Can you insure a car without a licence?

ml100

Is it possible to insure a car if you no longer have a valid licence, my parents car is insured in my father's name, it's open insurance and mainly used by my mother, he may not get his licence renewed (medical issues), would the car still be insured?

Pocaide

The Driver of the car must have a valid licence, no licence means no insurance.

ml100

Pocaide wrote: »

The Driver of the car must have a valid licence, no licence means no insurance.

The driver will have a valid licence it's the car owner/policy holder that won't, I'll give the insurance Co a call next week before the renewal comes out and find out what the story is

bazz26

They may well ask for it at renewal time or if he moves to a different company they will ask for it.

Since your mother mainly drives the car why not just transfer ownership over to her and she can insure it under her own name? It's hardly going to be more expensive for her?

If he cannot renew his license or drive due to medical grounds then it might throw up a can of worms around being obliged to inform his insurance company. Not sure where he stands with that situation.

Atlantic Dawn

Yes named owner of policy will need licence, otherwise policy will be invalid.

ml100

bazz26 wrote: »

They may well ask for it at renewal time or if he moves to a different company they will ask for it.

Since your mother mainly drives the car why not just transfer ownership over to her and she can insure it under her own name? It's hardly going to be more expensive for her?

He has a valid licence now, just probably won't get it renewed later in the year, I guess a policy in my mother's name would mean starting with very little no claims bonus etc?

coylemj

Atlantic Dawn wrote: »

Yes named owner of policy will need licence, otherwise policy will be invalid.

Not true. If the policyholder's licence simply expires and he forgets to renew it then the policy is still valid and all of the named drivers will be covered when driving. Nowhere in any policy document that I've read does it state that the policyholder must have a valid and current licence.

The problem is that if the policyholder's doctor refuses to issue the required paperwork for a renewal then you are most definitely into the territory of a material change and the insurance company will need to be notified at which point they will terminate the policy.

bazz26

Well I'm only guessing here but if the policy holder doesn't hold a valid driving license and it conspires it wasn't renewed for medical issues then it may throw the entire policy into doubt. So in theory potentially nobody maybe insured to drive it.

I'm not an expert though, there are a few posters here with experience of working in the insurance industry so maybe they can give a more accurate answer.

slimjimmc

Pocaide wrote: »

The Driver of the car must have a valid licence, no licence means no insurance.

That's not correct and you won't find it written in any policy in Ireland.
Policies do not exclude drivers unless they never held a licence, are currently disqualified, are prohibited by law from holding one, or are a learner driver who breached the conditions of their Learner Permit e.g. by driving unaccompanied, no L-plates, etc.

You are still insured if your licence has expired so it's not unusual to be legally insured while having no valid licence.

As always, the OP's father should verify with his insurer to be certain, particularly if he is medically unfit to hold a licence.

To Elland Back

Insurers can amend the policy to 'Insured Excluded'. It effectively means that cover continues as before without your father driving. If this suits your purpose, make sure you speak to somebody who knows their stuff. Often an insurer will offer a solution of transferring the policy in to a spouse's name without loss of bonus. They might not offer all the existing policy benefits, such as open driving. Insurers are generally understanding with situations like yours and will offer a solution. One thing for certain, if your father does not have his licence renewed, inform them

Del2005

bazz26 wrote: »

They may well ask for it at renewal time or if he moves to a different company they will ask for it.

Since your mother mainly drives the car why not just transfer ownership over to her and she can insure it under her own name? It's hardly going to be more expensive for her?

If he cannot renew his license or drive due to medical grounds then it might throw up a can of worms around being obliged to inform his insurance company. Not sure where he stands with that situation.

No need to transfer ownership as spouses have an insurable interest in the vehicle. Plenty of married couples with one car change the main policy holder annually to both keep their NCD.

Liam McPoyle

Ya, the policy holder need not have a valid licence.

I remember a case a few years ago when I set up a policy for a driver with quite bad cerebral palsy and their carer was put as the main driver. The company didnt have an issue with it.

ml100

Business Cat wrote: »

Ya, the policy holder need not have a valid licence.

I remember a case a few years ago when I set up a policy for a driver with quite bad cerebral palsy and their carer was put as the main driver. The company didnt have an issue with it.

Thanks for the replies, checked it out with the insurance Co and they said they could amend the policy to exclude him from driving or another option would be to transfer policy to my mother, but she wouldn't have the same ncd as she doesn't have her own policy, I think we'll go down the excluded from driving route for now.

Skatedude

as above, the policy holder dosent need a valid licence, but the insured driver of the car does.

Ie my uncle was the policy holder for all the family cars, 4 or 5 and had no licence for a few years, but we were all still insured as named drivers and had licences so were covered to drive.

To Elland Back

ml100 wrote: »

Thanks for the replies, checked it out with the insurance Co and they said they could amend the policy to exclude him from driving or another option would be to transfer policy to my mother, but she wouldn't have the same ncd as she doesn't have her own policy, I think we'll go down the excluded from driving route for now.

There you go, as I said, insurers usually do try to assist policyholders in these circumstance

Del2005

ml100 wrote: »

Thanks for the replies, checked it out with the insurance Co and they said they could amend the policy to exclude him from driving or another option would be to transfer policy to my mother, but she wouldn't have the same ncd as she doesn't have her own policy, I think we'll go down the excluded from driving route for now.

If your mother has been a named driver she should be able to get a bit of a discount for no claims, try ringing a few different brokers.

To Elland Back

Del2005 wrote: »

If your mother has been a named driver she should be able to get a bit of a discount for no claims, try ringing a few different brokers.

The current policy appears to be on an Open Drive basis