Drive other Cars Cover

[Rick101]

amongst the numerous insurance threads I'm seen a few folk report that their insure offered Drive other Cars as standard and and interestingly there is no requirment for the car to be insured elsewhere.

Can anyone recall which insurer this was?
Has this been tested and confirmed?
If you policy is F/C does it offer the same cover for other vehicles or is it TPO?

Due to change soon an would happily pay a little extra for an option like that.

Thanks

[dibblecorse]

Almost every insurer offers the right to drive any other car, its either included if you qualify for it (often age dependent) or an option to purchase (again, if you qualify for it)

Unless you have a specific broker arranged policy that covers driving other cars fully comp then the cover is Third Party Only, so no cover for the vehicle you are driving, regardless of whether it's an accident, fire or theft.

There isn't generally a requirement for the other vehicle to be insured but it does need to be road legal.

Also consider that should you take an uninsured car out you are restricted as to where you leave it as I believe its an offence to leave an uninsured vehicle on the public highway and thats what it becomes when you get out of it, although that may have changed.

If you are thinking of trying to get DOC on a car so you can drive something else more powerful / expensive, be very very careful.

More and more insurers are removing from all under 25's.

[GEFAFWISP]

Happy to be proven wrong on this and I can't cite a source but I did some research into this last year and personally couldn't find any instance where one could drive a car which was not insured elsewhere using the 'drive other cars' benefit.

The explanation I received pointed out that if this was possible people could insure themselves on a 1.2 Corsa for low premiums but drive around in something a bit tastier without having to pony up the extra cost.

[KingNothing]

Thought it had pretty much died off now, especially given the changes that happened to VED a few years ago now, that make a vehicle need valid insurance to have valid VED if not, it has to be SORN?

[TheVole]

Adrian Flux include third party cover on other cars - the caveats being they can't be insured by anyone living at the same address as you, and they must be insured by their owners.

You can upgrade to FlexDrive for about 20 quid which is the same cover, but fully comp up to £20k. For what it's worth, I'm 24 and I've had FlexDrive the last couple of years - so if there is an age requirement, it's not 25.

[SteBrown91]

I have 3rd party cover any any car under the following conditions:
It is insured itself
It’s taxed/mot’d etc
It’s not registered at the same address as the car insurance/home address
It’s not a hire/lease/fleet vehicle

I’m with elephant

[LuS1fer]

https://www.confused.com/car-insurance/guides/driv...

[hornmeister]

As with others, I can drive anytihng third party (temporarilly) as part of my fully comp personal insurance, as long as that thing is itself insured elsewhere.
If it's not insured elsewhere you'll get puled on ANPR. I think that's what trade plates stop?

[mwstewart]

I'd be really surprised if a standard policy offered cover on another car that wasn't insured; usually the stipulation is that the other car already has a policy in place.

[jamei303]

I'm with Aviva and I can't see any requirement that the other car needs to be insured.

[LosingGrip]

Rick101 said:

amongst the numerous insurance threads I'm seen a few folk report that their insure offered Drive other Cars as standard and and interestingly there is no requirment for the car to be insured elsewhere.

Can anyone recall which insurer this was?
Has this been tested and confirmed?
If you policy is F/C does it offer the same cover for other vehicles or is it TPO?

Due to change soon an would happily pay a little extra for an option like that.

Thanks

Most I've come across with work require the other car to be insured in its own right. I believe LV are ones that don't, but that was a while ago so it could have changed since then.

[anonymous-user]

• You can't drive a car on the road unless it's taxed.
• You can't tax a car unless it's insured.
• You can't tax a car unless it's MOT'd (where applicable)
• All insurers make a hefty charge if you insure a car and then cancel the insurance shortly afterwards

...so the chances of finding a car you can legally drive on the road that isn't already insured by someone else look pretty slim.

At the end of the day specific requirements vary from insurer to insurer.

[V8RX7]

TheVole said:

the caveats being they can't be insured by anyone living at the same address as you

I'm not doubting you but that seems strange, if I need to lend a car to anyone, it's most likely to be my wife or kids !

