Dumb car insurance question...

[SavageHoutkop]

So, next question - is it possible for me (if I wanted) to buy myself 3rd party insurance without naming a car to use it in? [Seeing as I don't have one].
This would let me drive someone else's car if they'd let me borrow it at my own cost...

Not a serious question (i.e. I'm not thinking about it) - but an interesting question nonetheless!

Also makes me wonder how car hire and car-share scheme insurance works....

 

[Night Train]

Do also bear in mind that if you get the insurance sorted out and decide to drive the car you, as the driver, are responsible for the road worthiness and road legal aspects of the car.

If the car is unsafe or not licenced or MOTed then the fault lies with you while you are in charge of the vehicle.

 

[Black Sheep]

some companies might do so, but you might be better just buying short term cover

www.dayinsure.com are underwritten by norwich union, you can get anything from a day to a month (fully comp)

car hire companies sort out insurance for the length of the hire

car share schemes also work on an 'any driver' policy

as does my church's mini bus.

 

[Arch]

as does my church's mini bus.

Is it covered against Acts of God?

 

[srw]

He might have, if his insurance is Fully Comprehensive.

Usually with fully comprehensive insurance you are insured to drive other cars, but under "3rd party" terms. so if he drove your car and crashed it, he would have to pay for the repairs to your car but the 3rd party would be able to claim from him (if he was the negligent one).

Not these days. As someone says above, that cover has gradually been dropped from most policies.

 

[srw]

So, next question - is it possible for me (if I wanted) to buy myself 3rd party insurance without naming a car to use it in? [Seeing as I don't have one].
This would let me drive someone else's car if they'd let me borrow it at my own cost...

Not a serious question (i.e. I'm not thinking about it) - but an interesting question nonetheless!

That's not one I've heard of - the specific car is one of the key rating factors used in pricing insurance. If you wanted that cover I'd probably start by assuming you were a lying git, owned your own Ferrari, and pricing your cover correspondingly. But then I'm not an underwriter, and underwriters are sometimes ...errr... adventurous.

Also makes me wonder how car hire and car-share scheme insurance works....

The same way as any other motor fleet policy - they're rated with a fairly hefty nod to their own experience, and by an expert individual underwriter rather than a computer. If the car hire firm has been running a tight ship with few claims they'll get a cheaper price than one who's had lots of claims.

 

[Black Sheep]

There are two ways of insuring yourself on multiple cars,

Fleet insurance, covering cars belonging to you can be done on a personal level, also covering cars you have permission to drive

The other way is more convoluted but excludes cars registed to you except those specified on insurance, so no insuring your fiesta and using the cover to drive your Ferrari

 

[Black Sheep]

Is it covered against Acts of God?

sometimes I think God is all that is keeping the thing running!

 

[mr_cellophane]

He might have, if his insurance is Fully Comprehensive.

Usually with fully comprehensive insurance you are insured to drive other cars, but under "3rd party" terms.  so if he drove your car and crashed it, he would have to pay for the repairs to your car but the 3rd party would be able to claim from him (if he was the negligent one).

You are only insured to drive cars which have insurance in their own right.  Therefore if your friend hasn't insured his car yet, you can't drive it under you policy.  Something learnt from watching those fly-on-the-wall police camera TV programs

my insurance has my wife as a named driver so that she can use the car

it costs more to have my wife as the policy holder and me as the named driver as I'm a few years older and had my license for longer.

Who drives it most ?  If your wife is the main driver then the insurance company must be notified of that.  I was asked who the main driver of our car was as I drove the most miles at weekends and my wife used it for short journeys during the week.  The insurance company said, after much thinking, that it was the time that mattered not the mileage.

Make sure you cover every point off with them as, if you have an accident, they will look for every opportunity to not pay you.

 

[Bromptonaut]

You are only insured to drive cars which have insurance in their own right. Therefore if your friend hasn't insured his car yet, you can't drive it under you policy. Something learnt from watching those fly-on-the-wall police camera TV programs

I don't think that's always the case; depends on the terms of the driving other cars clause in the policy.

 

[ASC1951]

A small but important point - if you are driving someone else's car on their 'any driver' cover, you are wise to see the policy and even the certificate of insurance.

I occasionally had to represent people who had borrowed a car and were indisputably told by the owner that the cover did extend to them, often when the owner genuinely thought that it did. You could have an affidavit signed by the Pope and it would make no difference at all - it's an absolute offence, so as the driver you are liable if you are not actually covered. Ditto defects in the vehicle, as someone else has pointed out.

If it was me, SH, I would only do it if I had a letter from the insurer saying I was covered.

 

[Black Sheep]

You are only insured to drive cars which have insurance in their own right. Therefore if your friend hasn't insured his car yet, you can't drive it under you policy. Something learnt from watching those fly-on-the-wall police camera TV programs



Who drives it most ? If your wife is the main driver then the insurance company must be notified of that. I was asked who the main driver of our car was as I drove the most miles at weekends and my wife used it for short journeys during the week. The insurance company said, after much thinking, that it was the time that mattered not the mileage.

Make sure you cover every point off with them as, if you have an accident, they will look for every opportunity to not pay you.

the wife at the moment, its the only car we have, everything is in my name as it was me driving it the most at the time.

it's probably split 50/50 now as she drives 20 mins a day to and from work, I drive everywhere else, long journeys (2 hours) to visit parents etc

 

[XmisterIS]

So, next question - is it possible for me (if I wanted) to buy myself 3rd party insurance without naming a car to use it in? [Seeing as I don't have one].
This would let me drive someone else's car if they'd let me borrow it at my own cost...

Not a serious question (i.e. I'm not thinking about it) - but an interesting question nonetheless!

Also makes me wonder how car hire and car-share scheme insurance works....

IME, you only get that kind of cover as an added "bonus" with your main policy (I am insured TP only to drive any vehicle other than my own - but that's because I am fully comp on my own car). The kind of cover you're talking about is only really available to business customers, I would think, and probably costs a fair bit too.