Young drivers and parents risking fraud to save money on car insurance – are you ‘fronting’?
New drivers and their parents could be tempted to do what is called "fronting" as the cost of car insurance for 17-24-year-olds soars.
NimbleFins research shows the average cost of car insurance for a young driver is £1,752.
And our analysis of 400 quotes for young drivers found the cost varies significantly across the country, with the most expensive cities coming out twice as expensive as the cheapest.
Fronting is where someone is added to a policy as a named driver when they should have a policy of their own as they are the one driving the vehicle the majority of the time.
Parents can often take advantage of their age and years of no claims to secure a cheaper car insurance policy in their name, and add their child as a named driver. This can work out cheaper than buying a 17-24-year-old their own policy because insurers see them as having a higher risk of a collision.
However, the practice is illegal, and if evidence of fronting is found it would invalidate the car insurance policy and could result in a criminal conviction, according to the Insurance Fraud Bureau (IFB).
Jon Radford, head of intelligence, investigations and data services at the IFB, said: "With prices rising, we understand more young people will be tempted to front on their car insurance to save money, but fronting is never worth the risk."
Car insurance has soared across the board in the last year, due to price rises in parts and labour, plus the increase in the cost of second hand cars.
Separate NimbleFins research shows the average cost paid for car insurance was £561 in the third quarter of 2023. This is up 29% in one year according to the Association of British Insurers (ABI).
However, when it comes to young drivers, the cheapest car insurance quote we could find was £1,429.
For tips on how to save money on car insurance as a young driver, check out this guide, where you'll also find a list of the cheapest providers we found.
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