2 Insurance policies on 1 car

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Looking for PH members opinion on a insurance matter.

The eldest son currently pays 2k on his insurance, it's his first year and his renewal is in a few weeks. His renewal price for a 02 plate 1.2 is 2k, and his car needs quite a bit of work done - time belt, new radiator, 4 new tyres, 2 rear springs, discs and pads. Only being worth £500 he's reluctant to fix it.

I don't use my E class 5 days a week so after looking around he's found a policy for 1.7k for him as a sole driver and its declared that I'm the owner and registered keeper. I'm happy for him to drive it 5 days, he's going to pay his own insurance, and sell his own car.

I understand if he has an accident he claims on him own insurance and me the same, but I'm confused as to what happens if it's say stolen?
Has anyone ever had 2 policies on a single car and had any problems - is it something to avoid?

Thanks in advance

[KaraK]

2 policies on the same car is generally a no-no isn't it? Why not just add him to your insurance?

[Riktoid]

I stand to be corrected but I'm fairly certain you can't insure the same vehicle 'twice'.

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KaraK said:

2 policies on the same car is generally a no-no isn't it? Why not just add him to your insurance?

See i'm not sure, it appears insurance companies are not fond of them but I can't think of why it might be illegal. I've read through the policy documents for my insurance but nothing on dual insurance.

The price gap is massive. The insurance goes up to 4.8k. Also 2 separate means both get no claims bonus and also there isn't going to be the issue of fronting, because he's going to be driving the majority of the time, however his millage is low.

[Spangles]

Riktoid said:

I stand to be corrected but I'm fairly certain you can't insure the same vehicle 'twice'.

Yes you can, you can insure the same vehicle 32 times if you so desire. The illegal bit is claiming off more than one policy.

[vikingaero]

Spangles said:

Riktoid said:

I stand to be corrected but I'm fairly certain you can't insure the same vehicle 'twice'.

Yes you can, you can insure the same vehicle 32 times if you so desire. The illegal bit is claiming off more than one policy.

Most general Insurers don't like dual insurance on cars, but you can have it. It complicates things and where they would have been non-liable to pay it can drag them in to a 50% payout. So some general Insurers will check there is no dual policy in force.

If the OP's son has a crash then the claim should be split 50/50 between both Insurers. Same if the car is stolen. You can't readily select which policy you want to claim from. Any Insurer who is faced with a payout is going to think: Hang on. We can get the sons Insurer to pay 50%. So let's do it.

So when can you have dual insurance? Day insurance which often specifically states that it pays out in preference to the main annual policy. Traders insurance for when a car is in for works. Some business insurance - for example Police Officers covered under the Police Policy if using their own vehicle to respond. My company tops up cover for us if we use our private vehicles for work use or need to commute to another site. A lot of business policies for bigger companies have cover to drive your car if you have caused an obstruction on their premises.

[dacouch]

vikingaero said:

Most general Insurers don't like dual insurance on cars, but you can have it. It complicates things and where they would have been non-liable to pay it can drag them in to a 50% payout. So some general Insurers will check there is no dual policy in force.

If the OP's son has a crash then the claim should be split 50/50 between both Insurers. Same if the car is stolen. You can't readily select which policy you want to claim from. Any Insurer who is faced with a payout is going to think: Hang on. We can get the sons Insurer to pay 50%. So let's do it.

So when can you have dual insurance? Day insurance which often specifically states that it pays out in preference to the main annual policy. Traders insurance for when a car is in for works. Some business insurance - for example Police Officers covered under the Police Policy if using their own vehicle to respond. My company tops up cover for us if we use our private vehicles for work use or need to commute to another site. A lot of business policies for bigger companies have cover to drive your car if you have caused an obstruction on their premises.

It doesn't say the son is a named driver on the policyholder's own insurance, if he's not covered by the OP's insurance then a lot of the information you've posted about each insurer paying 50% would be incorrect

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dacouch said:

It doesn't say the son is a named driver on the policyholder's own insurance, if he's not covered by the OP's insurance then a lot of the information you've posted about each insurer paying 50% would be incorrect

vikingaero said:

Most general Insurers don't like dual insurance on cars, but you can have it. It complicates things and where they would have been non-liable to pay it can drag them in to a 50% payout. So some general Insurers will check there is no dual policy in force.

If the OP's son has a crash then the claim should be split 50/50 between both Insurers. Same if the car is stolen. You can't readily select which policy you want to claim from. Any Insurer who is faced with a payout is going to think: Hang on. We can get the sons Insurer to pay 50%. So let's do it.

So when can you have dual insurance? Day insurance which often specifically states that it pays out in preference to the main annual policy. Traders insurance for when a car is in for works. Some business insurance - for example Police Officers covered under the Police Policy if using their own vehicle to respond. My company tops up cover for us if we use our private vehicles for work use or need to commute to another site. A lot of business policies for bigger companies have cover to drive your car if you have caused an obstruction on their premises.

I apologise if I was not clear. The idea was to have 2 policies. Policy 1 would be just me a named driver, and policy 2 would be just my son as the named driver. Being 2 separate policies is c. £2500 cheaper than 1 policy with me and him named.

[IntriguedUser]

I had insurance on my bro's car, and he had his own insurance on the same car, two different insurance companies.

I insured it for a couple of months so I didn't lose my NCB..

Guess I could have caused issues for my brother if a claim had came...

he knew btw

[TwigtheWonderkid]

OP, what you're suggesting is absolutely fine. In the event of theft, hit whilst parked, etc, whoever was in charge of the car at the time would decide whose policy is claimed upon. Usually insurers would say the person in charge would be the last user before the incident.