Additional Driver help??

stokenapps

Hi there,

I have insurance with Direct Line. My wife passed her test today and I called to see how much it would cost to add her to my insurance. They charged about £30 and that was that.

No doubt my policy will increase greatly due to her being an inexperienced driver, but they informed me that the increase would only take effect from when the policy is renewed later this year.

Is this correct? Is my wife now fully covered by my insurance until the renewal date? It just seems a little odd that this only cost £30 (for now).

Thanks for any clarity you can provide!

no-oneknowsme

10 years ago when I was a learner driver , my Husband put me on his car insurance so that I could get a bit more practise before my test . At the time it cost £25 . When I passed my test we didnt have to pay anything else...the £25 covered me to drive the car as a newly qualified driver.

Our policy price did not increase the following year either with me on the policy , infact , because by that time I had use of another vehicle , when we were renewing his policy the next year we enquired as to how much CHEAPER the policy would be if I was removed from it and we were told that he was actually SAVING money by having his spouse on the policy as a named driver!

So , even though I very rarely drove his car I was always a named driver on it merely because it wasnt costing a penny!

Now days my Husband is a taxi driver and when he switched to a taxi policy I again got a quote WITHOUT me as a named driver and his price came up at £30 more than if I wasnt on the policy!

It must be just a "spouse" thing.

stokenapps

Thanks ever so much, I was just really confused by the whole thing. I can rest easy now and look forward to not always being the designated driver from now on!

Thanks again.

Sally_A

no-oneknowsme wrote: »

Now days my Husband is a taxi driver and when he switched to a taxi policy I again got a quote WITHOUT me as a named driver and his price came up at £30 more than if I wasnt on the policy!

It must be just a "spouse" thing.

.....and scarily, if this is a Private Hire plated vehicle; legally you should not be driving it without a private hire licence. By accepting you on the quote the insurers will probably indemnify you in the event of an incident, but you could fall foul of the law by not having the correct licence to drive a plated vehicle.

Please get the insurers take on this matter (in writing) before something goes pear shaped. An overly keen police officer could still do you for not having the correct licence. There was a previous thread on here when a Motor Trader was using a plated vehicle, he was still fined.

no-oneknowsme

Sally_A wrote: »

.....and scarily, if this is a Private Hire plated vehicle; legally you should not be driving it without a private hire licence. By accepting you on the quote the insurers will probably indemnify you in the event of an incident, but you could fall foul of the law by not having the correct licence to drive a plated vehicle.

Please get the insurers take on this matter (in writing) before something goes pear shaped. An overly keen police officer could still do you for not having the correct licence. There was a previous thread on here when a Motor Trader was using a plated vehicle, he was still fined.

Sorry but your info in this post is incorrect!

Have you any idea how many people actually have other additional drivers on their taxi policy?

I am covered on my Husbands policy to drive the car for social and domestic ONLY! At no point in time am I driving the car as a taxi (the roof sign and plates are not even on the flipping vehicle when (if) I drive it!

Please do not post about things you dont know.

Unless of course you can back up your info with evidence......

no-oneknowsme

SallyA - maybe a read through question 6 of the "FAQ" here http://www.quote-4.me.uk/taxi-insurance.html would be useful.

scheming_gypsy

stokenapps wrote: »

Hi there,

I have insurance with Direct Line. My wife passed her test today and I called to see how much it would cost to add her to my insurance. They charged about £30 and that was that.

No doubt my policy will increase greatly due to her being an inexperienced driver, but they informed me that the increase would only take effect from when the policy is renewed later this year.

Is this correct? Is my wife now fully covered by my insurance until the renewal date? It just seems a little odd that this only cost £30 (for now).

Thanks for any clarity you can provide!

you'll receive another insurance certificate through with her added to the policy.

no-oneknowsme

scheming_gypsy wrote: »

you'll receive another insurance certificate through with her added to the policy.

Surely the wife of the OP will already be named on the policy docs though?

scheming_gypsy

no-oneknowsme wrote: »

Surely the wife of the OP will already be named on the policy docs though?

only after he added her yesterday. Once she got added the policy will change and he'll be sent a new copy of them with her as a named driver.

no-oneknowsme

scheming_gypsy wrote: »

only after he added her yesterday. Once she got added the policy will change and he'll be sent a new copy of them with her as a named driver.

Ahhh , yes , I see now. Dont know why but for some reason I had been assuming that the wife was already on the policy as a learner and then yesterday the OP called the insurance company to inform them that she had now passed her test.

My mistake.

raskazz

no-oneknowsme wrote: »

Sorry but your info in this post is incorrect!

Have you any idea how many people actually have other additional drivers on their taxi policy?

I am covered on my Husbands policy to drive the car for social and domestic ONLY! At no point in time am I driving the car as a taxi (the roof sign and plates are not even on the flipping vehicle when (if) I drive it!

Please do not post about things you dont know.

Unless of course you can back up your info with evidence......

In England and Wales you cannot drive a vehicle licensed for private hire AT ALL unless you have a taxi badge. Scottish authorities will usually allow additional drivers to use the vehicle for social, domestic and pleasure only.

See section 46(1)(b) of the the Local Government (Miscellaneous Provisions) Act 1976.

http://www.legislation.gov.uk/ukpga/1976/57

It does not matter that the plates, branding, meter, radio, sign etc. are removed - once a vehicle is licenced for private hire then it is licenced for private hire until the council deems otherwise.

I work as an insurance underwriter, and deal with taxi insurance. We often get requests to add drivers for SDP use only and every single time I receive such I request I phone the plating council to check if they will allow it. Every single English or Welsh authority I have spoken to advised that they do not allow unbadged drivers to drive the vehicle at all, regardless of the use. If the client or broker continues to dispute this I ask them to provide confirmation in writing from the plating council that the person may use the vehicle. I have never received such a letter.

Often insurers let this situation happen because their underwriters quite simply don't understand taxi insurance. Due to the large premiums involved in taxi insurance, you find that insurers are attracted to dip into the market without really having the expertise or broker connections to make it work. Then they pull out a couple of years later when the losses mount up.