If you have fully comprehensive car insurance then, like a lot of motorists, you may be presuming that you are insured to drive someone else’s car as long as you have their permission. So, is this always the case?
Regrettably it is not. Many fully comprehensive car insurance policies do cover you to be able to drive another car but some do not. Therefore, you should always check your policy to find out if you are insured for this. If you are then you will almost certainly only be covered to drive another person’s vehicle on a third party basis. This means that if you were involved in a road traffic accident whilst at the wheel of another vehicle then you will only be covered for damage caused to the other vehicle involved in the accident or for damage to other people’s property or injury or death to other people but not for the car you are driving.
However, if you are named as an additional driver on someone else’s fully comprehensive car insurance policy, you will also be covered for that same level of cover as the policyholder whilst driving his or her vehicle.
It is worth noting that if you are caught driving someone else’s car by the police without suitable cover then you could end up having the vehicle seized by the police that we are sure you will agree is not a good thing. You could also be fined and have points added to your driving license that could lead to your car insurance costing more or you could even be banned from driving. Also, should a claim be submitted, the insurer could refuse to pay out.
You may be interested to note that the Motor Insurers’ Bureau (MIB) police helpline can receive as many as 150 telephone calls every week from police officers to check if a motorist is insured to drive another person’s car.
So, don’t take the risk. Make sure that you are insured to drive another person’s car as the consequences if you are not and are caught are potentially serious.
