Query on named driver and insurance

S

STEINER

Registered User
Messages
1,161
In general, does adding a named full licensed 5 year no claims bonus driver to your car insurance lower the premium a bit?
 
It usually does alright, I did it recently on the advice of a friend who works on the quote system for one of the bigger players. The quotes I got from a few providers dropped ~10%.
 
STEINER said:
a named full licensed 5 year no claims bonus driver
Click to expand...

What if that person was always a "named driver" and never actually been the main driver? They may have been driving 5 years without a claim, but never the main holder of a policy. Same applies do you think?
 
Conshine said:
What if that person was always a "named driver" and never actually been the main driver? They may have been driving 5 years without a claim, but never the main holder of a policy. Same applies do you think?
Click to expand...

AFAIK it does.
Mrs.Sparkrite has never been the policy holder but my premium always reduces once she is added to the policy.
 
Strange I would have thought. Regardless of how clean their record is, surely adding another person is an increased risk for the insurance company?
 
surely adding another person is an increased risk for the insurance company
Click to expand...
Could be that the policy holder possibly won't be driving the car 100%, so risk is diminished as they are on the road less. The "named" driver could have their own insurance on their own car, so the policy holder's insurance may try to claim off that persons insurance - similar to the thread "http://www.askaboutmoney.com/showthread.php?t=162091&highlight=no+claims+bonus".

As far I know it's just a wife being added to the husbands policy that this works with... reverse doesn't work the same way...
 
I added my girlfriend as a named driver to my policy and the premium went down by €100.
 
Premiums can drop with addition of "spouse" (wide interpretation). Most insurers have this category on offer. The reason is a lower risk profile for this category, not unlike office workers compared to bar workers, i.e. regular hours vs irregular and hence more risky, not to mention the booze. "Married" people are likely more careful drivers from insurer statistics, hence reduction. It can seem counter-intuitive that more drivers cost less, but there are reasons (in this instance) for it.
 
STEINER said:
Was her premium increased as a result or is there any effect re insurance/premium on the added named driver?
Click to expand...

No, it would have no affect.

As Horusd points out, insurance companies calculate premium costs on a range of factors affecting risk perception. They're generally pretty secretive in relation to this, as each provider has their own team of actuarys working on their own risk rating model based on their available history of claims statistics.

The stats will probably show that people with named drivers are less of a risk. Why that's the case won't be obvious from stats, but chances are it's down to reasons like people with a named driver are likely to drive with that person in the car with them at least some of the time, and are less likely to drive like a lunatic or take certain risks at those times.
 
STEINER said:
Was her premium increased as a result or is there any effect re insurance/premium on the added named driver?
Click to expand...

No, she is with a different insurer. To be honest I could have just made up a name and they would have accepted, they didnt validate anything.
 
aristotle said:
No, she is with a different insurer. To be honest I could have just made up a name and they would have accepted, they didnt validate anything.
Click to expand...

ah ok, I see, I thought the insurer would look for driver licence or insurance policy details of the proposed named driver. When the wife's insurance expires next March we will see if adding a named driver will reduce any quotes.
 
You must log in or register to reply here.
Back
Top