The Independent’s journalism is supported by our readers. When you purchase through links on our site, we may earn commission. Why trust us?
“Fronting” is a type of car insurance fraud. It happens when someone falsely claims to be the main driver of a car in order to get cheaper car insurance.
In most cases of fronting, it is a parent or older driver who claims to be the main driver instead of a younger or higher risk driver. People do this because older or more experienced drivers are charged less for car insurance than young or new drivers.
However, fronting is illegal, and if you’re caught, your car insurance policy could be invalidated. This could leave you liable for costs if you were involved in an at-fault accident. You could also be charged with car insurance fraud – which is a criminal offence.
Car insurance policies for young drivers can be very expensive; most people who get involved in fronting do it to save money.
When you buy car insurance, the insurer will ask who the “main driver” of the car is – this should be the person who will drive the car the most. You can also add additional drivers to the policy, which are known as named drivers.
For example, a parent might be the main driver of the car, and their teenage son or daughter might be the named driver. Both drivers will benefit from the same level of cover. The personal details and driving history of the main driver will play a big part in the cost of insurance. The named driver will affect the premium, too, but less so.
As an example, we ran quotes for a 50-year-old woman with 30 years of driving experience and 15 years’ no-claims discount and her 19-year-old son, who has been driving for one year and has zero no-claims bonus. The family lives in South London and owns a Peugeot 108.
Quotes generated via a price comparison website start at £1,235 when the child is the main driver and the parent is the named driver. However, if the positions are switched, where the parent is the main driver and the child is the named driver, premiums start from £612, less than half the original quote. It’s easy to see, then, why some people might choose to lie to save money.
When you apply for car insurance, the insurer will ask you a series of questions and use your answers to calculate your premium. Lying is called “non-disclosure”, which is a type of insurance fraud.
Insurers normally find out about fronting when a claim is made – and there can be severe consequences.
First, the claim is likely to be rejected. If a third party is involved and makes a claim against your insurance, your insurer will be obliged to pay them, but it may then pursue you for the costs.
Second, your insurer is likely to cancel or void your policy, leaving you uninsured. Car insurance is mandatory in the UK, and it’s illegal to drive without cover.
Finally, your insurer might prosecute you for fraud. Prosecution could mean going to court, getting a criminal record, paying a fine, or getting penalty points on your driving licence.
Having your policy cancelled or being prosecuted for fraud will have a long-term effect on your ability to get car insurance in the future. When you buy car insurance, the insurer will ask if you’ve ever had a policy cancelled or voided. You must answer this question honestly – the new provider might check your insurance history anyway. Failing to tell the truth could result in your new policy being cancelled, too.
Insurers see previous policy cancellations for fronting as a red flag. They may refuse to cover you, or charge you a higher premium. If you’ve been prosecuted for insurance fraud, you’ll find it even more difficult to find cover.
Insurers usually find out about fronting when the policyholder makes a claim.
During the claims process, your insurer will ask questions to find out what happened. In some cases, the answers to these questions may suggest to the insurer that the policyholder is guilty of fronting.
For example, consider a scenario where a parent is named on the policy as the main driver and their young adult child as a named driver. If the child has an accident in another town far away from their parent’s address, the insurer might suspect the child actually lives in that town, keeps the car at their home, and is actually the main driver.
When an insurer has suspicions about fronting, it will usually launch an investigation. This might involve interviewing the main and named drivers to confirm where they live and their driving habits, looking at CCTV and examining road toll, congestion charge and ULEZ records. Your insurer might also check your claims history.
In the above example, if road toll records showed that the car was regularly driven around the town where the accident happened and the child lived there, the insurer may conclude that the child is actually the main driver and the family is guilty of fronting.
A January 2024 survey by the Insurance Fraud Bureau found a quarter of 18- to 24-year-old drivers would lie to get cheaper insurance.
Another survey, this time by GoCompare.com in 2023, found that 22 per cent of parents of young drivers have insured their child’s car in their own name. These figures were highest in London, Yorkshire and the Humber, with 29 per cent of those questioned admitting their child’s car insurance was in their name.
The main motivation for fronting is to save money in an era of rising car insurance costs and the cost-of-living crisis.
Car insurance has always cost more for young drivers, but the past couple of years have seen premiums rise across the board, with younger drivers seeing some of the steepest increases.
Based on policies purchased through MoneySuperMarket in January 2024, drivers aged 17 to 19 paid an average of £1,724.36 for comprehensive car insurance, compared to £440.60 for those aged 50 to 59.
Statistically, younger drivers have more accidents than older, more experienced drivers. According to figures from the Association of British Insurers (ABI), drivers aged 17 to 24 only make up 7 per cent of UK licence holders and drive fewer miles than the average. Still, they are involved in 24 per cent of all fatal collisions. This is the main reason young and new drivers tend to pay more than their older, more experienced counterparts.
You can avoid fronting by being honest about who the main driver and the named driver are when you buy car insurance.
There are several legal ways young drivers can cut the cost of car insurance:
Fronting isn’t always intentional – some drivers commit fronting by accident.
The key to avoiding unintentional fronting is to make sure the main driver of a car is really the main driver. If you share a car with someone else and you’re not sure who drives it most, keep track of each person’s mileage for a typical period.
If your circumstances change, tell your insurer straight away.
When you buy car insurance, the insurer will ask about ownership of the car and who will be driving it. It’s important to give the correct information.
The owner of the car is the person who purchased the vehicle and registered it with the DVLA.
The registered keeper of a car is the person who drives the vehicle, generally has the vehicle in their possession, and arranges things like road tax and the MOT.
The policyholder is the person who has taken out car insurance. They are normally the owner or registered keeper of the car. Most insurers assume you own the car on the policy, but you can also insure a partner’s car, one owned by a parent, an employer’s car, or a leased vehicle.
The main driver is the person who drives the most miles in the car, while additional or named drivers also drive the car, but less often.
You can be the main driver of two cars, but only if you’re the person who drives both cars most frequently. However, you can only use your no-claims bonus on one car at a time.
Fronting means lying to your insurer about who the main driver of a car is. It’s an illegal way to reduce your car insurance costs – it’s fraud and can have serious consequences, such as prosecution or your insurance being cancelled.
However, there are numerous ways to legally reduce your car insurance costs, such as choosing a car in a low insurance group, reducing your mileage, increasing your car’s security, increasing your voluntary excess, and paying your annual premium in one upfront payment rather than monthly.
Technically, if you’re prosecuted for insurance fraud, you could be sent to prison. In reality, this is an unlikely outcome. You’re more likely to get penalty points on your driving licence or a fine. However, a criminal record could affect other parts of your life, such as your job, and you might also struggle to get other types of insurance.
For most people, it will be obvious who the main driver on a car insurance policy should be – the person who uses the car the most days or drives the most hours. If there is any doubt, contact your insurer and talk them through your situation. In some instances, you can take out two insurance policies on the same car, but you’ll only be able to claim on the policy belonging to the person who was driving at the time of an accident.
Yes, you can still get into trouble for fronting, even if it wasn’t deliberate. If your circumstances change – for example, the named driver starts commuting to work each day in the car – speak to your insurer.
If you need to change who the main driver is or make any other changes to your car insurance, contact your insurer.
It’s normally quite straightforward to make changes to your policy. However, if the new main driver is deemed higher risk, you might need to pay an administration fee or an additional premium.
