car insurance

[Liza B]

I have a daughter of 17 who has left home and wants to learn to drive, her boyfriend 21 is about to sit his test. Their insurance for the two of them is sky high, they have asked me if I would take out insurance and name them as named drivers, I have been driving for 19 years but on husbands insurance. Hubby says the insurance companies will not pay out if they have to claim as I would not really be the main driver and the car would not be kept ot our house is this true, also I cannot sit with daughter as I do not have my own insurance, she can't learn in our cars as they are both automatic. any advice. All the laws have changed since we learned to drive.

[ursula62]

Hubby is right - don't touch this suggestion with a bargepole. You could only do this if they were living at your address, the car was owned by you and borrowed by them on an infrequent basis. Anything other than this would be technically fraud and might risk you being prosecuted.

Your daughter will probably have to learn to drive using a qualified instructor (like most people do these days). She can't learn from her boyfriend as legally he cannot supervise a learner driver until he has had a full driving licence for at least 2 years.

If she really wants to learn to drive you might want to think about one of those comprehensive intensive courses where you do the whole thing in a week all in one go and then take the test at the end. There are several companies that offer this option. If you could afford to do this it would be a lovely 18th birthday present for a very lucky daughter.

[Liza B]

Thank you thats what we thought, but it is good to see it said in black and white. I was feeling really bad about saying no, but am so glad that I did. good idea about comprehensive course, will look into it.

[wacky racer]

Liza

What Ursula says is absolutely correct (my two daughters went through the same traumas). It wouldn't be that much cheaper anyway since the insurance companies are interested in the highest risk driver insured.

The good news is that when she has passed her test girls are cheaper to insure than boys. Also, if you can persuade her to take "Pass Plus" after passing her test she should be eligible for a 10% or more discount from many insurance companies

[Grunty]

I don't like to contradict ursula after she has written such an excellent reply, but it could be important in case daughter decides to defer her driving for two years. Boy friend cannot supervise a learner until he has held his full licence for three years, not two.

http://www.dvla.gov.uk/drivers/learn2dr.htm

[ursula62]

thanks for the update Grunty. My info was out of date.