Is it Permissible to Falsely State in Car Insurance that one is not the main Driver
Question:
I am trying to get car insurance. It would cost me around £1000 for third party insurance with myself as the main driver, but if my father is the main driver and i am a named driver the premium would cost less than £1000.
Is it permissible for me to gain this second type of insurance whereby i am a named driver even though my father wouldn’t use the car much because he has his own car (i.e. would really be the main driver and my father is named as the main driver just so that the premium is cheaper)?
This is known as ”fronting” in the car insurance industry and is disliked by insurers, but after reading a previous answer by Shaykh Taqi Usami i was wondering if it was permissible: “if full comprehensive insurance is cheaper than the third party insurance and it can fulfil the requirement of law and after that one does not need to enter into a third party insurance then it will be permissible to have full comprehensive insurance to meet the requirement of law.
Answer:
Upon enquiring with the experts and with the insurance companies here in the UK, I was informed that stating falsely in the insurance policy that one will not be the main driver of the car is considered to be fraud and deception, hence not allowed.
If you state that your father will be the main driver of the car and that you will merely be the second driver, but in actual fact you will be the main driver and not your father, then this will not be allowed Islamically, for it constitutes lying, deceiving and giving false information. It may also be illegal, hence one will be breaking the law of the country and presenting one’s self to disgrace and possible arrest.
One representative of an insurance company told me that if one was to have an accident, the matter would be investigated. If it is found that the young driver was actually the main driver, the insurance policy would be terminated and relevant action would be taken.
Therefore, in order that the insurance premiums become cheaper, it will not be permitted to lie and deceive the insurance company. Yes, if your father is in reality going to be the main driver and you will also be driving, then it would be permitted to state in the insurance policy that he will be the main driver.
And Allah knows best
[Mufti] Muhammad ibn Adam
Darul Iftaa
Leicester , UK