There has been a huge rise in the average age of young people who are added to their parents’ car insurance.

According to a new uSwitch survey, the average age of young people – nicknamed ‘kidults’ – added to their parents’ car insurance has increased dramatically from 25 to 31 in just one year, as they become affected by the economic situation.

There are around 10 million people in the UK who have a second named driver on their policy – around 2.5 million of these are the policy owner’s offspring.
 
Mark Monteiro, insurance expert at uSwitch.com, said: “Not only are hard-up ‘kidults’ living at home for longer, but they are hanging around on their parents’ insurance policies for longer too.
 
“It is no secret that younger drivers pay far higher premiums than older motorists because of the higher risk involved – but many are now getting around it by becoming a named driver on their parents’ policy instead.”
 
According to the online comparison company, young drivers are the hardest-hit when it comes to car insurance costs, particularly young men as they are statistically the most likely to make an expensive claim.

To save money, it is possible for a young person to be legally added to a parent’s policy, however this does increase the premium. To avoid this extra increase, some drivers have resorted to an illegal practice known as ‘fronting’, when the occasional driver of the car is added as the ‘named driver’ in an effort to cut costs. However, such a practice can result in an insurer refusing to pay out.

uSwitch.com recommends people shop around to find the cheapest car insurance quote – to find out more, visit: www.uswitch.com