is he insured to drive my car

zenno

I have a freind that rang me and needed a loan of my car and he has a full licence since the last 4 years. he is insured on his fathers car fully comp so my question is, is he insured to drive my car. thanks.

If he's a named driver on his ole lad's car I can't see how he'd be insured on yours tbh.

Anan1

I take it he's a named driver on his fathers car? If so, then he won't be covered to drive other cars under that policy. Is he covered under your policy? You really need to be asking the relevant insurance companies this question, not us. Unless you have it in writing that he is covered then assume that he is not.

zenno

thanks for the quick reply. well he has not told me the truth so he can get lost. he said to me that he is insured to drive my car which it seems now he is not, last time i loan my car to him so.

zenno

yes Anan1 he said he is a named driver on his fathers car. i'm going to tell him that i want to see it in writing just so i know for sure. and he is not covered under my policy. sorry if my question seems stupid but i never looked into this scenario

Anan1

zenno wrote: »

yes Anan1 he said he is a named driver on his fathers car. i'm going to tell him that i want to see it in writing just so i know for sure. and he is not covered under my policy. sorry if my question seems stupid but i never looked into this scenario

There are no stupid questions, only stupid answers.;) Unless he can provide written proof that he is covered, you're quite right to assume that he isn't.

zenno

thanks Anan1 I will be seeing him in the next hour so i'll sort this out then.

Gophur

zenno wrote: »

thanks for the quick reply. well he has not told me the truth so he can get lost. he said to me that he is insured to drive my car which it seems now he is not, last time i loan my car to him so.

Did you lend it to him before?

Be very careful as you could end up in trouble, as could he.

Shakespeare once said "Neither a borrower or a lender be..!", and he was right.

Anan1

Anan1 wrote: »

There are no stupid questions, only stupid answers.;) Unless he can provide written proof that he is covered, you're quite right to assume that he isn't.

Just to clarify, written proof he is covered on his ole lad's car is well and good, that does not enable him to drive your car.

Vertakill

He'll never be insured to drive your car under the policy he's currently with, which is as a named driver.

However, he may be insured to drive your car if you have Open Drive on your policy.
This will enable anyone with a full license over 25 (in most cases) to drive your car.

jaybee747

I think he needs to be the policy holder and fully comp in order to drive your car but I think your cover needs to be fully comp also.

Riskymove

jaybee747 wrote: »

but I think your cover needs to be fully comp also.

not really

usually if you have fully comp, this gets you third party on other people's car (if with their permission - may be age restrictions etc)

cojomo2

jaybee747 wrote: »

I think he needs to be the policy holder and fully comp in order to drive your car but I think your cover needs to be fully comp also.

As others have said- he will not be insured if he is only a named driver.

If he has a policy in his own name, he may be insured. My policy is 3rd party fire and theft, it covers me to drive any other car(with the owners permission), but the cover while driving it reduces to 3rd party only, which is the norm...

If he will be driving your car under his policy, it doesnt make a difference if you have fully comp, or 3rd party..as his policy will be the one insuring him.

coylemj

If he is a named driver on his father's policy then that policy will not cover him to drive any other car but it does not mean that he cannot drive any other car and be covered.

The OP needs to check his insurance cert. to see what category of driver is covered under his policy. If it says that cover extends to anybody between the age of 25 and 70 driving with a full licence and the consent of the owner (the OP) and if the guy we're talking about has a full licence and is over 25 (and under 70) and not disqualified then he would be covered to drive with at least 3rd party cover under the OP's policy.

There is an incorrect assumption that runs through threads similar to this which is that you need to be covered on another car in order to drive a friends' car and be covered. This is only true if the driver wants to be covered under his own policy, it doesn't mean that he will not be covered under the borrowed car owner's policy.

You do not need to have a policy in your own name in order to be covered under the policy of the person who's car you borrow, provided that policy has the clause generically known as 'open driving'.

slimjimmc

So in summary,

a) get your friend's insurer to provide written assurance that he is covered under that policy

and / or

b) check your own policy to verify your friend is covered under your own policy.


