Morning all. A couple of hypothetical legal questions for those of you who know stuff.

I have a full driving licence but I don’t own a car.

Q1) I have no car insurance. Can I drive someone else’s car with their permission (they have FC insurance)?
Q2) I’m a named driver on someone else’s FC insurance. Can I drive another person’s car with their permission?

Ta

Q1) Yes. If you are covered on their insurance.
Q2) Very very unlikely. Only a *few* policies now cover the Policy Holder for driving third party on other folks cars.

Call the insurer.

With regard to question 2, I very much doubt it. Mrs Z is a named driver on our policy, but only the policyholder is insured to drive other cars.

The person who owns the car would know if you are covered on their insurance.
I.e. fully comprehensive/any driver….fully comp/named driver…third party etc etc…As Matt says, call to insurer required if not sure.

To clarify, if you are not a policy holder yourself with the right T&C to drive other vehicles with permission, you will have to be a named driver on the specific car you want to drive. You can be added for a day or a week and usually very cheaply if the car owner just calls their insurer.

1) unlikely unless they have a policy that allows any driver (and these are usually restricted to over 25 year olds). If it’s just one car then adding you as a named driver is usually free when renewing but likely to have an admin charge mid policy.
2) unlikely. Pretty standard for the policy holder to be allowed to drive other cars 3rd party only but not for named drivers.

And the consequences of getting it wrong for you and the vehicle owner really aren’t worth taking a chance for.

Q1. Only if their policy says you can. Normal domestic type policies won’t cover “all drivers” just named drivers. Even if it does cover all drivers (e.g. some company type policy) there may be restrictions, e.g. age, no of points, length license held, use of the vehicle etc.

Q2. One of the biggest areas of misinformation! Even if the main policy holder says it will – ask to see the certificate; main driver is sometimes covered third party only on other vehicles but often with restrictions like “if over 25, not in course of business, or in emergencies only”; always with the caveat that the vehicle itself is insured to be on the road. Things were a bit different thirty years ago and many people haven’t caught up.

There are people offering ad hoc insurance if you need to borrow someone’s car which can be easier / cheaper than being added each time. If it’s something you might do quite a bit the idea behind cuvva is interesting (not checked prices) it allows you cover by the hour through an app.

OK thanks folks glad I asked

Not directly related to OP Q, but a very common misconception and many people I tell, rather choose blind ignorance than check up:

“I have FC insurance, so I can drive another persons insured car with their permission, and be covered 3rd party”
This was often the case 10years ago, but for the last 5 or 6 years, I have checked and found that this hasnt been so.

The amount of people who say they are, and when I question them if they have checked they say I dont need to or similar is just plain ignorance!

Question seems to have been comprehensively answered, but one small nugget that I found interesting recently.

I was offered at last renewal (which I took) the ability to drive any other car on my insurance – comprehensively insured.
The caveats were that it also had to be insured by the owner, and a maximum insured value of £20k. The use case for me is that I could drive my Dad’s car if he needed me to, or my riding mate’s car if he fell off his bike (he’s also got the same cover so could drive mine).

Was only £20 or so, and seemed like a good addition.

Two different things there. I agree it is extremely unlikely he will be covered as a named driver – it is indeed very rare now for a policy to cover a named driver for driving other cars. However (and irrelevant to the OP) I’m not sure what you suggest is true – that it is very rare for the policy holder to be covered for driving other cars 3rd party. I have my certificate right here and I’m certainly covered under my policy for that as standard – it’s not something I’ve added on. Other answers suggest I’m not alone.

I’m sure it’s not standard and the OP should assume it’s not the case, but I had a policy which covered any driver (over 25, with a full licence for at least a year) less than 10 years ago – on a standard domestic policy.

main driver is sometimes covered third party only on other vehicles but often with restrictions like “if over 25, not in course of business, or in emergencies only”; always with the caveat that the vehicle itself is insured to be on the road.

Again irrelevant to the OP, but my 3rd party cover on other vehicles doesn’t mention anything about the other vehicle having to be insured to be on the road (nor anything about emergencies, and business use isn’t excluded if my policy included that for my car). There would presumably be other issues about continuous insurance and the car legally having to be insured itself to be on the road, but that would be the owner’s problem not mine – it wouldn’t invalidate my insurance. Interestingly having checked, that section does become invalid if my car is stolen or written off in a crash – which does open up the possibility of it becoming invalid without me being aware of it!

The person who owns the car would know if you are covered on their insurance.

This is a dangerous assumption! Many a person has found themselves trying to explain to the magistrates that it wasn’t their fault that the policy didn’t cover them… As superfli says a lot of people don’t understand their own cover especially when they change policy every year or the insurer sends a letter with a list of “minor” T&C tweaks at renewal time…

This is what pisses me off with UK insurance.

In europe you insure the car, anyone with a valid licence can drive it. In the UK you insure the person for a specific car and costs 3 times as much..

This is what pisses me off with UK insurance.

