Am I insured??

Herzlos

paddedjohn wrote: »

But it would still be insured, the offence would be no tax (unless driving to a pre booked mot) and possibly driving a SORN declared vehicle on the road (unless driving to a pre booked mot)

It's be insured under the DOC policy until you get out, then it'd be uninsured. I also doubt a DOC policy would get around the 'must have insurance' clause.

So in reply to the original question; you're probably not insured to buy a car and drive it home under the Drive Other Car part of your policy. The best thing you can do is get your current insurer to add the other car temporarily, then it'll be perfectly legal.

System

Two different problems here.
1. If I borrow a car and it is taxed/MOT's then my insurance covers it under DOC.
2. If there is no other insurance then the Registered Keeper is liable for any charge due to lack of insurance/SORN.

Whilst I am driving the vehicle on a public road then all is legal.

thenudeone

paddedjohn wrote: »

...but, an uninsured car needs to be SORN and to do that you need to return the tax disc for a refund so therefore in the majority of times you may be insured but you won't be taxed and you will be driving a SORN car on the road.

SORN is a requirement on the keeper ONLY, along with the requirement to have an insurance policy covering the vehicle if it's not SORN'd.

The driver of such a vehicle (in either case) cannot be prosecuted for those two offences (unless they are also the keeper).

However I think the driver can be convicted of driving a vehicle without a tax disc.

System

This debate is not helping the OP very much, but is a fascinating subject in its own right.

The question now raised is whether the requirement for continuous insurance can be met by someone driving a car under a legitimate DOC cover?
The problem arises because UK insurance tries to do two things at once:

1) cover the vehicle for being on the road
2) cover the driver to drive the car on the road

to which a 3rd requiremnt has recently been added

3) cover the vehicle for being off the road unless it is SORNed.

It has never been satisfactorily answered whether DOC literaly just means "driving" - eg if you got out of the car would it instantly be uninsured? And then re-insured when you got back in again? Is it an offence for a car to be uninsured for 10 seconds?

The introduction of continuous insurance seems to scupper all further use of DOC on an uninsured car, because there is no facility to SORN a car the instant you get in it, and then un-SORN it and resume road tax the moment you get out again.

In short:

1) get the seller to deliver it, or
2) buy insurance for 1 day from Aviva for £20.

dacouch

The sorn, continuous insurance and the car being uninsured are not the problem of the person or their Insurers driving the car under their driving other cars extension.

Assuming you have driving other cars and it contains a clause in the Policy Wording and not on the Certificate (Even less have the requirement on the Certificate for the other car to be insured) requiring the other car to be insured. Due to the beauties of the RTA the Insurer would still need to pay any third party claims should you have a fault accident. The driver could also produce a "Relevant" Certificate of Insurance should they be stopped by the police while driving.

vaio

Clifford_Pope wrote: »

.........It has never been satisfactorily answered whether DOC literaly just means "driving" - eg if you got out of the car would it instantly be uninsured? And then re-insured when you got back in again? Is it an offence for a car to be uninsured for 10 seconds?.......

The closest I can think of is the situation where a car without tax or MOT is being driven to a pre-booked test.

In that case there is case law holding that breaks in the journey (two cases, one was getting petrol, the other was a trip into a shop) where the car was left unattended on a public road were covered by the tax & MOT exemption provided when travelling to a pre arranged test.

It seems logical that the same principle would be applied to DOC cover.(but I'd not be volunteering to run it past a magistrate)

thenudeone

This is very off topic now.

The law is clear but in two separate and unconnected offences which people often confuse.

Road Traffic Act 1988 s 143
http://www.legislation.gov.uk/ukpga/1988/52/section/143
The USER (in most cases this means the driver but also includes, for example, employers) of a vehicle must have insurance which covers their use of the vehicle, if it is used in a public place. The insurance does not have to specify the vehicle or a class (such as any vehicle owned by the policyholder). This offence carries 6-8 points. DOC cover satisfies this requirement provided any conditions are met.

Road Traffic Act 1988 s 144A
http://www.legislation.gov.uk/ukpga/1988/52/section/144A
The KEEPER must have an insurance policy which identifies the vehicle or covers it by a class (eg: any vehicle owned by the policyholder) unless it is declared off-road. This offence does not carry licence points.

Whether or not a driver has cover under DOC is irrelevant to the keeper in relation to an offence under s144A. The keeper can still commit the offence under S144A even if the vehicle is in another country.