Did you know? You may be able to drive someone else's car on your insurance.

yeah - i'm a little shocked myself at the promotion of this. i work in insurance and although most if not all comprehensive insurance policy allow the policyholder (not any named drivers) to drive other cars - it is never intended as a long term solution. if an insurer found out that you had been driving another regularly then they could probably void your own policy - in most proposal forms it asks "do you have regular use of another vehicle" if you have answered no to this - then this will be their get out clause and they could void your policy - hence you wouldn't be insured for any car. Insurance companies are becoming tighter on this and all aspects of what would almost be a fraudulent use of insurance.

Well I'm with the majority here in being astounded by Martin's promotion of this practice. :eek:

I'm sure once he's looked into it and seen other people's responses, he'll be happy to admit that he may have made a faux par with this on. (Sorry Martin, but I don't think you'll be getting nominated for "post of the month" with this one - even if you were eligible :rotfl: )

I think the practice itself is pretty much widely known about and, as has already been mentioned, it is quite topical by virtue of the fact that Norwich Union is taking the lead in withdrawing this cover from it's policies with other insurers set to follow (something which I think should be emphasized in the original post, and also to warn people to watch out when they come to renew their policy and not to assume they are covered just because they have been in the past - this cover could easily be dropped without you actually noticing if you don't check through your renewal documents thoroughly).

As Robg has pointed out, one of the main reasons for the removal of this cover (other than it's widespread abuse) is the fact that the Police now have access to insurance records and for them to be able to effectively enforce a clamp down on uninsured drivers, there has to be a link between a vehicle and the insurance policy so that a driver cannot claim to be driving on a policy relating to another vehicle (which would be pretty much impossible to police effectively).

Here's some relevant links for anyone that's interested:

http://www.mib.org.uk/MIB/en/News/ViewFromTop/awdrivingothercards.htm

http://news.ft.com/cms/s/b3627b74-e4bc-11d9-95f3-00000e2511c8.html

I think the caution should be even stronger. Check with the insurance company before contemplating this. I asked my broker about this a couple of years ago - I wanted to move one car 60 miles - and he warned me off.

It is intended for emergencies only, not for any planned use.

He also said that you can absolutely guarantee that any such claim will trigger a full insurance company investigation ...

MSE_Martin wrote:

I would consider it primarily as a useful optional cover for times when you 'need it' rather than an every day type of cover. Most interestingly as you're covered for any car it is one way to get insurance to drive a much higher category car

... and this might be one of the reasons why the insurers scrutinise such cases so carefully. This so-called loophole is allegedly [by the insurers] abused by many people, especially parents and their newly-qualified offspring.

I hope more insurance experts will join in the discussion.

MSE_Martin wrote:

ianonline.

I'm a bit confused by your comments...

The point I was trying to make is that even if you have "DOC" cover on your policy, it can be a very grey area when/if you ever come to make a claim under the clause. As Sooz and Redux (and others) have pointed out, on the face of it, you may think you have DOC cover for "occasionally driving" other vehicles but if you delve deeper into the small print, an insurer might try to escape liability by saying it was not an "emergency situation" when it comes to making a claim.

I, like many others, am "guilty" of jumping into my dad's car to give him a lift to the pub using my DOC cover (but his car is an old Astra - I certainly wouldn't even consider doing the same if he had a Merc Sport or Aston Martin - or even a NEW Astra, come to that !!!). I can admit to doing this because I'm anonymous (OK, I admit - Ian really IS my name ) but we, and more importantly your insurer, know who YOU are Mr Martin Lewis :money:(or at least you DO have a public profile) so I'd be a bit careful about what you admit to :shhh::rotfl: (I'm assuming your recent experience wasn't a true emergency. )

I appreciate your original post was aimed at informing people of the existence of DOC cover (maybe I was wrong to think that most people are already aware of it) and also to open the topic to discussion (which it has certainly done !). Clearly you are seen as an authority figure which means that your posts are open to greater scrutiny, and my only criticism was that the warnings were not given greater emphasis in your original post - eg "Insurers rightly caution against..." and "insurers frown on it...."

I think if there's one thing that everyone can agree upon it's:

"READ YOUR POLICY (including the small print) VERY CAREFULLY !!"

.... and be aware that this can be a very grey area if it ever comes to making a claim :think:

misterthrifty wrote:

I entirely agree, I worked in claims for many years and can hardly remember this being raised as an issue. Whenever I get insurance I always make sure this cover is included and I have made use of it on a number of occasions.

A much greater problem is the number of un-insured drivers who have accidents which are eventually paid by the MIB and added on to our premiums! As a broker I was asked to issue dozens of short term policies, say a week, so the owner could presumably renew their tax and then drive without further insurance. This was known about by the insurers and the govt but has still largely not been dealt with.

Mr T

It is becoming harder (but not hard enough) to drive without insurance. All policies are now held on the Police National Computer so the Police know whether you have it before they stop you. They also use a lot of ANPR (automatic number plate recognition) which checks cars as they pass and shortly a summons will be issued if there is no insurance. That is of course as long as the car is registered.

The best new legislation (and one I have used with much pleasure) is if you stop a car with no insurance the Police will seize it, leaving you at the side of the road. You then need a policy to collect it and you will be fined. You also pay the storage and recovery fees. If you don't collect it it is crushed.

It won't stop all uninsured drivers but it is a start.