Car Insurance Question - Driving Someone Else's Car

[MollyC]

I own a car but I don't drive it. My husband drives the car in question and is fully comprehensively insured on it and on another vehicle. His friend wants to borrow my car as his is having some repairs on his he is also fully comprehensively insured on his own car.
Can he drive my car legally? Are there any insurance pitfalls here?

[TWR]

He / She can drive your car but on 3rd Party unless Full comp has been arranged & paid.

[furrypusscat]

I believe even though your friend has his own insurance, fully comp for his car, he will only be covered 3rd party, fire and theft on any other vehicle he drives. Depends on wording of insurance but I believe that is the norm.

[factor-fiction]

Check your policy and his to see what it says about any other driver. Unless you have specified 'any driver' then you may find the friend is not covered or he may only be covered for third party

[tonyav]

So long as he has Fully Comp insurance on his own car, then he should be able to drive yours on his insurance, however it will only cover your car for third party damages though. I would check what insurance cover he as on his own car if I were you, Molly.

[237SJ]

He needs to check with his insurance company. He will probably only be covered for fire and theft but he needs to check that.

[factor-fiction]

I think you also need to take responsibility for checking his insurance is valid

[boxtops]

I have had this problem in the past when a friend drove my car when I was in hospital and needed transport - I paid for her to be added to my comp policy for a fixed period, otherwise her cover would only be TPFT if driving my car.

[furrypusscat]

To drive on your insurance you would have to either have any driver or he would have to be added as a named driver.

[237SJ]

Sorry, meant third party, fire and theft

[MollyC]

I'm not insured on the vehicle I own though... As I don't drive it. The vehicle is insured but not by me. I thought I read somewhere that the owner of the vehicle had to insure it? Insurance is so fiddly I don't want to go wrong!

[boxtops]

Ah - OK - you would need to ask your husband to add the person to his insurance then (or take the risk of the other person only having third party cover on your vehicle when he's driving it)

[Buenchico]

Your husband's insurance won't cover the friend unless he's a 'named driver' on the policy.

The friend's insurance is likely to provide him with cover to drive any other vehicle (including yours), as such cover is almost standard for 'fully comp' policies (and, indeed, most other policies too). However he should check the wording of his policy to ensure that such cover is definitely offered.

Even so, you and he need to be aware that (even though he's got 'fully comp' cover for his own vehicle) the cover provided for 'other vehicles' is always 'third party only'.

So (assuming that your friend has checked that 'any other vehicle' cover is definitely included on his policy) he can drive your vehicle entirely legally but if he prangs it, or has it stolen, neither insurance company will pay out in respect of the damage or loss to your car.

[MollyC]

Thank you I think that clears things up! It's an old car and I'm not precious about it. It was the legal aspect I was more concerned about that any damage. Thanks for your help :)

[Arrods]

Just to emphasise the importance of checking whether 'Driving other cars' cover is in place. In my latter years in insurance, there was a move by some insurers to remove the cover because it was being abused so much.

[Peter Pedant]

when he drives your car it will be 3rd party fire and theft

If you have doubts which you clearly have then say no
like no you can't because I have cancer .... or something
he'll soon get the message - even if he's a man !

[MollyC]

I'm happy for him to use it but I don't want to be in any trouble or have him in any trouble because things aren't in place. Insurance legalities are a hard one!

[Arrods]

Just to be clear everyone, 'Driving other cars' cover - if provided - just gives third party only cover, nothing more. Indeed, there is a lot of confusion, even amongst insurance experts, about the scope of such cover. DOC cover was only intended to be used in emergency 'driving' situations, but policies rarely define thus. I recall a case where someone borrowed a car using DOC, left if unattended somewhere and it was stolen. Can't recall the outcome, but the insurer argued that there was no cover because the car wasn't being driven.

[ToraToraTora]

This comes up all the time. There is no automatic right to drive another car regardless of whether he has comp/TP/TPFF. If it says on the actual certificate, words to this effect:
"May drive another vehicle, Third party only, with the owners permission, not for hire or reward" then he can, if it does not then he is not covered. There are a lot of urban myths surrounding this.