Best way to cover semi-regular 3rd party driver on private car?

Herzlos

We have a disabled family member who is getting 1 or more carers to help ferry them around. 

We have a suitable car to use because it is easy to get into and has space for wheelchair, and I wouldn't expect or require the carer(s) to have any particular car.  

Has anyone got any experience of this kind of arrangement that can recommend the best way to proceed in terms of value and cover?

Do we just add them as named drivers and risk my maxed out NCD if there's an issue? Do we use temp cover for trips? Is there some policy they can take out at our expense to cover the usage?
How well do those options work if there are multiple carers taking it in turns?

Car is privately registered, owned outright and insured, so not via business/lease/motability/etc.

forgotmyname

Thinking use taxi's instead?

Adding carers could be a nightmare for you.  You may need to declare their circumstances like previous bankruptcies,

convictions and points that they may not declare accurately leaving your policy and future insurance at risk.

Worked for a firm where a driver failed to declare a drink driving conviction and it only came to light after an accident

where the insurer asked for a fresh copy of their licence.  Lots of issues for the company because they were supposed

to photocopy licences at least every 6 months which they failed to do.

Bigphil1474

We've had lengthy debates about this as we have family members who are carers. We still aren't sure. I believe the carers would need commercial use insurance (Hire & Reward?), but they have been told by their employer that business class 1 is sufficient. Doesn't sound right to me, as BC1 is usually to allow you to drive from one workplace to another, not to carry passengers for work. Might need a bit of research, but I personally wouldn't add them as a named driver on my own policy. They might have third party cover on their own insurance but you'd need to check it covers them for at least business class use. Their employer should be able to advise, surely?

MyRealNameToo

There are several factors to consider and matters may be different if you are considering the carer taking the person in the carers own car or if they are using their charge's vehicle 

The simplest solution is an Any Driver policy which normally will cover anyone 21 (or 25 on some) or over with at least 1 year on their license but simple often isnt cheap and you're risking your NCD etc. 

Getting temp insurance protects your NCD but is a faff to arrange and if it's frequent could be expensive. Note that if for some reason the temp insurance was invalidated (eg undisclosed conviction) then your own insurers would be the RTA insurer of the vehicle and would still need to deal with any third party claims but would have a right of recovery from both you as their policyholder who allowed someone to drive the vehicle thats not named on the policy or the driver. 

Grey_Critic

If it is a Motability vehicle then you are allowed Three drivers as standard

Herzlos

Grey_Critic said:

If it is a Motability vehicle then you are allowed Three drivers as standard

Unfortunately they don't quality for the higher rate allowance so no Motability. That'd have been too easy. 

Bigphil1474 said:

We've had lengthy debates about this as we have family members who are carers. We still aren't sure. I believe the carers would need commercial use insurance (Hire & Reward?), but they have been told by their employer that business class 1 is sufficient. Doesn't sound right to me, as BC1 is usually to allow you to drive from one workplace to another, not to carry passengers for work. 

That's a good point and something I'll need to look into more. BC1 is about driving to multiple places of work and would fit for a carer if the caree wasn't being transported, but then hire & reward covers drivers who are being paid explicitly for the driving part which would be tangential so I don't think is right either. 

Confused.com says:

"If you’re driving patients or their relatives in a work role, you might need commercial insurance too. This category includes part-time commercial driving."

But it doesn't really go into commercial cover in any more detail than that. 

forgotmyname said:

Thinking use taxi's instead?

I hadn't actually considered taxis, that would certainly be the easiest option for the local trips but one of the places I'm expecting them to visit is about 45 minutes drive each way so that could be financially catastrophic. 

I guess we can get away with me doing the driving and having the carer meet us somewhere, but that's going to involve a huge chunk of my time.

Grey_Critic

Why not ring Carers Trust - You will not be the only person with this problem - I do know they have helped me with various problems - They specialise helping people with disabilities of all kinds - and it is free

forgotmyname

Is the 45 minute journey for hospital/treatment?  Sister in law mentioned patient services who arrange transport for these
journeys when other options are not possible?

Herzlos

Not in this case, I think we'd be taking them to hospital appointments. 

They live pretty remote, so most of the trips they like to go on are in the 30-60 minute range. 

Herzlos

Grey_Critic said:

Why not ring Carers Trust - You will not be the only person with this problem - I do know they have helped me with various problems - They specialise helping people with disabilities of all kinds - and it is free

They replied surprisingly quickly, unfortunately with an answer of "don't know, check with your local carers org" who also don't know. 

I'll phone my insurer and see if I can get an answer.