Question of the week: What is the best way to insure a learner driver?
Fri, 06 Mar 2026
Dear Honest John,
"I have bought a Fiat 500 for my 17 year old daughter to learn to drive in.
What is your advice for getting her insured on this car? Is it better for her to have her own policy with me as a named driver, or should I be the policy holder and have her as a named driver? There are so many options to consider."
- MD
Dear MD,
There are a few options that you can choose from to get your daughter insured on the Fiat 500.
If the car is only being used for the purpose of learning, then your daughter would be considered the main driver of the car and should have a policy under her name, which can then be updated to a full licence when she passes.
Remember, the policy will be invalid after passing until this is done so she wouldn’t be able to drive home from the test centre until this is updated.
While she is learning, you should be added as a named driver too in case you need to take over from her, in case the vehicle needs maintenance and so on. The benefit of her having her own policy in her name is that she can build up her no claims bonus for when she progresses to a full licence.
If you are likely to be using the car too, and more so than your daughter, then you should be the policy holder of the car and your daughter a named driver. In this instance, your daughter wouldn’t build up her no claims bonus, and if anything happens and she needs to claim, then this would affect your no claims bonus.
The important thing to remember is to make sure the main driver of the car is the main policyholder. Putting yourself as the policyholder and your daughter as a named driver, but you driving more often would be considered fronting, which is a form of insurance fraud.
The other alternative is for you to insure the car yourself, and take out temporary insurance for your daughter each time she wishes to use it. Though, depending on how long and often you need to do this, it could work out to be the more expensive option.
