part of my insurance or his? That better.... Not illegal now am I??.....

Agree with you about the petrol though