Open Insurance QQ

aspireone · 20-12-2010 2:44pm #1

Hi, I'm hoping that someone can answer this question for me:

My dad has open insurance and has me covered to drive his own car.

He's driving a friends car while I drive his, however this friends car's insurance is up next month.

My question is can my dad continue to drive my friends car withoutit being insured (by my friend) seeing as it's my fathers open policy that is coving it either way?

So in summary - Can a car be driven without an in date insurance disc? The car will have an expired insurance disc but that insurance isn't being used as my friend doesn't drive the car anymore.

Thanks,

A1

whippet · 20-12-2010 2:49pm

nobody here is going to be able to tell you for certain, only your insurance company can answer you, as it all depends on your exact policy.

But from experience, generally the open insurance will only cover you if the car you are driving is already insured.

YellowBoxStop · 20-12-2010 2:50pm

Erm no.

For his "open insurance", someone has to have insurance on the car.

Sure if that was the case, half of all the drivers in Ireland would be driving uninsured cars with open policies.

No one would bother getting a car insured if they knew someone with free open insurance already and just add them to the named driver policy

djimi · 20-12-2010 2:50pm

Open driving refers to his own car; it has no bearing over other cars he may be driving.

Whether or not he can continue to drive his friends car when its not insured is down to his policy; some require that the car in question have its own policy, others dont. This is something he needs to clarify with his insurer as noone on here can give you a definate answer.

BronsonTB · 20-12-2010 2:51pm

aspireone wrote: »

So in summary - Can a car be driven without an in date insurance disc?

In short....Not legally.....A 'not so' understanding gaurd can take an issue with it....

djimi · 20-12-2010 2:53pm

Just to clarify this: "open driving" means that anyone else with a full license over a certain age can drive your car.

Whether or not you can drive anyone elses car is determined by whether you have a third party extension on your policy to allow you to drive other peoples cars.

They are not the same thing.

Vertakill · 20-12-2010 4:01pm

djimi wrote: »

Just to clarify this: "open driving" means that anyone else with a full license over a certain age can drive your car.

Whether or not you can drive anyone elses car is determined by whether you have a third party extension on your policy to allow you to drive other peoples cars.

They are not the same thing.

Thank you! I'm so sick of hearing people say "Oh I can drive any car, I have Open Drive".

Someones going to get in some serious financial trouble by taking that kind of advice if they get into a crash!

YellowBoxStop · 20-12-2010 4:11pm

Vertakill wrote: »

Thank you! I'm so sick of hearing people say "Oh I can drive any car, I have Open Drive".

Someones going to get in some serious financial trouble by taking that kind of advice if they get into a crash!

I say this, because I do have Open Drive, but that doesnt mean I go to a scrap yard, pick out an old punto and drive it off into the sunset on the m50 - the car has to be insured for PRIVATE use too.

Same reason I cant drive home the taximans car when he says "Im a bit tired tonight. YAWN!" and I say "Ohh, well not to worry mr. taximan, I have OPEN DRIVE INSURANCE! Let me take the wheel there, Ive never driven a MERC before!"

aspireone · 20-12-2010 4:19pm

Hi guys, many thanks for the responses.

I misunderstood the open insurance - he doesn't have this on his car, he is able to drive any car under his insurance policy. I am just a named driver on his car.

I assume that the answer is the same - without my friends car being insured by my friend, he won't be able to drive it.

Thanks

djimi · 20-12-2010 4:21pm

YellowBoxStop wrote: »

I say this, because I do have Open Drive, but that doesnt mean I go to a scrap yard, pick out an old punto and drive it off into the sunset on the m50 - the car has to be insured for PRIVATE use too.

Same reason I cant drive home the taximans car when he says "Im a bit tired tonight. YAWN!" and I say "Ohh, well not to worry mr. taximan, I have OPEN DRIVE INSURANCE! Let me take the wheel there, Ive never driven a MERC before!"

I think youre still mixing up open driving! Open driving has absolutley no bearing on determining what cars you can drive. It determines who can drive your car.

biko · 20-12-2010 4:22pm

In short: No-one can drive a car that has no insurance on it.

djimi · 20-12-2010 4:22pm

aspireone wrote: »

Hi guys, many thanks for the responses.

I misunderstood the open insurance - he doesn't have this on his car, he is able to drive any car under his insurance policy. I am just a named driver on his car.

I assume that the answer is the same - without my friends car being insured by my friend, he won't be able to drive it.

Thanks

Only his insurer can answer this question for him. Some insurers require that the third party car be insured, others dont. In all cases the car in question has to be taxed and NCTd.

coylemj · 20-12-2010 4:25pm

My policy covers me with comprehensive cover to drive any other car provided it's under two litres and the cover is limited to 30,000 euros and obvously it can't be a hired car. At no stage does the policy mention that that other car has to have a policy in effect on it.

