In case you woudl like to know the 'ins and outs' of the Driving Other cars Extension if you have it under your motor insurance this may help

The Driving Other Cars extension on a Private Car motor insurance policy covers the policyholder for their liability towards third parties for any injury or damage they cause whilst they drive a car that they don’t own, that is not registered to them and is not hired to them under a hire purchase or leasing agreement. The intention of the extension is to allow occasional or emergency use of someone else’s car.

This extension is usually not granted to policyholders under 25 years of age or to anyone employed within the motor trade or associated occupations, where it would be normal for them to drive cars belonging to other people in the course of their employment.

The operation of the extension on a policy is not usually dependant upon the policy cover - it is a common misconception that you need to have Comprehensive cover for a Driving Other Cars extension to operate; most insurers include a Driving Other Cars extension on Third Party Fire and Theft and even Third Party Only policies. Check with your insurer. If this extension is operative on your policy it will be shown on the Certificate of Motor Insurance under the section headed ‘persons or classes of persons entitled to drive’.

The car itself does not always need to be insured elsewhere, but must comply otherwise with the law by having a valid MOT certificate and road tax. Check your policy wording for the extent of cover and exclusions that apply; they do tend to vary from insurer to insurer.

Anyone relying on a Driving Other Cars extension for cover should be aware that:

•The extension does not cover anyone other than policyholder. This cover does not extend to include driving of other cars by the other named drivers on the policy.

•The extension only applies to driving other Private Cars. Any vehicle not fitting this classification, e.g. motorcycles, car derived vans and vans or minibuses, are not covered by this extension.

•The extension only applies if you have permission from the owner of the car to drive it.

•The extension does not provide any cover on the car itself, its contents or for death of, or personal injury to, the person driving. If you are borrowing a friend’s car and relying on the Driving Other Cars extension for cover, please make sure your friend is aware that your policy will not cover any damage to their car whilst you are driving it, and their policy will not cover any damage caused the the car whilst you are driving unless your friend has specifically added your name to their policy and has Comprehensive cover.

•If the car is not already insured, e.g. it has been off the road for a while and the previous insurance had expired, be aware that even if the driver's policy provides a Driving Other Cars extension on a car that is not already insured elsewhere, this will not apply whilst the car is parked and unattended. If you were to leave a car parked on a public highway without any insurance cover being in force, and the Police ran a check on it and found it had no insurance, your friend could be faced with a prosecution for ‘no insurance’ resulting in points on his licence and a hefty fine. Similarly, if the car was parked and left unattended in a dangerous position and caused someone else to have an accident resulting in damage or injury to third parties for which you were held to be negligent, the Driving Other Cars extension would not cover your liabilities. Cover only applies whilst you are behind the wheel.

•The Driving Other Cars extension only applies within the Territorial Limits stated in the policy wording, which, for a policy issued in the UK, would be England, Scotland, Wales and Northern Ireland. If you are borrowing a friend’s car to take abroad you cannot rely on the Driving Other Cars extension for cover – it does not apply outside the UK. You will need to be added to your friend’s existing insurance policy covering the car in question to benefit from any Foreign Use cover granted and your friend should check with their insurers what the extent of that cover is, in case it needs to be upgraded by payment of additional premium to cover your trip.

Information supplied by my wife.

Be very careful if you are driving your Coupe under this extension from a policy you have on another car, only do it if you are 100% clear with it.

Regards
Jase

So what does it actually cover you for?

E.g, I drove my girlfriends brand new Alfa under my policy and have this option to drive someone else car with the owners permission. What peace of mind do I have whilst driving this brand new car?

Thanks.

If you bend it the damage to the other car is covered. The damage to your nice new car is not.

I'd suggest that there's quite a lot of wiggle room on this. If you were to borrow a friend's car, drive it using your 'other cars' extension and then mow down an old lady your insurance company would find it impossible to wiggle out of paying 3rd party damages based on, say, the car not being taxed. While, obviously, you do still have a legal requirement to ensure and car you're driving is taxed and MOT'd it's unlikely to be the case that your 'Other cars' insurance is dependent on them.



This isn't a hard and fast rule. If the policy wording says 'car' then, yes, but if it says 'vehicle' then it means vehicle. As an example, I know my motorbike insurance covers me for other "vehicles", should I conclude that it only means cars, or only means motorbikes?



It does, but there is a long history of insurance companies being forced to pay out even when the person driving was doing so without the knowledge/permission of the owner. So while you might open yourself up to other charges (TWOC, for example) it's unlikely you could be done for no insurance.