Option (a) is preferable because any claim is unlikely to affect your policy.

Anan1

I'm getting the feeling the OP doesn't think the friend too trustworthy in general. If this is the case then I wouldn't even worry about insurance.

zenno

my friend will be calling his insurance company tomorrow to clarify everything, and he is looking for his insurance cert.

well his age is 36 and he holds a full licence for 4 years till this date. I will know tomorrow forsure. for the moment thanks for the replies folks. he's usually trustworthy but he is jumbled up about all this. I will get a written letter as well from his insurer.

whyulittle

As it comes up so often with claim and counter-claim, this is what AXA have to say.

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.

http://www.axa.ie/car-insurance/car-insurance-faq.aspx#question17

Bogger77

I believe Axa are referring to policy holders as customers, rather than named drivers on policies.

unkel

Bogger77 wrote: »

I believe Axa are referring to policy holders as customers, rather than named drivers on policies.

+1

I checked this out with Zurich and they very specifically said only the policy holder can drive other cars. Not the named driver.

whyulittle

Sorry just putting it up in writing for these threads that come up so often.

-Chris-

Another thing, make sure you're happy with the level of cover.

If he's insured on your car, but third party only, I don't know if you'd have any comeback whatsoever if he damages/writes off your car.
That's a fairly big risk in my book.

Marcusm

Gophur wrote: »

Did you lend it to him before?

Be very careful as you could end up in trouble, as could he.

Shakespeare once said "Neither a borrower or a lender be..!", and he was right.

I think Shakespeare once wrote that Polonius's father once said..... (but maybe I'm being pedantic).

OP: Don't lend your car out unless you have the insurance sorted or unless you know he's good for 3x the car's value.

zenno

Marcusm wrote: »

I think Shakespeare once wrote that Polonius's father once said..... (but maybe I'm being pedantic).

OP: Don't lend your car out unless you have the insurance sorted or unless you know he's good for 3x the car's value.

right, I told him it's too messy and he will just have to make do with his fathers car as I am not taking any chances. I did tell him to let me know either way what his status is on his insurance and to show me his insurance cert.

after reading all these comments I can see that it's just not worth the hastle. thanks.

gaza4

could he not just do a temporary transfer??? only takes a 5 min phone call usually....

Del2005

slimjimmc wrote: »

So in summary,

a) get your friend's insurer to provide written assurance that he is covered under that policy

and / or

b) check your own policy to verify your friend is covered under your own policy.


Option (a) is preferable because any claim is unlikely to affect your policy.

Generally with insurance companies they like to screw everyone. So I wouldn't be too sure option A won't affect your policy, but I'd like to hope it doesn't

-Chris- wrote: »

Another thing, make sure you're happy with the level of cover.

If he's insured on your car, but third party only, I don't know if you'd have any comeback whatsoever if he damages/writes off your car.
That's a fairly big risk in my book.

Yeah I had to stop driving my Sisters car when I figured this out. Couldn't afford to pay for the car if I crashed:(

gaza4 wrote: »

could he not just do a temporary transfer??? only takes a 5 min phone call usually....

He can't do that as it's not his policy it's his Fathers. With data protection laws they can't allow the son to alter the policy.

Esel

gaza4 wrote: »

could he not just do a temporary transfer??? only takes a 5 min phone call usually....

Could you not just read the thread? only takes a minute or two usually....

gaza4

sorry i didnt realise it couldnt be done for a named driver, no need to be smart bout it..

Gophur

Marcusm wrote: »

I think Shakespeare once wrote that Polonius's father once said..... (but maybe I'm being pedantic).

....

Given that Polonius' father was a fictional character created by Shakespeare, then you are being a little more than pedantic, eh?

zenno

well I got onto that friend today about his insurance and the information I want to see and he hasn't bothered so I just told him seeing that's the case I won't be lending my car again. anyway I can't afford to take any chances with anything now so I have decided to just not loan it to anyone no matter how much they need it.

cheers for the help on this issue anyway. take it easy.