Fronting

Question:

My father has bought a car for me and him to share, he is the policyholder and I am a named driver. He paid for the car and I pay the insurance.

I use the car through the day and my dad uses it on a night, is this ‘fronting’ which I know is illegal or is this perfectly legal? Get back to me A.S.A.P, thank you

Paula Says:

From a road traffic law point of view as long as you are insured to drive the vehicle in question either as a named driver or as the policyholder you will be fine.

The worry is that the insurance company will claim that the insurance is invalid if the terms and conditions of the policy state that your father has to be the main driver if he is going to be the policy holder.

I have not heard of a case where the insurance company have refused to honour the policy in the circumstances but if it is blatantly obvious that the car is really yours and that your father is the main driver – they may take issue.

An insurance contract is a matter of contract law and if the insurance company refuse to honour the policy this would be outside of my area of expertise. I advise in relation to people who have been charged with driving without insurance and the consequent penalty points.

Honest is always the best policy. Check the policy very carefully and abide by the conditions.