All UK motor insurance providers are obliged to provide the minimum level of cover within the EU, so if the policy holder takes their car anywhere within the EU without telling their insurer they're still covered. I don't believe there has been a test case to determine if this applies to other vehicle cover, but I'd be willing to bet that it does. That said, it would be damn stupid to use this cover to drive abroad.

I understand what you are staying but the car should be roadworthy and motor insurance is taken out and cover provided by the insurers in accordance with the law, therefore in the event of an accident no mot in the eyes of an insurer may mean unroadworthy, so if they were to pay anything out then the insurers can come back onto you to claim back what they have paid out as the vehicle not having a valid mot may of contributed to the accident in the first place, insurers may have to pay out but they have rights to come back and claim back off you and take you to court if they need to.

In the majority of cases a car policy only provides cover for a car, a van for a van etc...you need to read the full policy document and see the definitions for 'vehicle' and exclusions

If you do not have permission from the owner and something happens and the insurers are advised by the owner that you did not have permission then the insurers will not pay out and you will be taken to court by the person you have had a claim with to recover their loses and chances are you will be prosecuted for no insurance as well. Normally, the only way the insurers will get involved if you take the car without the owners permission and the owner states this is if the owner reports the vehicle as being stolen and then you will be prosecuted for taking a vehicle without consent.


Again you need to read this in conjuction with the actual policy wording/bookley/policy as the explanation for Foreign use Cover normally states cover is only provided for 'your vehicle'.



My wife has been in insurance for over 17 years and believe me she knows her stuff and I assure you an insurance document is not as clear cut as it first seems and you must read everything at least once. It is possible that Insurers may initially pay out but they legally can come back onto you and take you to court for expenses that resulted in you using the policy not in accpordance with the contract you have signed up for.

I've no doubt that your wife knows her stuff, but there are some very subtle point here. There are cases where you are insured to the point where you could not be prosecuted for lack of insurance, but would be very much in danger of being taking to court by your insurers for losses incurred through breach of contract.

I think we're agreed on that much, but it's not as simple as your insurance company saying, "you're not insured if x,y and z". That's they'd be forced to pay out 3rd party liabilities shows that you *were* insured, but the opportunity for a civil case against you shows that you hadn't adhered to the terms of the contract.

AndrewR you sound like a clever guy, maybe highly paid wasting your knowlage and time on a cheap car forum.
Surely time is money get to work.
Lets end this rubbish now.
Nobodys going to do it any way and if they do theyre a responsible adults its there choice.

It is that simple, insurers can and do quote extracts from their policy wording to confirm as to why they will or won't pay out on a claim and if you are not using the policy in accordance with the terms of cover then they will not pay out and you will have to pick up the claim.

Read your policy.

People come to this forum for advice, so the advice posted here should be good.

Any coop driver could massively reduce their premiums by telling the insurance company that their car is a 1 litre Micra. If they told a lie of this magnitude their insurance company would still be forced to pay out 3rd parties damages, so in a narrow definition they'd be insured, but I'm sure nobody here would suggest that this is a good way to get cheap insurance.

Why is lying about ownership of a vehicle any different?

Andrew, there is no mention on this thread about lying about ownership of a vehicle!!!

I have just quoted on behalf of my wife the ins and outs of using a car under the driving other cars extension of a policy and for people to be aware of the cover or not when they do this.

I am not actually recommending this is done, but just warning others if they do it...........If that is not advice then what is!!!!!

Oh, believe me, I read all of my policies very carefully indeed. Other peoples' as well

However, there is a gulf between the circumstances under which insurers *say* they'll pay out and the actual circumstances where they are forced to pay out. There's a wealth of case law on this subject which I'd recommend (if you haven't got any paint to watch dry).

Take, for example, driving abroad. Many insurance policies say that you have to inform your insurance company if you're driving abroad, but anybody offering car insurance in the UK is legally obliged to provide the minimum required level of cover in all EU countries, so if you had an accident there you would be covered to the minimum level required by local law. Of course, that doesn't mean that you didn't breach the terms of your contract by driving abroad within informing your insurance company.

No, sorry, there's 2 threads getting tangled here.

Your original list of the ins and outs of "other car" cover is very good and doesn't make all of the usual mistakes, but some of the points aren't entirely clear cut and insurance companies do tend to gloss over the underlying legalities.

However, one point that should be made clear is that transferring the V5 to allow you to drive under 'other car' cover is never a good idea. It's something I've been arguing against since I first joined this forum and I continue to do so.

Andrew my wife would totally agree.
She has never said for anyone to do this she has simply tried to point out to people the implications of doing this.

As quoted in previous posts around the forum she is trying to offer help and advice to people on the forum in respect of their insurance.