car insurance

[marryme]

I am a holder of an International Driver's Licence, i am in the uk for a year, am i permitted to drive my parents cars? or do they have to insure the cars in my name too?

[Ethel]

Unless there cars are insured for any unnamed driver.

[ugly_bob]

You'll more than likely need to be added as a named driver on at least one policy.

[Buenchico]

AB's server is only accepting very short posts, so I'll split this up:

Let's start from the the basics. Cars do not have to be insured. Drivers do. (e.g. if my friend lets his insurance run out, I can still drive his car under the 'third party/any vehicle' provisions of my insurance).

Some drivers are directly named on an insurance policy (e.g. "Fred Bloggs is insured to drive . . ."). Others are only referred to indirectly (e.g. "Any employee of F. Bloggs Ltd is insured to drive . . .").

[Buenchico]

Before you drive any vehicle in this country you must ensure that there is a policy in force which includes you as a driver (whether directly or indirectly). You either need to obtain your own policy to drive your parents' cars or to to confirm that their policies include you either by name or by indirect reference (e.g. "Any member of the insured person's immediate family is insured to drive . . .").

If there is no policy in force which includes you as an insured driver (either by name or by indirect reference), then you can't drive your parents' cars.

[Buenchico]

As has been suggested, you will probably need to get your parents (or at least one of them) to have your name added to their insurance policy. Note that if one parent has your name added to their comprehensive insurance cover, it's possible that you will also be allowed to drive the other parent's car - read the small print to check - but, if so, the cover will almost certainly be 'third party' only and not 'fully comprehensive'.

Chris