Car Insurance - Am I covered?

nm8553

We have 2 family cars both in my wife's name.
I am the named driver on her insurance.

Because of a !!!!-up the insurance on one car lapsed without our realising.
However the other car remains covered (fully comprehensive).
The policy says that the insured is covered when driving another vehicle not owned by them.
As I do not own the other car will I be insured if I drive it?

I drove down to Sussex assuming I was covered but got stopped en route and now I am worried

anewman

If you are named on the policy then you may drive it.

logana

If you were driving the car that the insurance had lapsed/run-out on then no you are not covered.

Read the certificate but it is usually only the policyholder who can drive any other vehicles (not owned by them) but the other vehicle normally has to be insured by someone else. You are not the policyholder are you ?

If you have been caught without insurance it is going to be a very expensive lesson.

nm8553

Thanks. Any idea what the penalty could be?

Gives me something to worry about

Keith

Upto £5000 fine and 6-8 points or 6 points and a £200 fine as a fixed penalty.

Last week was a good time to realise why couple have one car in ones name and the other car in the others.

logana

Yes - as above and very hefty insurance premium increases for a long time - from memory I think that driving without insurance must be declared (for ever?) to your insurance company.

Were you actually stopped by the Police and now have to produce your documents to a named Police station ?

anewman

Misread it. There must be an active policy on the car to be able to use the clause to drive other vehicles (it will state this in terms and conditions). You can only get a carte-blanche to drive any car on a dealer's policy which would cost lots and lots. Otherwise we'd all buy completely s**t cars in insurance group one, get that insured, and go around driving insurance group 20 cars instead.

I believe they can also confiscate cars and crush them leaving you on foot at the side of the road if caught.

nm8553

Ouch. Thanks

I was stopped and had to show my licence. I said that I believed I was insured and gave them the reg of the other car and they let me drive on with a "you realise that driving without insurance is a serious offence...." lecture

Conor_3

nm8553 wrote: »

We have 2 family cars both in my wife's name.
I am the named driver on her insurance.

Because of a !!!!-up the insurance on one car lapsed without our realising.
However the other car remains covered (fully comprehensive).
The policy says that the insured is covered when driving another vehicle not owned by them.
As I do not own the other car will I be insured if I drive it?

I drove down to Sussex assuming I was covered but got stopped en route and now I am worried

NO YOU ARE NOT INSURED. The "not owned by them" refers to the main policy holder, not you. You are not provided "driving other vehicles" as a named driver on a policy - only the policyholder is.

Both cars are in her name so the policy doesn't cover the one that didn't have its own cover in force. You may also find a clause for driving "other vehicles" which requires the "other vehicle" to have a policy in force on it in it's own right.

To anewman, dealers policies are actually cheaper than normal ones. My mate had one through Roadrunner and only paid £500 and it covered any amount of vehicles he had, not just one, and also gave social and domestic use not just motor trading. All he had to do was log into their website and add/remove vehicles as they changed.