In europe you insure the car, anyone with a valid licence can drive it. In the UK you insure the person for a specific car and costs 3 times as much..

You use to be able to get this in the UK “any driver”, but AFAIK folk took the pi55.

From my time spent travelling I don’t remember other (proper) European countries insurance been that different in costs to ours, plus I think in France there is a 35% tax on the premiums?

That’s always been the case for me too – until my last renewal, where it was specifically stated that I’m not covered.

poly – Member
This is a dangerous assumption! Many a person has found themselves trying to explain to the magistrates that it wasn’t their fault that the policy didn’t cover them…

Yup, once upon a time I worked in the complaints dept for Direct Line – loads of people complaining because “they were definitely covered” yet had somehow magically just received an IN10 along with it’s points and a hefty fine.

http://www.confused.com/car-insurance/articles/driving-other-cars-guide

Many drivers believe that you can jump in someone else’s car and be covered third party by your insurance, provided that you are fully comp on yours and you have the owner’s permission.

But there are strict stipulations for this, and now some insurers are doing away with the driving-other-cars (DOC) benefit altogether

I’m sure it’s not standard and the OP should assume it’s not the case, but I had a policy which covered any driver (over 25, with a full licence for at least a year) less than 10 years ago – on a standard domestic policy.

10 yrs is a long time in car insurance policies (the meercats hadn’t even started!)! I did call it a “normal” domestic policy – you would need to go really out your way (and expense) to get that sort of policy.

Again irrelevant to the OP, but my 3rd party cover on other vehicles doesn’t mention anything about the other vehicle having to be insured to be on the road

I’d be surprised by that unless you have a trade policy. Who is it with – as that might be a useful thing for some people. Presumably it doesn’t cover the vehicle if you (or a spouse?) own it?

Whilst the OP might not realise its relevant – actually understanding insurance and that a good proportion of car owners don’t understand it will help him avoid an expensive mess.

I’m with LV – with a policy linked to the CSMA mainly for people who are civil servants or ex civil servants (though I’m not sure that is a requirement any more), I’m also in my 40s with full no claims and no recent accidents or convictions, having had a full licence for almost 30 years and insurance in my name for almost as long – so clearly I have a safe middle age driver’s policy, though I presume that mainly affects the premiums rather than the policy details.

The 3rd party doesn’t cover any car I own, lease or hire, but I’ve checked again, and to my surprise no exclusions for cars owned by a partner, spouse or named driver, which is interesting. The wording also suggests that it is possible to get 3rd party cover for named drivers under this policy (though mine specifically only covers me).

I’m sure it wasn’t that long ago I last got a quote for any driver (maybe 5 years) which didn’t add that much. Will try and get a quote a bit later when I have spare time.

When my partner got her ‘free’ insurance with her new car in March last year, it specifically stated in bold letters right on the main schedule that she could not drive other cars on the policy. Clearly a cost saving for the manufacturer, but good that it was very obvious for anyone who might think it was a standard on comp.,policies

direct line have still got the can drive any car not owned by policy holder or spouse part in their fully comp policy on domestic cars.

I how ever cannot get this on either my SDP and C policy on the van(with direct line commerical vehicles) nor my classic car – with heritage

Read your T&C

I did have a policy when i was 17 with fully comp co op insurance with my dad as named driver (it was his car he used for commuting during the day) and i used it at nights – which let me drive other people cars….

id imagine those days are long gone !

I thought most fully comp policies let someone else drive your car without being named so long as:
– They are over 25
– Cover is only 3rd party

Is that no longer the case? I was under the impression that you insure the car, not the driver in the UK and hence you can rarely drive someone elses car on your policy, but would be covered 3rd party on theirs (if they had FC).

Check your policy. Does it say any of that?

b r – Member

nasher – Member
This is what pisses me off with UK insurance.

In europe you insure the car, anyone with a valid licence can drive it. In the UK you insure the person for a specific car and costs 3 times as much..

You use to be able to get this in the UK “any driver”, but AFAIK folk took the pi55.

From my time spent travelling I don’t remember other (proper) European countries insurance been that different in costs to ours, plus I think in France there is a 35% tax on the premiums? [/quote]

Same in the far east where you insure the car and anyone can drive with a valid license.

In the UK you just get too many people abusing (drivers) or ripping off (insurance) each others.

Not typically.. If you have your own fully comp insurance for your own car you can generally drive any car on Your own policy, with permission 3rd party only.. But check your policy or call them.

It doesn’t tend to work the other way.. The person who’s car you intend to drive would have to call thier own insurers and either put you on as a named driver or the insurers may agree to let you drive it for a day or whatever.. It’s thier call really.

In short.. They’ll need to call thier insurance and see what the deal is.

Whilst I have no love for car insurance companies.. The prolific crash for cash scams and £5000 whiplash claims for car park dings..they were losing money hand over fist, It’s not surprising the industry is strict.

Ah ok mattyfez, that makes sense, I’ve probably just mixed up what I was told years ago!