Car insurance in UK

My father-in-law is selling us his car at a really great price.  And he says he's going to add my husband and I to his insurance policy (and keep the car in his name) so we don't have to pay an arm and a leg for our own (my husband has never had a license and is 22, so it's quite expensive).  But I don't trust my father-in-law any further than I can throw him. 

So, is it even possible or legal to do this?  I guess what he'd be doing is adding us as covered drivers of the car.  I am absolutely 100% against doing ANYTHING illegal, whereas that's kind of his thing, so I'm not trusting him at his word.  And if it is legal and possible, I'll certainly be contacting the company directly to follow up and make sure he's done everything and I have the documentation we need.

So, is he full of crap once again?  He tends to like to scam everyone out of as much money as possible, so I wouldn't put it past him to say he's added us and take our portion of the money from us every month when he's in reality done squat and we're driving illegally.

Hi Brokensemaphore,

Adding drivers to a car policy is completely LEGAL. You have nothing to worry about there.

Looking at the rest of your post - you needn't do anything really. By that I mean, once your father in law says all is done, ask for the certificate of insurance - so you can make a copy for your records and also, that you want to make a few copies including one to keep in the car in case you ever get stopped by the police. This way, they'll not ask for you to produce your license and insurance details at a police station.

If he umm's and ahh's at that point, you know something is up - if he's done everything correctly, including getting the policy documents which show the figure for the premium WITH your two names added, he'll have no issues in showing you the certificate. You really dont need to waste your time ringing the insurance companies asking and double checking stuff.

so, get father in law to find the best price quote for insurance and tell you the figure before accepting it to make sure you can afford to pay the increased amount. Once you decide to press ahead, just ask for the insurance certificate once it comes through. Make copies and keep one in the car to show any coppers you are insured.

Hope this helps!

DtM! West London & Slough UK!

Wow, I can't believe he was actually telling the truth about something, haha!  Thanks so much, very helpful 

The first thing I'd be careful of is that he's not set up the policy with him as the 'primary driver' with you two only added as additional drivers.

Secondly, AFAIK, there's no reason he can't transfer the car's title to you and still insure it himself.  It's not something I'd worry about with my Dad but if say you don't trust him are you sure it's a good idea to pay him for a car that, on paper, he still owns?

PR, I think that is indeed how he wants to set it up, which is why I was wary.  Do you happen to know why this is something to worry about?

We're only paying him £150 for the car, so even if he tried to take it back or something (which I don't think he'd do), it wouldn't be a big loss in any form.

Because he's not the primary driver - I don't know the exact legal ins and outs but basically he's giving false details to the insurance company. 

That's what I was worried about.  Does anyone here know if that makes his plan illegal?  Or do I need to call his insurance company (anonymously, I guess) and ask?

That's what I was worried about.  Does anyone here know if that makes his plan illegal?  Or do I need to call his insurance company (anonymously, I guess) and ask?

I think if either you or your husband will be the main insured driver (some companies make the most expensive driver be the primary driver), you will also need to be legal owner of the car. Also, if the car is registered to your FIL and he does not live at the same address as you (i.e. the car and insurance are registered to his address but the car 'resides' at your house instead), then technically I think that is considered insurance fraud.

To be honest, the best thing for you do to would probably be: buy the car off him, sign over the ownership and register the car under your/your husband's name (it's only one short form, which you send off to the DVLA, I think, and only takes a couple of minutes to fill out) and take out a new insurance policy with either you or your husband as the main driver, and anyone else as additional driver(s).

After all, even if your FIL tries to add you to his policy, it still might be as expensive to have you on the insurance as it would be to take out your own policy. In 2006, I bought a car and the insurance for myself (primary driver) and my parents was £450/year. When I sold it to my parents, their insurance policy for the same car was just £144/year, but my brother now drives it and because he is a relatively new driver, the insurance for him plus my parents is about £900/year!!

That's what I suspected regarding living at a different address, as this was the case when we lived in America and were on my dad's insurance (we had to get our own policy when we moved to our own place).  Thanks everyone!

 My own certificate of insurance has me as the policyholder for a car which I am neither the owner, the registered keeper nor the main driver. (I am married to him though)

Also the registered keeper is not necessarily the legal owner of the car.

In fact I think the policyholder, registered keeper, legal owner & main driver could theoretically be 4 different people. It's only insurance fraud if you don't tell them what the true situation is.

IMO I'd do what KSand24 said and buy the car off him, change the title and take out insurance for yourselves.

In the long run this works in your favour, as its not always a guarantee that a few years down the line if you decide to get your own policy that any "no-claims" will follow you as you're an additional driver...

On most insurance policies you're allowed to have 2 drivers listed (usually policy owner & secondary driver), additional drivers usually cost the earth to add on.  My MIL has DH as her secondary, she asked her insurer to add me on a couple years ago and they wanted 2x what her policy was worth in addition to her normal cost to add me on each year (essentially tripling her insurance)!  Yet, when DH & I got our own car and DH got a policy and added me onto it it cost us under £500 to do (mind you DH had about 10+ years no-claims and driving experience, which helped but we were expecting it to cost a fortune with me being a new driver).

Brokensemaphore do you have UK drivers license?  If so that will probably go a long way to bring down the cost of your insurance.  (If not that may be something you'd want to look into obtaining, as your policy would pretty much be nul and void if it would be found out that you're driving illegally...)  Also, if either of you have recently passed your practical you may want to consider going on a Pass Plus course (if that's what they're still called), where you get the "practical experience" driving on the motorways etc. Its for newly passed drivers...you usually get a certificate for passing to give to your insurance company that usually helps reduce the initial cost as a new insurer.  (Something to potentially look into.)   

Most unfortunately, I don't.  I got my (US) license when I turned 16, so I've had it for 7 years.  Once we get the car, I plan on taking some driving lessons here because I've never driven a manual and driving here terrifies me, haha.  I think we'll probably just go ahead and do things the way I wanted so there's no uncertainty (put car in my husband's name, get proper insurance in our own names, etc.).

Most unfortunately, I don't.  I got my (US) license when I turned 16, so I've had it for 7 years.  Once we get the car, I plan on taking some driving lessons here because I've never driven a manual and driving here terrifies me, haha.  I think we'll probably just go ahead and do things the way I wanted so there's no uncertainty (put car in my husband's name, get proper insurance in our own names, etc.).

Remember that your US licence is only valid for 12 months from the date you moved to the UK, so if you haven't passed the UK tests by November 19th (looking at the dates in your signature), you will be treated like a learner driver again - you'll need L plates on the car and you will not be allowed to drive the car without being accompanied by someone who is over 21 and has held a full UK licence for 3 years.

The same applies for your husband if he hasn't passed his tests yet (you don't say whether he has his licence yet or is still learning) - he will need to be accompanied by someone other than you whenever he drives, because you haven't held a UK licence for 3 years.

Oh I know.  We haven't had any extra money until just recently, so couldn't even afford to think about lessons until now.  My husband has only ever had a US learner's permit, so he'll be starting from scratch no matter what.  He's going to do the full lesson route since he's kind of forgotten what UK road laws are like from being in the US for the last few years.  I think I'll probably just take lessons until I feel like I've got the hang of a manual and a good grip on traffic laws, then go ahead and take the test to get my UK license.  I'm figuring it'll take quite a few lessons to get comfortable!