Daan Posted September 9, 2012 Share Posted September 9, 2012 I recently bought another daily driver car (boring one I'm afraid), and put my old car up for sale on ebay. In the advert, I recommended people to come over for a testdrive before bidding. I had the car insured temporarily for this purpose for the duration of the auction, and it had a taxdisc and new MOT. One person actually turned up for a testdrive. He took it round the ringroad (with me sitting in the passenger seat), heading for a roundabout while checking the radio. By the time I realized he wasn't planning on braking I shouted, he stood on the brakes, and we stopped with 4 locked up tyres half a foot away from a brand new Ford Focus, leaving some nice black stripes on the road. On the way back, not a word exchanged while I was contemplating the implications a crash would have given me, from a insurance point of view. The driver was obviously not named on my policy, and might have been able to use the 3rd party clause on his own insurance (i assume he had his own car insured), but I didn't check this with him before we left. Should I have checked this? What is the situation with a testdrive anyway. What if someone comes to testdrive his/her first car and doesn't have another car insured. What is the correct thing to do with a testdrive is basically the question. My own car wasn't worth much, but the one we nearly hit was, so that is the biggest question here. I only took out the insurance so I wouldn't get into trouble with some Johny law, I never thought I was actually going to need it.... Daan Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
landroversforever Posted September 9, 2012 Share Posted September 9, 2012 I wonder about this as well. From my point of view I'm under 25 so I don't have 3rd party cover on another vehicle, so I don't know how I would test drive a private car sale? Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
tacr2man Posted September 9, 2012 Share Posted September 9, 2012 If you insured the vehicle , and the other driver had no insurance , then your insurance would be one that the third party would claim against. If the other driver had a "drive other vehicle" provision on his policy then that would cover the third party claim . You would have to make a claim on your own insurance for your own vehicle repair . HTSH Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Dads Toy Posted September 9, 2012 Share Posted September 9, 2012 If the cars insured in your name and someone else not named on your insurance is driving it, then I strongly suspect your insurance is invalid and would walk away! You could also expect Mr Plod to take an interest when the other driver reported being hit by an uninsured driver. If he had 3rd party cover for another car on his insurance then the other driver could claim against his insurance, but your car would not be covered. You've got to make sure who is responsible for the insurance before you let anyone "test drive" Put yourself in the other drivers position and think who you could claim against if it happened to you. Malcolm Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Eightpot Posted September 9, 2012 Share Posted September 9, 2012 you always need to check a driver has insurance before letting them drive your car. If they have no insurance then you could be prosecuted for allowing an uninsured driver to be in charge of your car - whether there is an accident or not. If thier insurance policy allows them to drive another car not owned by them, and you have insurance active on the car then you're fine. If they have taken out temporary cover on the car then you're fine. If they don't have the right cover, then they simply can't test drive the car on a public road. Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Retroanaconda Posted September 10, 2012 Share Posted September 10, 2012 The usual way this is done is through the 'driving other cars' benefit as above. For example my policy covers me to drive any motor car not belonging to myself, so long as I have the owner's permission and hold the required license. (PS. Ross, it's not down to age... I have it and I'm 23. It's down to the insurer and whether they want to take the 'risk'). Most policies also put in a clause stating that the car you're driving must be insured on another policy, though this a bit superfluous nowadays since one cannot have a vehicle that is taxed without it also being insured for road use. In practice yes you should have checked that the driver is covered, either through the above clause on a policy of his own or through an 'any driver' clause on your own policy. Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
discomikey Posted September 10, 2012 Share Posted September 10, 2012 Most policies also put in a clause stating that the car you're driving must be insured on another policy, though this a bit superfluous nowadays since one cannot have a vehicle that is taxed without it also being insured for road use. on that note, i also wander what happens with a vehicle where the driver has a "motor traders" insurance policy where they are insured as a driver rather than on a car. i.e. the cars arent registered to the policy as such, do these poeple now get stopped all the time by the law and have to explain themselves? or is there a way around it Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
