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When you buy car insurance, the person who drives the car the most will be the “main driver”. You can also add additional drivers to the policy – these are known as “named drivers”. And, depending on who you add, this may give you a cheaper car insurance quote.
For example, you might be the main driver of the car and list your partner or child as a named driver. You can typically add three or four named drivers, in addition to the main driver, to a car insurance policy.
A named driver will have the same level of cover as the vehicle’s main driver, but they won’t drive the car as much.
This guide tells you everything you need to know about named driver car insurance.
A named driver is an additional person on your car insurance policy who is insured to drive your car.
Named drivers on a policy receive the same level of cover as the main driver. Depending on the policy, this cover may be:
Families, couples and households often have named drivers on their car insurance policies if they need to share a vehicle from time to time.
It’s important to designate the person who drives the car the most as the main driver and the other drivers as named drivers.
Yes, you can save money by adding a named driver to your car insurance.
If you’re a young or new driver, you might be able to get cheaper car insurance by adding an older, more experienced driver to your policy as a named driver. For example, a young driver might add one of their parents to their policy.
This could result in a cheaper premium, as the insurer will assume the young driver will spend less time behind the wheel and the car will sometimes be driven by the parent who has more experience. This decreases the likelihood of an insurance claim.
However, in some cases, adding a named driver could mean paying a higher car insurance premium. This might be the case if a more experienced driver adds a young driver to their policy, such as a parent adding their child.
It’s important to understand named driver insurance rules – otherwise you could be committing insurance fraud.
A no-claims discount (or no-claims bonus) is a reduction on your car insurance premium based on your claim history. You can usually transfer it between insurers.
If you’re a named driver, you usually won’t be able to build up a no-claims discount on that policy.
However, some insurers will let named drivers build up a no-claims discount, although this will only count if the named driver takes out their own car insurance policy with the same insurer.
Insurers that allow named drivers to build a no-claims discount to be used with that insurer only include:
Yes, you can add a young driver to your car insurance policy. However, adding a young driver might result in an increased premium, as they’re deemed riskier by insurance companies.
There are two ways to add a driver to your insurance:
The easiest way to add a driver to your insurance is to include them as a named driver when you take out the policy.
If you want to add another driver later, you’ll need to contact the insurer, and you may be charged an admin fee, plus any difference in the premium for the remainder of the policy if there’s an increase as a result.
If you add a named driver to your car insurance policy after the insurance period has begun, your insurer may charge an admin fee.
Admin fees for policy changes are normally about £20, but this varies from insurer to insurer.
Some insurers will let you add a named driver to your policy temporarily – though it’s not always the cheapest option. It could be more cost effective to add them for the full year.
If you only want to add a named driver to your policy for a short time, you could consider taking out temporary car insurance instead.
Temporary car insurance provides coverage from an hour or two up to several months. Unlike adding a named driver to an existing policy, temporary car insurance is a separate policy. This means that if the second driver has an accident, it won’t affect the main driver’s policy.
Taking out temporary car insurance is typically more expensive than adding a named driver to a policy.
You’ll need to give the insurance company the following details about the named driver:
Named drivers benefit from the same level of cover as the main driver on a car insurance policy. This will be third party, third party, fire and theft, or comprehensive.
If you add a named driver to your car insurance, you could lose some or all of your no-claims bonus if the named driver has an accident or makes a claim.
Named drivers typically can’t build a no-claims bonus, although some insurers allow it if the named driver goes on to take out their own policy with the same insurer.
Most insurers will let you add up to three or four named or additional drivers to a policy. Some might let you add up to five.
Fronting is when you lie about the identity of the main driver of a car to get cheaper insurance.
For example, a middle-aged parent will usually pay less for car insurance than their 18-year-old child. If the parent takes out insurance in their name with the child as a named driver, but the child actually drives the car more, this is fronting.
Fronting is classified as insurance fraud. It can result in a criminal conviction and make it difficult to get insurance in the future. If you’re caught fronting, your policy may be declared void and you won’t be able to make a claim.
You usually can’t drive someone else’s car unless you’re a named driver on their policy. The exception to this is if your own car insurance policy includes cover for driving other cars.
However, with this, you may only have third-party cover when driving someone else’s vehicle, even if you have comprehensive cover for your own vehicle.
You should always check what level of cover you have with your insurer before driving another person’s car.
