Uninsured car question

[Deleted User]

Hi all

My first post here so sorry for any unintentional etiquette breaches..

(Have searched but not found an answer in a good few years to my scenario)

Friend of mine has recently had her car written off. In the interim, she was going to get put on her fathers policy as a named driver. But it turns out due to a missed payment, his insurance was cancelled.. absolutely boneheaded of him to get into that situation of course, but anyway - her policy states she can drive any vehicle not hired to them, not a rental car, etc, but doesn't seem to make reference to whether that car would be excluded if uninsured.

We are obviously going to ask the question of the insurance company directly , but were just asking for any advice or guidance that anyone can provide in the meantime.

Realise this may all be obvious etc, but i've not owned a car in years and only drive as part of my job on nhs fleet insurance.

Any pointers gratefully received.

Thanks
Tom

loskie

https://www.bewiser.co.uk/knowledge-base/insurance-knowledge/driving-other-vehicles-what-exactly-are-you-covered


NO, the other car MUST be insured

uknick

There's two aspects to the other car's insurance.

First, if it's not insured then the registered keeper falls foul of the continuing insurance rules, i.e. a car must be insured to be on a public highway, not just been driven.

Second, does the driving other cars policy state the car must be insured? I've had policies in the past where this was not stipulated and others where it was.

As always with insurance questions, there is rarely one answer that covers all eventualities. Get your friend to look at their policy and certificate of insurance before calling the insurance company.

Joe_Horner

Her policy may or may not cover other cars without their own insurance- as uknick says, some do some don't. She'd have to check her full policy terms to see.

But virtually ALL policies (certainly every one I've seen in the past 30+ years) have a condition for driving other cars that you still own you own car and that it hasn't suffered a total loss claim. So, if hers has actually been written off (rather than she's assuming it has but they haben't confirmed it yet) then the chance of her being covered is tiny.

chrisw

You need to check with the insurance company.

Direct Line don't require the other car to be insured.

AdrianC

The wording of the policy really is crucial.

Her policy may have been cancelled by the write-off claim.
Her policy's DOC clause may require the other car to be insured.
Her policy may not even have DOC.

Either way, the car cannot be taxed if it's not insured in its own right, so she can't drive it except to an MOT station for a pre-booked test. And there's questions over whether the DOC would cover it if she leaves it parked anywhere. It's also a raging nick-magnet...

sevenhills

If your friend drove the car to the supermarket, if she got out to do her shopping, as she was not in the car it would be in a public place whilst not insured.