Driving another car with owners permission

FlameCloud

True, but the chances of finding an insurer offering that is slim to none. I think what Lisyloo meant to say was that TP cover is the lowest practical cover you have to have.

lisyloo

Wrong, the minimum cover required by law is Road Traffic Act insurance.

Thanks for the info.
I hadn't appreciated the difference to be honest and now I know
(Obviously if you cannot purchase it then in practice it makes no odds.)

loubel

Quentin wrote: »

Not so, and bad advice.

Anyone can drive it if they have the owner's permission and are covered for driving other cars.

Apologies if I have it wrong, I have always been told this and had no reason to doubt its accuracy until now.

EdGasket

Wow; seem to have stirred up a hornet's nest of opinion here! Just for clarification, I do, of course, have the owners permission and do realise that the cover is limited to Third-Party only; so top marks to Quentin for the accuracy of his answers. I could easily afford to replace my son's car so that is not an issue; I just wanted to know a) that it is legal and b) that I am covered by my own insurance for damage/injury to someone else.
My son's car is same make and model as mine but.....
As an interesting point, suppose my car was a metro and my son's car some really high insurance group model; presume the position is still the same? (would be a cheap way to drive a performance car, though tp only !)

vusys1

easier way is to just check your certificate, if it allows you to and you adhere to the conditions, job done

JimmyTheWig

EdGasket wrote: »

As an interesting point, suppose my car was a metro and my son's car some really high insurance group model; presume the position is still the same?

Yes, that would be the same. It's third party only, so the _value_ of the car you are driving doesn't come into it. Though obviously the engine size would make it more crashable.

(would be a cheap way to drive a performance car, though tp only !)

Would be a cheap way to drive _somebody else's_ performance car. You can't drive your own second car under this policy. And someone would have to have insurance for the performance car in order to tax it.

vusys1

I thought declared "off road" applied to the Road Tax???

EdGasket

My insurance is with Elephant which I believe is part of the Admiral group; so I would need to check. If the DOC is restricted to only 'other cars which have their own insurance', then I cannot drive it I suppose. On the certificate of insurance there is no such restriction and surely this is the document that counts?
Re. '"From 2011 it will also be illegal to keep a vehicle without appropriate insurance unless it is declared as ‘off road’."
This is a concern; the car is taxed and off-road on my driveway but is not SORN'd because it is taxed. Surely it does not need to be insured to stand on my driveway; that would be insane?

Dan_Smith

EdGasket wrote: »

My insurance is with Elephant which I believe is part of the Admiral group; so I would need to check. If the DOC is restricted to only 'other cars which have their own insurance', then I cannot drive it I suppose. On the certificate of insurance there is no such restriction and surely this is the document that counts?

Yes elephant is part of the Admiral group, I found this in the current policy booklet;

"1b. Driving other cars
If you qualify under this section, cover
is for the policyholder only and is Third
Party only, while driving a private motor
car within our territorial limits. Your
current Certificate of Motor Insurance will
say if you have this cover.
We will cover you for everything listed in
clause 1a when you are driving any other
car as long as:

• your current Certificate of Motor Insurance says so
• you hold a valid Driving Licence and are not disqualified
• the other car is not owned by you, a rental car, nor hired to you under a hire purchase or leasing agreement
• you have the owner’s permission to drive the car
• there is a valid insurance policy in force for that car
• you are not covered by any other insurance to drive it
• you still have your car, and it has not been damaged beyond repair, stolen nor sold"

I could only find (there is a valid insurance policy in force for that car) for policies taken out from 1st April 2010 onwards. So this may not apply to you.

wrote:

Re. '"From 2011 it will also be illegal to keep a vehicle without appropriate insurance unless it is declared as ‘off road’."
This is a concern; the car is taxed and off-road on my driveway but is not SORN'd because it is taxed. Surely it does not need to be insured to stand on my driveway; that would be insane?

Someone will hopefully answer this as I would like to know myself.

lisyloo

So does that mean from 2011 he can't drive his son car unless there is insurance policy on that car?

It does look like that doesn't it (thanks for bringing this to our attention Dan).
I am assuming this means the statutory off road notification (SORN) that is usually used in the context of road tax.

Surely it does not need to be insured to stand on my driveway; that would be insane?

I would largely agree with you.

With the exception that the car at the moment could be driven uninsured by someone thinking they had DOC and complied with all the terms when they did not and therefore drove it without insurance by mistake.
I appreciate this does not apply in your case.