I had the misfortune to spend an evening with lots of people who have teenage kids. Feck me, what a depressing evening that was. Rarely have I appreciated just what boring lives people live and how many try and and live them through their kids. I now have a new definition for sad.

Anyway....these are all middle class people, none short of a bob or two and almost all of them admitted to fronting insurance for their kid or kids. Most didn't know it was called fronting but they knew what they were doing was wrong/illegal.

It seems to be triggered by the insurance situation whereby it now costs (I kid you not) a typical 17 yo passer of test in excess of £3000 to insure a 1.2 litre banger. 1.0 is apparently the way to go, so Micras are in demand.

I couldn't get enough brains engaged (maybe it's parenthood again?) to get any sensible answer to my question as to WHY a 17 yo NEEDS a car or exactly how they justify a possible claim refusal, let alone the ordeal they might put someone through. Apparently the kids are less concerned than they are and are well aware of the uninsured drivers' fund.

So I had to conclude that if these were the attitudes of the middle classes, there's not really much hope for us. Was I just unlucky with my eating companions or is this really prevalent?

 

Almost every parent I know does this for a couple of years, even though they know it's wrong and could have severe consequences, I incidentally did not but daughter started driving before insurance costs went ballistic.

 

What is Fronting exactly?

Owning a car and insuring your kid on it?

Is that illegal?

Why is it illegal?

 

I think what's illegal is insuring the car in the parents name and having the kid as a named driver when the kid is infact the main driver

 

Crap parents haven't got/had the backbone to say 'no' to their kids. It's easier to provide for them and not have the nagging. They've probably never given their kids a clip round the ear hole either

It's a sh1t attitude and grinds me no end. I've been self sufficient since I left school, and hated seeing my friends being given huge amounts of cash to blow on driving lessons, then cars. Some even had their deposits paid for when they 'bought' their own place (after going to Uni...also funded by mummy and daddy of course).

I sincerely hope that your company isn't an indication of everyone else out there, or our insurance will continue to rise

 

How you define "main driver"? I'm sure I did more miles in my Mum's Renault 5 when I was 17 than she did. But it was her car, and her insurance.

 

More an issue when they do it and the child then does not live at home and is a student. Then very illegal as the car would have to be based at the parents home to be legal for the parent to be main driver.

Clearly if the parent pretty much never drives it (as would be the general case) then it would be illegal as they clearly are not the main driver.

 

the depressing thing is that the next generation are being effectively excluded from driving.. the age when insurance is effectively normal is now hitting 28 !

my son is 17 in a month, he is not pushing for a car or even to drive.. we are more interested since it would help us out having another driver..

however it's £10,000 to put him on my Audi or Merc, and we can't find a quote that makes any sense. It does not matter if he owns the car or we own the car, there is nothing lower than £3000... have been on every site, with every car including the micra. For reference, my insurance is around £350..whatever car I insure.. so it's not an area thing. So I don't see why fronting even helps.. as you soon as they have a whiff of the age of the driver.. the numbers change..

The going budget to get a 17 year old into something is £5k..£2k for a Ford Ka or equivalent, and £3k for insurance.

We could do this, but I simply don't see the point.

The better thing that could happen is to have a curfew driving system for younger drivers.. where you can only use the car between certain hours of the day..and or driving for a specific purpose, going to work or college. But I can't see anything changing anytime soon.

Financially it's not a great situation for 17 year olds.. when my son completes school, choice to join the queue at the job centre or take a loan for the thick end of £55k for 3 years at uni/college.. then the cheapest house in our village starts at £200k for something you can hardly swing a cat in.

We can all say the current lot get it easy with the parents paying.. however things have changed considerably in the last 20 years. At 22 I had a car, paid a deposit on my first home..and therefore didn't need anything from my parents..and I was earning barely £15k then.

So if I can afford to help my kids out I will and have no sleepless nights over that decision.

 

At 22 I also had a car - a £50 auction job which I maintained myself through trial and error. My first half dozen cars over the next few years were all similar. hardly anyone had a car at 17.

Kids today don't want anything more than a couple of years old and haven't a clue how to maintain it. Go to any college and there are so many student cars that they clog up the local streets.

I also had a property - the cheapest bedsit in the town at the time

Kids today want a 2-bed flat as a minimum, preferably a house

Expectations have changed but perhaps if they were adjusted there wouldn't be quite the same sense of injustice?



Something strange going on with your ins Kobe

People the other night were finding it was an extra grand to add the kid to their insurance on things like normal hatchbacks

 

These insurers offer something like that -
http://www.coverbox.co.uk/
http://www.insurethebox.com/young-drivers-insurance

may be worth a try.