Tesco won't cover named drivers abroad!

gybe_mark

I just phoned Tesco to get the green card sorted out for the annual skiing trip, and was told that they no longer issue these because I now automatically have the same level of cover abroad as I do at home (up to 90 days).

Great, I thought, that will save me £25. But then she went on to say that it is only the policy holder (me) that will be covered fully-comp, and not any named drivers (who will have the minimum legal third-party cover only). So if Mrs gybe_mark hits an icy patch and trashes the car, we are completely stuffed. Clearly that's not a risk worth taking with a newish car, so it means no sharing the driving on the 600 mile each-way journey in France!
Apparently there is no way they will provide this cover, even for an extra fee.

It certainly doesn't look like I'll be renewing the policy in February!! Has anyone come across this with other insurers? Is it a general trend, or just Tesco? Any suggestions of a company who might provide short term cover for the trip?

I've escalated my query into a complaint, but have yet to hear back from their complaints team, and am not expecting a positive outcome!

Any advice welcome...
Mark

BoGoF

What does your policy documentation say about 3rd party cover abroad.

If this is an annual thing then surely you should have asked if OH was covered before purchasing......or was it the cheapest quote that lured you to Tesco?

gybe_mark

Previously with Tesco I've bought a 'green card' (which has covered OH) when going abroad so it's a change in the last year or two.
It didn't even occur to me they would have changed this.
If I dig into the detailed policy document on line (which they didn't send me) then it is clear that named drivers only get minimum legal cover abroad, but in the summary booklet they send out with the certificate, in the section about driving in the EU it just says "Policy cover for 90 days", with no exclusions noted there. Bit misleading I think.

mikey72

It has been a growing trend to just give basic third party cover abroad for a few years now.
You've probably done well to get limited fully comp from Tescos.
I'm with CSIS who also extend the fully comp cover abroad, but I've no idea who is actually covered now you mention it.

nomoneytoday

AFAIK without the green card you get minimum cover, in some countries that's not quite TPFT.
With it you will get the same cover abroad as in the UK, for a limited time and possibly a small cost.

InsideInsurance

Without explicit cover for European travel you would get the minimum level of cover required by law in that country which would equate to something similar to RTA Cover which is slightly lower than TPO (and not TPFT). So in addition to no cover to your vehicle in any circumstances or theft etc it can also mean you have no cover for third party losses if the accident happens on private land.

You do not actually need a green card for Europe anymore, though some insurers still issue them. Your insurer can extend the full benefits of their policies to you abroad with or without a fee for this but this is purely a commercial decision for them to take.

Driving abroad on UK policies is hardly ever used and does have a disproportionate amount of losses against it which is why many insurers have reduced/ removed their cover. It wasnt anything I ever did competitor analysis on to discover who's offering what (plus currently not looking a PL Motor so any data would be out of date potentially)