Suppose your policy allows you to drive another person's car, what if that person only has a learner permit and no open driving? In that case there is effectively no policy in force to cover me to drive it except my own policy but from what people are saying here you need to be insured on the double by there being an owner's policy in force to cover you to drive the car as well as your own policy covering you to drive some else's car, I don't see the logic in this.

aspireone · 20-12-2010 4:32pm

coylemj wrote: »

My policy covers me with comprehensive cover to drive any other car provided it's under two litres and the cover is limited to 30,000 euros and obvously it can't be a hired car. At no stage does the policy mention that that other car has to have a policy in effect on it.

This is along the lines of what he is. My friends car is taxed and nct'd but unfortunately my friend won't be able to insure it again.

I'll get my father to get onto the insurer to see what the limitations are - case closed

My worry assuming he could drive is that it would be parked in town and my friend would get a fine for having expired insurance even though they aren't driving.

Thanks coylemj, djimi, biko, yellowboxstop, vartakill, bronsontb and whippet for the responses - I can't see a thanks button anywhere.

djimi · 20-12-2010 4:34pm

coylemj wrote: »

My policy covers me with comprehensive cover to drive any other car provided it's under two litres and the cover is limited to 30,000 euros and obvously it can't be a hired car. At no stage does the policy mention that that other car has to have a policy in effect on it.

Suppose your policy allows you to drive another person's car, what if that person only has a learner permit and no open driving? In that case there is effectively no policy in force to cover me to drive it except my own policy but from what people are saying here you need to be insured on the double by there being an owner's policy in force to cover you to drive the car as well as your own policy covering you to drive some else's car, I don't see the logic in this.

The logic behind it is to stop someone buying a 1.0 Polo and a Skyline, insuring the Polo with 3rd party extension and then driving the Skyline.

Most insurs dont seem to have that stipuationt that the other car has to be insured, however some seem to say that the second car cannot be owned by yourself, or in some cases a family member, again to stop the above happening.

blackbird98 · 20-12-2010 4:36pm

as everyone else has said, "open driving" relates to the vehicle identified on the policy. eg, I have "open driving" on my car, which means that anybody between the ages of 25 - 66 are insured, fully comp, to drive my vehicle, assuming they have my permission of course. I also have the "driving of other vehicles" clause, which insures me to drive any other car, with the owners permission, once it does not belong to me, or the company I work for, or is not hired to me under any lease / hire purchase agreement.

With my policy ( may not be the same for others, as insurance companies vary their cover) I am insured fully comp for the driving of other vehicles, irrespective of whether there is insurance on that vehicle or not.

and before people begin telling me i'm wrong, i have already confirmed this with my insurance company.

the only way to be sure, is to contact your insurance company, as policies vary

coylemj · 20-12-2010 5:50pm

blackbird98 wrote: »

With my policy ( may not be the same for others, as insurance companies vary their cover) I am insured fully comp for the driving of other vehicles, irrespective of whether there is insurance on that vehicle or not.

and before people begin telling me i'm wrong, i have already confirmed this with my insurance company.

the only way to be sure, is to contact your insurance company, as policies vary

Thank you for this clarification, yet another urban myth debunked. No end of people on this forum have claimed that it is impossible to be insured driving a car which has no policy issued on it.

biko · 20-12-2010 6:34pm

blackbird98 wrote: »

With my policy ( may not be the same for others, as insurance companies vary their cover) I am insured fully comp for the driving of other vehicles, irrespective of whether there is insurance on that vehicle or not.

and before people begin telling me i'm wrong, i have already confirmed this with my insurance company.

That's mad, what insurance company is this? I assume it has to be taxed and NCTd (prob just says "roadworthy" on policy)?

blackbird98 · 20-12-2010 6:50pm

biko wrote: »

That's mad, what insurance company is this? I assume it has to be taxed and NCTd (prob just says "roadworthy" on policy)?

AXA....maybe it's because of the level of cover, I have it insured for business use.

I don't believe they could specify that it should be taxed, as this would be a different offence and not relevent to the insurance company or the condition of the vehicle, or NCT'd as this is only applicable to a vehicle which is older than 4 years.

coylemj · 20-12-2010 7:26pm

biko wrote: »

That's mad, what insurance company is this? I assume it has to be taxed and NCTd (prob just says "roadworthy" on policy)?

Since when do insurance companies care about whether a car is taxed or not?

From Axa website FAQ..

17. Can I drive someone else’s car?

Most of our customers (aged over 25 years and with a full licence) have automatic third party cover to drive someone else’s car. The easiest way to see if you are covered is to check your certificate of insurance.

When you’ve been with us for 3 years with comprehensive cover, we will upgrade your third party “driving of other cars” to comprehensive driving of other cars, at no extra cost.

No mention of Tax, NCT or whether the car is insured by someone else or not.

biko · 20-12-2010 7:50pm

I'm with Quinn and just checked there.
No mention of tax so guess that's not required by them.

About NCT, they just say
Am I covered to drive other cars?
blah blah
* The vehicle is in a roadworthy condition;
http://www.quinn-direct.com/ireland/car/faqs.html

make sure the vehicle is kept in a roadworthy condition
and, if required, has a valid MOT or NCT certiﬁcate
(whichever applies).
http://www.quinn-direct.com/documents/policydocs/motor_policy.pdf

Open Insurance QQ

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