In recent years car insurance has increased in cost by as much as 20% a year. These costs are due to a number of factors: more powerful cars, more congested roads leading to higher accidents, and greater numbers of uninsured drivers which forces insurance companies to raise the cost of premiums to cover themselves for the risk that these uninsured drivers pose.
One of the groups hit most severely by these raises have been young and newly qualified drivers, and young men in particular. Last summer, for the first time, the average cost of a third party insurance policy became more expensive than the average cost of a comprehensive policy for the first time, reflective of the fact that it’s cheaper for young drivers to get third party coverage.
That average cost for third party coverage was £1,300, and for a lot of newly qualified drivers it’s a lot more expensive than that.
Research conducted by Co-Operative car insurance recently found that hundreds of thousands of parents are willing to lie in order to save their children money. Through a practice known as ‘fronting’ parents name themselves as the main drivers, thus benefiting from reduced premiums even though their children are actually the ones driving the car.
A surprising 41% of parents revealed that they are currently fronting and 61% said they would consider it in the future.
These numbers are of great concern to the insurance industry, not least because it places them at greater risk should the child of a parent who has fronted be involved in an accident. The insurance industry argues that the cost of insurance policies accurately reflects the risk of young drivers, and if the young drivers are not paying those costs themselves, then the insurance companies are the ones losing out.
Fronting is, also, illegal. Some industry experts have compared it to stealing, but whilst this might be going slightly too far it is fraud. The repercussions can be serious, not only if the insurance company discovers that you have fronted a policy (because they won’t pay out if there’s an accident) but because you may find yourself incapable of getting insurance in the future.
At the end of the day everyone should do their best to find the cheapest deal they can, but the costs of insurance accurately reflect the risks that young drivers pose. So, if you do your research and look around you can find some great deals, but they’ll still be quite expensive when compared to a policy for an experienced driver. If you’re looking for a good deal on your car insurance take a look at some of the deals that Co-operative Insurance is offering at the moment.
Tags: Accidents, Co Operative Car Insurance, Fraud, Hundreds Of Thousands, Industry Experts, Insurance Companies, Insurance Company, Insurance Industry, Insurance Policies, Insurance Policy, Parents, Party Coverage, Powerful Cars, Premiums, Repercussions, Risk, Third Party Insurance, Uninsured Drivers, Young Drivers, Young Men