Learner insurance when driving alone

rodge123

Hey All

I'm currently learning to drive and have taken 6 of the 12 mandatory lessons at this stage.
I want to get insured as a named driver on my girlfriends car in order to get some practice in between lessons.

I believe you are supposed to have a fully licensed driver with you when driving on a Learner permit?

I think they brought a new law in allowing for on the spot fines if you don't have a fully licensed driver with you?

I aim to have a fully licensed driver in the car as much as possible, but it may not be possible/practical at times.

Could there be issues from our insurance company if I had an accident while driving WITHOUT a fully licensed driver in the car with me?

Thanks

scheister

when i was insuring my car for the last time b4 i got my full licence. the women did mention to me that my insurance would be void if i was traveling with out a full licence driver in the car.

HurtLocker

From the first of August it's a 2 penalty point offence to drive unaccompanied.

Only the expensive quotes will cover you on your own. The likes of Aviva. Axa won't cover you.

haro124

Yea my aviva insurance policy says void if unaccompanied.

thesimpsons

Illegal and you my not be covered by insurance so why would you do it? I just don't get this idea that sometimes you might have to drive unaccompanied. I learned to drive almost 20 yr ago where driving unaccompanied just wasn't done. In the meantime, I had to rely on walking, bus, bike, taxi, whatever. Both my kids learned to drive recently and passed first go, neither drove unaccompanied before passing test.

tom_murphy112

thesimpsons wrote: »

Illegal and you my not be covered by insurance so why would you do it? I just don't get this idea that sometimes you might have to drive unaccompanied. I learned to drive almost 20 yr ago where driving unaccompanied just wasn't done. In the meantime, I had to rely on walking, bus, bike, taxi, whatever. Both my kids learned to drive recently and passed first go, neither drove unaccompanied before passing test.

What you mean.. Driving unaccompanied before mid 2008 was totally legal

thesimpsons

I mean that I learned to drive in another country (Australia) where it was illegal to drive unaccompanied and no one drove unaccompanied. It is now illegal in Ireland to drive unaccompanied as a learner but yet 6 years after this ruling, people seem to think it is acceptable of do so.

SureYWouldntYa

I dont get this thing of driving alone when you're a learner driver. Plenty of people in my area have been on the road alone as soon as they're 17 and daddy has the insurance on. If you're involved in an accident you're not covered, so why bother with insurance at all if that's your outlook

eezipc

My wife is on my insurance and we are currently insured with AA and previously 123.ie. Both made it very clear to me that she is not to drive alone as any accident will not be covered.
I'm not 100% sure, but if you were in an accident it may be possible for the other party to sue you even if it was not your fault as you should not have been there in the first place.
It's not worth it to be honest.

haro124

Well one reason people do it is they'll probably never get stopped- lack of traffic gardaí around. The amount of people I've heard say that they've driven for x amount of time on their own and never been stopped says it all.

daveohdave

thesimpsons wrote: »

I learned to drive almost 20 yr ago where driving unaccompanied just wasn't done.

I learned to drive about 5 years before that, and nearly everyone drove unaccompanied. I doubt there was a pause in the meantime. Out of curiosity, what age were you when you learned to drive?

tom_murphy112 wrote: »

What you mean.. Driving unaccompanied before mid 2008 was totally legal

No it wasn't.

scheister

tom_murphy112 wrote: »

What you mean.. Driving unaccompanied before mid 2008 was totally legal

daveohdave wrote: »

I learned to drive about 5 years before that, and nearly everyone drove unaccompanied. I doubt there was a pause in the meantime. Out of curiosity, what age were you when you learned to drive?



No it wasn't.

the law change in 2008 made it illegal for all provisional holders to drive without a full licensed driver in the car i think prior to that on your 2nd provisional you could drive alone but all other provisionals you needed someone in the car

jimgoose

daveohdave wrote: »

I learned to drive about 5 years before that, and nearly everyone drove unaccompanied. I doubt there was a pause in the meantime.

No-one ever took a blind bit of notice of the driving unaccompanied thing until a few years ago. :pac:

Frog Song

Yes you shouldn't drive alone but obviously some people do. In answer to your question I thought some Insurance companies do cover you? FBD do I think?

alias no.9

tom_murphy112 wrote: »

What you mean.. Driving unaccompanied before mid 2008 was totally legal

Totally legal is way beyond what it was, quasi legal would be closer to the mark.

imitation

I failed my first test and spent a lot time driving on my own when I got the second provisional( legal at the time) and felt able after doing a lot of accompanied driving. It defintely made the process easier for me, but it was never going to last especially when you had people on perma provisional licenses and tearing it up on there own after just getting there first provisional.

TheBeach

I've just checked with 2 insurance brokers and they have both said 'the law and insurance are seperate'. One added 'but we don't recommend it'.

AnonoBoy

TheBeach wrote: »

I've just checked with 2 insurance brokers and they have both said 'the law and insurance are seperate'. One added 'but we don't recommend it'.

Similar I suppose to if you crash your car while speeding. They'll still cover you even though you were breaking the law.

challengemaster

AnonoBoy wrote: »

They'll still cover you even though you were breaking the law?

They have to, by law.

All insurers are required to provide at minimum third party, doesn't matter if you were driving unaccompanied at the time. They cannot retrospectively void the policy, or refuse the claim on that basis. They must pay all 3rd party claims.

Anyone that has told you otherwise, even if they work in insurance, is lying.

However!

Personal claims, or anything above third party can be voided. The insurance company can also pursue the driver through the courts to recoup the money they had to pay out on third party claims.

AnonoBoy

challengemaster wrote: »

They have to, by law.

Sorry, I didn't mean to put a question mark at the end of that sentence!

lawred2

scheister wrote: »

the law change in 2008 made it illegal for all provisional holders to drive without a full licensed driver in the car i think prior to that on your 2nd provisional you could drive alone but all other provisionals you needed someone in the car

that was a loophole

biko

Thread from 3 years ago closed.