Comprehensive insurance - driving other vehicles

kaiserrussel

Hi there

Can someone tell me and my apologies in advance if this has been covered what the situation is with driving someone else car/van if you have fully comprehensive insurance? Does that mean you are covered with your insurance while driving their car/van?

What if that person only had themselves as a named driver on that car/van?

thanks

Henry Ford III

Consult your policy doc. It's the only way to find out conclusively.

kaiserrussel

Henry Ford III wrote: »

Consult your policy doc. It's the only way to find out conclusively.

Thanks but in general though is this normally the case

Atlantic Dawn

Be very careful to check that you are actually insured to drive a van from a car policy, most policies will not cover it as they will classify it as a goods vehicle once it has a DOE. As above your cert will tell you. I know AA insurance advertise fully comprehensive cover for other cars you drive, this may though be limited to the insured and not any named drivers listed.

Meso Harney

The only answer is check your policy document. There is no 'generally.' Read the certificate.

corktina

or ask your Insurer/Broker

juliedxx

Generally speaking there is a driving of other cars extension on a Comprehensive car insurance policy. Usually you would only have Third Party insurance on the car you were borrowing though. I would check your policy though, as it varies depending on the company. And especially check in relation to a van as this may not be covered.

tom_k

I'd advise caution OP. A driving other cars extension as it is often referred to will contain conditions which will vary from policy to policy.

I've had this extension in various forms from several insurers over the years and conditions included.

• Can't drive commercial vehicles (vans etc.)
• Can't drive vehicles owned or leased by employer
• Cant drive cars over a certain value or engine size
• Third party cover only on driving other cars extension

This list is by no means exhaustive and all conditions didn't necessarily apply on all policies, I'm just posting this as an example of what may apply on your policy.

If in any doubt, contact your insurance company as if you find yourself breaching policy conditions you may be deemed to be driving without insurance under the law.

Hope that doesn't sound preachy, it's just that I nearly fell foul of this situation some years ago.

coylemj

As above, the only conclusive way to tell in your case is to download the policy document from the company website and read it in conjunction with the cert. I wouldn't phone the company to ask them either because the policy document is all that matters, anything that a call agent says on the phone can be denied afterwards. The policy document is the only game in town.

The fact that you have fully comp. rather than 3rd party only doesn't necessarily mean that you are or are not covered to drive other vehicles but I can tell you for certain that if you are insured with Axa and your own policy is on a car, you will not be covered under your own policy to drive any kind of a van.

Henry Ford III

coylemj wrote: »

As above, the only conclusive way to tell in your case is to download the policy document from the company website and read it in conjunction with the cert.

The fact that you have fully comp. rather than 3rd party only doesn't necessarily mean that you are or are not covered to drive other vehicles but I can tell you for certain that if you are insured with Axa and your own policy is on a car, you will not be covered under your own policy to drive any kind of a van.

The cert. will tell you all you need to know.

oldyouth

And it will also only ever apply to the policyholder, not any named driver

coylemj

Henry Ford III wrote: »

The cert. will tell you all you need to know.

No it won't. My cert says I can drive any vehicle with the owner's permission, the policy document says it can't be a van so you are talking rubbish.

BTW, that remark only applies to your last post, you were right first time...

Henry Ford III wrote: »

Consult your policy doc. It's the only way to find out conclusively.

Henry Ford III

coylemj wrote: »

No it won't. My cert says I can drive any vehicle with the owner's permission, the policy document says it can't be a van so you are talking rubbish....

No I'm not. Read the cert. fully.

p.s. How can a Garda ascertain precise details of cover based on a look at the cert? Why is a pol. doc. never required?

coylemj

Henry Ford III wrote: »

No I'm not. Read the cert. fully.

My bad, you are correct. I only ever saw the term 'vehicle' on the cert because it talks about 'Vehicles or classes of vehicles which are covered' and then says 'the vehicle bearing the registration no. xxxxx' but the next category of vehicle covered is: 'Any Motor Car being driven by the insured with the owner's permission' so the cert does indeed include the required level of detail.

jellyboy

unless the other car has insurance,then i would say no that you can't drive it ..

this is based on past experience of friends being in court for driving without insurance(thinking they had)and getting the ok from insurance companies

the boys in blue think different and read the law in a different way

Maybe the legal issues forum could help?

No amount of pleading ignorance saved them from a ban and penalty points!!

corktina

jellyboy wrote: »

unless the other car has insurance,then i would say no that you can't drive it ..

this is based on past experience of friends being in court for driving without insurance(thinking they had)and getting the ok from insurance companies

the boys in blue think different and read the law in a different way

Maybe the legal issues forum could help?

No amount of pleading ignorance saved them from a ban and penalty points!!

That is the case in the UK but is not the case here with the majority of Companies. The difference is that in the UK a car must either be declared "off the road" or insured. That doesn't apply here.

coylemj

corktina wrote: »

That is the case in the UK but is not the case here with the majority of Companies. The difference is that in the UK a car must either be declared "off the road" or insured. That doesn't apply here.

This is another urban myth that gets continuously repeated here. Bottom line is that no Irish insurance company imposes the condition that the other car must have it's own policy before your 'driving other cars' clause covers you.

A lot of them say that if you borrow a car and are covered to drive under the car owner's policy then you must claim under his policy if there's an accident but ultimately you are covered as long as your own policy says so, regardless of whether there's a policy on the car or not.