[jamei303]

rockin said:

* You can't drive a car on the road unless it's taxed.

• You can't tax a car unless it's insured.
• You can't tax a car unless it's MOT'd (where applicable)
• All insurers make a hefty charge if you insure a car and then cancel the insurance shortly afterwards

...so the chances of finding a car you can legally drive on the road that isn't already insured by someone else look pretty slim.

At the end of the day specific requirements vary from insurer to insurer.

It's only something I'd use if 89 year old Enid needs help moving her car out of the way into a lay-by in the snow or something. I'm not wanting to spend 75 minutes on hold to Saga first to confirm she didn't forget to send them a renewal cheque last week.

[LuS1fer]

jamei303 said:

I'm with Aviva and I can't see any requirement that the other car needs to be insured.

Under continuous insurance requirements, if the car is not insured, it must be SORN.
If SORN, it cannot be taxed until it is insured. It can't be taxed on your TP cover.

[syl]

GEFAFWISP said:

Happy to be proven wrong on this and I can't cite a source but I did some research into this last year and personally couldn't find any instance where one could drive a car which was not insured elsewhere using the 'drive other cars' benefit.

The explanation I received pointed out that if this was possible people could insure themselves on a 1.2 Corsa for low premiums but drive around in something a bit tastier without having to pony up the extra cost.

Until recently I had never seen that exclusion at all, but I saw it on the Halifax policy I bought for my daughter (the benefit isn't included for her anyway as she is only 17).

I am pretty sure that my NFU policy doesn't have the exclusion.

[Gareth79]

dibblecorse said:

Also consider that should you take an uninsured car out you are restricted as to where you leave it as I believe its an offence to leave an uninsured vehicle on the public highway and thats what it becomes when you get out of it, although that may have changed.

I read a report a while ago (from the Insurance Ombudsman I think), the cover is while you are in possession of the vehicle, so yes you could be covered if you parked up and went shopping, stopped to get petrol etc. The example mentioned would be that if you parked it on the road outside the owner's house and put the keys through the letter box then your DOC cover would cease and it would be on the road illegally.

[Rick101]

Some interesting points made about taxation, and leaving the car on a public road.

For clarification, I'm not looking to do anything dodgy, just thought it worthwhile getting an insurance benefit, if there was one to be had.

I do specifically remember a couple of people chirping up saying their insurance DIDN'T require the other vehicle to be insured.
How useful that is if there is a taxation issue remains to be seen.

[Rick101]

dibblecorse said:

There isn't generally a requirement for the other vehicle to be insured but it does need to be road legal.

I'm surprised that this. Every policy I have had that offers DOC also states the vehicle must be insured elsewhere.


Currently with

Hastings / Advantage
Driving other cars:
You're also covered to drive someone else's car if:
● You have the owner’s permission
● It's not owned by you or under a hire purchase or lease agreement
● It's covered by another insurance policy.
Other conditions apply – please see your car policy document for details.*


1st Central / Skyfire
The Policyholder may also drive a private motor car not belonging to the Policyholder and not
hired to the Policyholder under a Hire Purchase Agreement or leased, provided it is insured
under another insurance policy, for social domestic and pleasure use only and with the
consent of the owner.

Manning / Amlin
The Insured ONLY is also allowed to drive (with the owner's consent) any private motor car not belonging to
him/her (except hired cars) in Great Britain, Northern Ireland, Isle of Man or the Channel Islands.
(NB: only Third Party cover applies in these circumstances).
Doesn't specifically state ot on this one but I asked the question and was told the other vehicle had to be insured.

Edited by Rick101 on Tuesday 5th February 16:53

[Pica-Pica]

With NFU, I am insured to drive any other car in order to move it, if that car is parked in a position that obstructs the legitimate path of my car. It covers, injury to any person, damage to that car or any other property (except where other insurance covers that injury or damage).

I could probably insure to drive any other car, other than as described above, but I have not asked for a cost to insure.