Motor Insurance - commuting to work

Wig

Hi I forget what our forum's resident insurance expert was called, Began with "D" IIRC

Anyway, Travelling to and from a place of work.

My policy says:
"including commuting to a single place of work, provided no business visits are made on the way"

Other Insurance Policies say
"commuting to a permanent place of work"

Scenario,
I work in office A in Town A... most of the time.

But I may be asked to work in office B in town B sometimes.

I either go
HOME >>> office A >>>> HOME
or
HOME >>> office B >>>> HOME
Am I insured to do this?

My interpretation of my policy is that it means I can go to any single place of work each day, be that office A or office B.

What do you think?

What about policies that say a permanent place of work?

What does your policy say?

Has anyone asked their insurer for clarification on this?

loskie

no you are only covered to go to your SINGLE main place of work and then home. You cannot even drop the post off at the Post Office on the way home. You cannot drive to work funded training courses at other locations.

AdrianC

Wig wrote: »

Hi I forget what our forum's resident insurance expert was called, Began with "D" IIRC

Anyway, Travelling to and from a place of work.

My policy says:
"including commuting to a single place of work, provided no business visits are made on the way"

Other Insurance Policies say
"commuting to a permanent place of work"

Scenario,
I work in office A in Town A... most of the time.

Covered.

But I may be asked to work in office B in town B sometimes.

Not covered.

Your employer is asking you not to go to your permanent place of work - office A, your base - but to go to a different site instead, for their business reasons.

You want business use. You'll almost certainly find it costs you very little extra.

Mobeer

This old thread may help:
https://forums.moneysavingexpert.com/discussion/2176551

iolanthe07

Adding business use to my policy only cost £10 a year extra. I expected it to be much more than that.

Crabman

With Direct Line it has never cost me any extra to have class I business cover added. Even though I don't use the car to commute, better to have it at policy inception for £0 extra than be stung with an "admin fee" if it's needed mid term.

facade

I always claim not to have business use, and therefore cannot leave the building in my own car during the day, or travel to any training venues/visit other sites unless someone else drives me, or they lend me a vehicle.

My car is for my convenience, not theirs

Joe_Horner

Maybe not as clear cut as people are saying with that wording. If you leave home, go to site A, then go home, you've commuted to a single place of work.

If you leave home, go to site B, then go home, you've also commuted to a single place of work. The fact it's a different place than yesterday makes no more difference than if you'd left your old job and started a new one (of the same description obviously!), which you wouldn't have to tell your insurer.

If, on the other hand, you leave home, go to site A, move on to site B after lunch, then go home, you haven't commuted to a single place of work.

Careless wording by the policy writer if they intended meaning a "single permanent place of work" and, given the general principle that a reasonable interpretation in favour of the consumer in a b2C contract should prevail, I suspect that if you ever had reason to fight the case you'd be on pretty solid ground.

That said, like others above, class 1 business use has made no difference to my premium over the past several years so it'd be easier in the long run to get it included - certainly easier than arguing the toss when they try to say you weren't insured!

dacouch

Joe_Horner wrote: »

Maybe not as clear cut as people are saying with that wording. If you leave home, go to site A, then go home, you've commuted to a single place of work.

If you leave home, go to site B, then go home, you've also commuted to a single place of work. The fact it's a different place than yesterday makes no more difference than if you'd left your old job and started a new one (of the same description obviously!), which you wouldn't have to tell your insurer.

If, on the other hand, you leave home, go to site A, move on to site B after lunch, then go home, you haven't commuted to a single place of work.

Careless wording by the policy writer if they intended meaning a "single permanent place of work" and, given the general principle that a reasonable interpretation in favour of the consumer in a b2C contract should prevail, I suspect that if you ever had reason to fight the case you'd be on pretty solid ground.

What the Insurer asked in the question when the OP took out the cover along with any explanation attached to that question would also need to be taken into account

Sea_Shell

facade wrote: »

I always claim not to have business use, and therefore cannot leave the building in my own car during the day, or travel to any training venues/visit other sites unless someone else drives me, or they lend me a vehicle.

My car is for my convenience, not theirs

Exactly. Why should those who commute by car be treated differently to those employees that dont drive!!

Joe_Horner

dacouch wrote: »

What the Insurer asked in the question when the OP took out the cover along with any explanation attached to that question would also need to be taken into account

Agreed.

But, given the potentially serious consequences of (say) a prosecution for being uninsured, or an accident where the insurer decided that cover wasn't in force because of this, it would need to be fairly explicit questioning regarding work patterns to negate the presumption of favourable reading. I've certainly never been asked about specific work places on any application over the past 30+ years - doesn't mean that no insurers ask but it cant be common!

Anyway, in a practical sense, far FAR easier just to let them know ahead of time and take your business elsewhere if they don't behave reasonably :beer: