100,000 parents ‘fronting’ insurance
New research from The Co-operative Insurance reveals that around one hundred thousand parents are currently ‘fronting’ motor insurance for their offspring.
One in ten of parents of young drivers in the UK currently aged 17-25 have admitted to fronting their son’s and daughter’s motor insurance policy at some point, for an average time of two years (2.3). Of those that have admitted to fronting, over a third at 99.6k (37%) of parents are currently fronting their child’s motor insurance.
According to the DVLA, there are currently 2.9m drivers aged 17-25 on the roads with either a full or provisional driving licence.
‘Fronting’ is a type of insurance fraud whereby parents say that they are the main driver of a car when, in reality, most or all of the driving is done by their child. Whilst well meaning, 62% of parents are fronting to save their children money, the implications of fronting can be serious and in some cases it could make it extremely difficult for drivers to obtain insurance later if they are found to have fronted.
73% of those parents fronting have children with full driving licenses, though figures show that over a quarter (27%) of parents are fronting insurance for their children who only have provisional driving licenses.
New drivers can have their licence revoked if they gain more than 6 points on their driving licence within two years of passing their test and, whilst well meaning, parents could be unwittingly putting their children at risk of this as in the worst case scenario they could be found to be driving without insurance – which comes with a maximum penalty of 6 points.
The findings have revealed that parents are willing to ‘front’, despite the fact that the majority (81%) are aware that it is illegal. Though, despite this, 94% of parents believe they would be covered if they had to claim on their motor insurance.
Dads are more relaxed than Mums when it comes to fronting motor insurance with 10% of Dads willing to admit to it in comparison to 8% of Mums. More parents of children aged 17-19 are fronting than any other, followed by parents of 20-22 year olds then 23-25 year olds.
More parents in the North East are fronting in the UK than any other region:
| Regions where parents are currently fronting | |
| 1 | North East |
| 2 | Yorkshire |
| 3 | South East |
| 4 | West Midlands |
| 5 | London |
| 6 | North West Northern Ireland |
| 7 | East Midlands |
| 8 | East Anglia |
| 9 | Wales |
| 10 | South West |
Over one in ten (14%) of parents who have/are fronting saying that they would front again in future and, on average, parents believe they have saved £299 through motor insurance fronting.
Nearly a quarter (24%) of parents say that they know someone who fronted motor insurance. They believe they know two other people who have fronted.
Steve Kerrigan, head of telematics at The Co-operative Insurance said, ‘These findings show that fronting continues to be an issue for both consumers and the insurance industry.’
‘Whilst many parents think that they are doing their children a favour by fronting insurance for them, in reality the consequences of doing this could be serious and costly if, for example, they need to make a claim. When it comes to provisional drivers what seems to be a harmless act could even lead to a loss of licence.’
‘Insurers such as ourselves are increasingly pricing car insurance based on the riskiest drivers rather than who is presented as the main driver in an effort to combat the impact of fronting.’
‘Likewise, young drivers can utilise telematics policies to help keep the cost of their insurance down as these price on how the young person drives, rather than looking simply at their age as a risk rating.’
