If you want a friend, relative, or colleague to be able to drive your vehicle on occasion, then one of the cheapest ways to do this is to name them as an additional driver on your car insurance policy. However, as a new or young driver, you are naming yourselves as second drivers on other people policies, like parents, for a cheaper deal

In this article, we discuss the advantages and disadvantages of named driver car insurance, and give you some tips on how to save money on your named driver car insurance policy. Named driver car insurance is an increasingly popular form of vehicle insurance, especially among new and young drivers as it can help to keep the cost of car insurance down. Insuring your first car can be extremely costly as a new or young driver driver. A lack of experience on the roads counts against you when it comes to finding cheaper car insurance, as the majority of road traffic collisions occur among drivers that are new to the road. As a result, this group of motorists is seen as being higher risk and so policies for first-time drivers tend to be far more expensive.

This is where named driver car insurance policies can be helpful. With named driver car insurance, a more experienced named driver can be added to your policy. By having a more experienced driver linked to your policy a lower insurance premium can be obtained. As experienced drivers are viewed as being a lower insurance risk, especially if they have a no claims bonus to their name, a lower car insurance rate can be reached.

There are two main types of named driver car insurance policy. The first is where you add the name of a more experienced driver to your own policy, where you are the designated main driver of the vehicle. The second option is to add your name to the existing policy of a more experienced driver where they are the designated main driver of the vehicle. Both of these named driver car insurance options are useful, but one may be more suitable to your needs than the other. Adding your name to someone else’s policy is helpful in that it can result in a lower premium, but it has its drawbacks. With most named driver car insurance policies, only the main driver can build their no claims bonus and the named driver’s performance on the roads does not count.

While a number of named driver car insurance providers do now allow the named driver to build up their no claims bonus, this is not usually transferable to another insurer, and so this will only count in future if you take out future policies with your existing named driver car insurance provider. Building up your no claims bonus is an important part of becoming a motorist and increasingly important when it comes to finding more affordable car insurance in the future.

As this type of named driver car insurance does not tend to allow you to do so, it is more suitable in the shorter term for drivers who have very recently qualified, for learner drivers who wish to practice driving in the family car, or for newly qualified drivers who do not intend to drive too regularly. Another issue with this type of named driver car insurance policy is that you cannot be the main driver. If you are found to be the main driver if the vehicle, but are declared on the named driver car insurance policy as a named driver, then your entire named car driver insurance policy may be declared null and void.

Hope this has helped you making your decision, make the right one and good luck. 

Become a Drivers Edge UK member here.

Sharing is caring – Tweet & Like this for your friends to see!