Insurance

[XR6Runner]

Hey guys, this is going to seem like a stupid question, but I felt the AFF could clear this up for me.

My younger brother (20) is buying a car, and my parents thought it would be cheaper to put their names on the insurance policy, instead of his, because he is under 25. Now I've always been against this, as for the past 5 years of owning my XR6T I've had me down on the policy as the main driver.

I told them, and explained to my brother that he MUST have his name on the policy if he is to be covered in the case of an accident. My parents think otherwise, that it doesn't matter who drives the vehicle, if in case of an accident, doesn't matter who drives, it is still insured!

Can anybody clear this up for me? So if my parents put their name on the insurance policy, but leave out my brother, to make insurance cheaper, if my brother is involved in an accident, is he still covered?

[Halfmo Rocks]

not bloody likely...a young driver must be named

any driver over the age of 25 with a full license will slide as an occasional driver...with most insurance companies anyway

[superfly]

It depends on the company. e.g RACQ will add an extra charge (on top of the age excess) if an under 25 had an accident and wasn't on the policy.

NRMA state in their ads say that they'll insure anyone driving the car. Never looked at the fine print though to see if that included under 25's.

[xisled]

It depends on the company. Some will cover the car for the odd occasion for any age. It depends on the policy. Basically it does not matter how old a person is unless stated in the PDS. When I worked in claims with AAMI not 1 claim was denied based on age of the driver even if we knew the driver who had the accident was not on the policy and young and drove the car every day.

It was only denied if the person was not legally allowed to drive the car. Example p player driving a v8.

[Itsme]

Driver under 25 must be named in majority of comprehensive insurance policies.
Usually Excess payment is higher for younger driver.

With out a policy in his name He will not earn a lower rating over the years.

Usually having family members in the same insurance company helps to reduce the premiums for the under 25 drivers, it did for my daughters as it actually saved about 40% on their premiums.

[XR6T0Y]

All drivers are named on mine, otherwise it will void insurance should someone have an.accident and not be named

[xisled]

Originally Posted by trublu

Driver under 25 must be named in majority of comprehensive insurance policies.

With out a policy in his name He will not earn a lower rating over the years.

Usually having family members in the same insurance company helps to reduce the premiums for the under 25 drivers, it did for my daughters as it actually saved about 40% on their premiums.

Most big insurance companies got rid of the idea, of basing a rating on number of years you are insured. Now they use number of years you have had your licence and how many claims you have had in the past x amount of years. AAMI will give you a rating 1 for having your licence for 5 years and no claims and no insurance history, most companies are the same.

[Ben73]

NRMA say you have to name all regular drivers, but they say they cover anyone who is not a regular driver.
So your brother would be a regular driver and he should be listed down.

[minheim]

As others have stated if he is a regular driver he should be listed and if there are any questions as to who is the main driver you should be truthful otherwise there may be grounds to deny. If a claim Is denied and you have acted fraudulently in making one I suspect this may have repercussions on obtaining any future insurance of any kind also. Better safe than sorry otherwise you are risking coverage and protection.

[XB GS 351 Coupe]

Must be on the policy if it is his car and he is the main driver or even a casual driver.

I had a claim with NRMA years ago where I was on the policy of my mothers car, when a claim was put through NRMA send private investigators out to speak to our neighbours.

[Itsme]

Originally Posted by xisled

Most big insurance companies got rid of the idea, of basing a rating on number of years you are insured. Now they use number of years you have had your licence and how many claims you have had in the past x amount of years. AAMI will give you a rating 1 for having your licence for 5 years and no claims and no insurance history, most companies are the same.

Not quite true on the no insurance history and I have been with AAMI for a long time, I will now query this again, and I'm sure there are conditions attached.

Matter of fact a lot of other insurance companies are stipulating no drivers under 25 on your policy unless you pay an excessive premium & excess.

[xisled]

Originally Posted by trublu

Not quite true on the no insurance history and I have been with AAMI for a long time, I will now query this again, and I'm sure there are conditions attached.

Matter of fact a lot of other insurance companies are stipulating no drivers under 25 on your policy unless you pay an excessive premium & excess.

How I know about AAMI I worked for them up until about a year and a half ago. I started with them in sales back in 2003, and the way we worked out ratings was number of years licenced and if you had a claim in last 3 years. Most big companies have moved away from insurance history. The smaller companies still do the insurance history thing to make a bit more money from the policy.

The under 25 excess is on most insurance policy's, with AAMI about 3 or 4 years ago, they removed all age restrictions on cars. As long as you can legally drive the car you would be covered.

So if you got the car insured under your name and you 18 year old kid has an accident just an age excess and standard excess applied.

To be 100 percent sure you are covered you should put all drivers name on policy but there is ways around it.

If you want to ask questions AAMI number is 132244 and the call centre for customer service and claims, the same people do both departments are open 24/7.

[|Nate]

I think saving the odd couple hundred dollars a year isn't worth the hassle of possibly not being covered if he does have an accident.

Just suck it up and be a little out of pocket now for peace of mind!

[XR6Runner]

Thanks for the info guys. My brother left for Melbourne to pick up a wrx sti, and (after showing him this thread) convinced him to put his name on the policy before he drives the car back to Canberra. Cheers again!