DaveFromSydney

I just went through this on account of my son, who is 20, and the family car which he drives - a 1994 Subaru.
The insurance companies said that if he drove it more than once a month then he needed to be named on the policy.
Also relevant was the fact that he did not have another car of his own - i.e. this must be his primary vehicle.

It doubled the cost on that policy from $750 or so to around $1500 for an insured value of $10000, in a safe suburb, with myself and my wife as the other drivers and a max NCB.

If you dont list on the policy you are living dangerously. The ins company will probably check it out when you claim and they could deny the claim.

Austblue

How are they going to check it out? I might be being naive but I believe there is no problem with it.

Im not saying that you guys are wrong or that you have nothing to worry about but unless they investigate prior to any claim I dont see any obvious ways that they can catch you out.

Are you speaking from experience xsfer?

If you are concerned then simply make an anon. call and enquire about the boundaries of the rule and find out what evidence they would be using to void a claim.

Austblue

What does living with your parents have to do with it? BTW I dont and I dont see how this differentiates you from someone who does through the ins. companies eyes.

#69

Aust they can and have investigated policies/claims in the past! It has happened to a friend of mine and he ended up having no cover as he drove the car much more than he told them he did.

When i was with the NRMA with my old car i asked them about not being a nominated driver and paying the age excess if i had an accident and they proceeded to tell me in that situation it is at their discretion wether they will cover you or not!!

Mr-ITR those quotes don't seem too unreasonable. I would personally go with Just Cars as their service isn't too bad and it cuts in at under $3K which if you are young is a good rate for a performance car.

Austblue

Do you know the circumstances surrounding your friends case Id be interested to hear it even if you just want to PM me. I know that they investigate claims and I know that they are getting stricter due to the increase in fraudulent claims during inclement weather but I have not heard of them taking an open policy i.e no closed regarding persons allowable to drive.

If you take on a premium like my dad where you state that noone under 25 will drive the car then I can understand this. This gives you a reduced premium due to the reduced risk. Why would they have this option if anyone under 25 wasnt covered in the first place. Just doesnt make sense.

Like I said I investigated all of this before I bought my S and I was comfortable driving it around. Maybe I was being naive as I said but after reading the policy and speaking to them (conversation holds very little weight) I made the decision.

Ill say it again...By no means am I saying that any one policy will cover you.

AusS2000

Hey! Who you calling old.....<snooooooorrrrrzzzZZZZZ>

What was I saying?

Anyways, as Groucho Marx said "You're only as old as the woman you feel".

#69

Aust he was in a similar situation to what you stated, he said he was driving less than once a month and as such didn't need to be listed as a nominated driver. The insurance company had him checked out by an investigator who found out he drove the car much more than he told them (every day). He was sent a letter by the company telling him what had occured and as such he wouldn't be covered.

Sorry for the lack of details but atm i don't have them.

The investigations are generally a result of the increase in number of people who are doing this. To combat it someinsurers are now asking who will be the youngest person driving the car and basing their premiums around that.

It's a calculated risk you can take, but the fact is if you are not completely honest you can loose out. Even so i used this arrangement for my parent's cars when i was on my P's even though i drove their cars as often as i drove mine.

DaveFromSydney

My son did have a claim on our GIO policy a year ago and it was accepted and in fact the NC bonus was eventually refunded - i.e. they recovered the amount from the other party.
No questions were raised about how often he drove the car.

However on this GIO renewal, and on AAMI when I tried to get a quote from them, we now get the question "how old is the youngest driver" where previously we got "how old is the main driver". On enquiring I got told that he has to be considered as a driver if he drives it over once a month and has not got a car of his own.

So I guess the situation has got tighter than when you made your claim.
I personally do not consider it worth the risk - not declaring the young driver.

Austblue

As I said Dave it depends on the particular policy. Mine hadnt changed as recent as two months ago when I renewed my policy on the S2000 but like I said my Dad's policy had a disclosure stating that he was the youngest driver.

#69 I would like to see them try and prove that I had driven the car more than once a month what are they going to do without photographic evidence. Hell even me being on this website wouldn't be enough evidence.

I confess, I talk I dont really own an S2000 I take pics of my Dad's and twice a year he lets me borrow it and go on a little car cruise. I ride a push bike to work!


I think Ive done enough encriminating for one day guys time to edit some posts me thinks

p.s. Just takin an open goal Aus

#69

Heh heh you never know whose watching , one guy on another forum got told he couldn't be covered anymore after reading his car's website, as his planned and current modifications were not acceptable!

The investigator took photos, which i guess is kind of expected !

We encountered a similar situation to Dave's when trying to get quotes for a car for my brother, all wanted youngest driver's age. Whereas when I got my previous car they wanted primary driver's age, and then they added an uprating factor for a younger part-time driver.