Insured or Not?

Aretnap

DullGreyGuy said:

Fundamentally, and honestly, had you not been working would you still have made the identical journey at the same times?  

The fact that the OP says that when the insurer asked what he was doing, his first reply was "coming home from work" does seem to tell its own story...

sheramber

Social, Domestic, Pleasure and Commuting (SDP+C) insurance

SDP+C is the same as an SDP except you also use your car to commute to a permanent work place. We say permanent, because if you drive to various locations as part of your job you may need to take out a higher level of cover. SDP+C use includes driving to a train station for your commute, or regularly driving friends or family members to their place of work.

SDP+C is often referred to as 'social and commuting'.

https://www.moneyexpert.com/car-insurance/car-insurance-classes-of-use-explained/

Substitute car park for the train station.

Auti

Just a related Q - if you volunteer somewhere,  say a school to hear children read, and if it was raining you took the car rather than walked as you usually did would you be classed as commuting? Edit: would also be picking up child when I had finished as end of school day. Does social also cover driving child to school and back?

Aretnap

Auti said:

Just a related Q - if you volunteer somewhere,  say a school to hear children read, and if it was raining you took the car rather than walked as you usually did would you be classed as commuting? Edit: would also be picking up child when I had finished as end of school day. Does social also cover driving child to school and back?

Certainly the fact that you only drive if it's raining is not relevant - commuting is driving to a place of work/study and it doesn't matter whether you drive to work every day or only once in a blue moon. Hence the need to add commuting cover if there's any possibility that you might want to use your car to get to work. 

I'm not sure that insurers have a consistent position on whether unpaid/voluntary work counts as work for commuting purposes - it would depend on exactly what wording the policy uses and if in doubt it's probably best to ask them (and keep a note of the time of the phone call or a screenshot of the web chat in case you have to refer to it later).

Driving kids to school is an interesting one... I'd always sort of assumed that shuttling children around came under "domestic" but the usual definition of commuting is asking the lines of "driving to a permanent place of work or study" and school is a place of study so...

user1977

Aretnap said:

Auti said:

Just a related Q - if you volunteer somewhere,  say a school to hear children read, and if it was raining you took the car rather than walked as you usually did would you be classed as commuting? Edit: would also be picking up child when I had finished as end of school day. Does social also cover driving child to school and back?

Driving kids to school is an interesting one... I'd always sort of assumed that shuttling children around came under "domestic" but the usual definition of commuting is asking the lines of "driving to a permanent place of work or study" and school is a place of study so...

My policy defines it as "Use for all drivers for social, domestic and pleasure purposes and travel between their own home and permanent place of business or employment." (my emphasis)

So giving a lift to your passenger's work appears to be fine, and studying is I guess just part of social/domestic purposes?

Auti

Just an update - I decided to look at my policy to see what I was covered for (like to err on safe side) and it is Social, Domestic, Pleasure, Commuting and Personal Business Use - so guess that should, in one of them, cover taking child to school and back when needed (usually walk). Premium for all this was just over £200 am curious what it will be this year!

Aretnap

user1977 said:

Aretnap said:

Auti said:

Just a related Q - if you volunteer somewhere,  say a school to hear children read, and if it was raining you took the car rather than walked as you usually did would you be classed as commuting? Edit: would also be picking up child when I had finished as end of school day. Does social also cover driving child to school and back?

Driving kids to school is an interesting one... I'd always sort of assumed that shuttling children around came under "domestic" but the usual definition of commuting is asking the lines of "driving to a permanent place of work or study" and school is a place of study so...

My policy defines it as "Use for all drivers for social, domestic and pleasure purposes and travel between their own home and permanent place of business or employment." (my emphasis)

So giving a lift to your passenger's work appears to be fine, and studying is I guess just part of social/domestic purposes?

Under that policy yes, but as always people should read their own policy rather than assuming that all policies say the same thing - some definitely say "work or study" so driving to college/university counts as commuting, and I'm not sure whether the "their own" wording is universal.

DullGreyGuy

Auti said:

Just a related Q - if you volunteer somewhere,  say a school to hear children read, and if it was raining you took the car rather than walked as you usually did would you be classed as commuting? Edit: would also be picking up child when I had finished as end of school day. Does social also cover driving child to school and back?

Being a volunteer would make it questionable if it fits within the definition. Assuming you are otherwise a good risk the the difference between SD&P and SDP&C is small, and the difference between SDP&C and Business Class 1 is even smaller (this would be needed if you go to a range of different schools). Its one of things that its sensible to have it just in case... cannot remember the last time I drove to work (no sense living in Zone 2 London and going into the City) but still pay for Business just in case.