landroversforever Posted September 11, 2012 Share Posted September 11, 2012 The usual way this is done is through the 'driving other cars' benefit as above. For example my policy covers me to drive any motor car not belonging to myself, so long as I have the owner's permission and hold the required license. (PS. Ross, it's not down to age... I have it and I'm 23. It's down to the insurer and whether they want to take the 'risk'). Most policies also put in a clause stating that the car you're driving must be insured on another policy, though this a bit superfluous nowadays since one cannot have a vehicle that is taxed without it also being insured for road use. In practice yes you should have checked that the driver is covered, either through the above clause on a policy of his own or through an 'any driver' clause on your own policy. Interesting James, as I'm nearly 22. I believe you're also with Adrian Flux? Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
missingsid Posted September 11, 2012 Share Posted September 11, 2012 on that note, i also wander what happens with a vehicle where the driver has a "motor traders" insurance policy where they are insured as a driver rather than on a car. i.e. the cars arent registered to the policy as such, do these poeple now get stopped all the time by the law and have to explain themselves? or is there a way around it Yes Trade Plates these cover the road tax as well. They must cover the customer insurance as I have only provided my license details to cover any traffic offenses when I have test driven cars. If you are asking about multi car insurance then aren't the cars are still listed as normal? Marc. Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
zim Posted September 11, 2012 Share Posted September 11, 2012 on that note, i also wander what happens with a vehicle where the driver has a "motor traders" insurance policy where they are insured as a driver rather than on a car. i.e. the cars arent registered to the policy as such, do these poeple now get stopped all the time by the law and have to explain themselves? or is there a way around it generally most cars are insured anyway, so when a trader is out on a service test drive and the police run the details it'll come back as insured (they're non the wiser that is isn't actually the owner driving). if pulled over then it's not a problem to show insurance documents, i've done this in the past. on my trade policy i used to have "Use for demonstation purposes". This allows someone else to test drive the vehicle with me sat next to them. However i've taken that off now to reduce costs. as a trader it still needs to be taxed and mot'd, unless you've got trade plates (tax is on them). G Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Retroanaconda Posted September 11, 2012 Share Posted September 11, 2012 Interesting James, as I'm nearly 22. I believe you're also with Adrian Flux? Indeed I am. They added it this year without even asking me, I queried it and they said it was down to the underwriter - who had obviously calculated the risk was low enough. Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
landroversforever Posted September 11, 2012 Share Posted September 11, 2012 Indeed I am. They added it this year without even asking me, I queried it and they said it was down to the underwriter - who had obviously calculated the risk was low enough. I'll have a check on mine, don't expect it to be there though! Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
landroversforever Posted September 11, 2012 Share Posted September 11, 2012 Checked: not on mine Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
discomikey Posted September 14, 2012 Share Posted September 14, 2012 its not on mine either, but it is on my mates, who has claimed and is the same age as me.. same company too. strange eh. Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
antony110 Posted September 17, 2012 Share Posted September 17, 2012 you always need to check a driver has insurance before letting them drive your car. If they have no insurance then you could be prosecuted for allowing an uninsured driver to be in charge of your car - whether there is an accident or not. If thier insurance policy allows them to drive another car not owned by them, and you have insurance active on the car then you're fine. If they have taken out temporary cover on the car then you're fine. If they don't have the right cover, then they simply can't test drive the car on a public road. [Eight pot is correct I found this out the hard way! Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Highway_Star Posted September 19, 2012 Share Posted September 19, 2012 Yup, a mate of mine lent a mate of his a small van. The bloke assured him he had insurance for diving other vehicles. My mate didn't actually cast eyes over this on paper, just took him at his word. Well, it turns he didn't. No accident ocurred, but plod pulled the wee van for whatever reason. The driver was charge with driving without insurance, and my mate was charged with 'causing or allowing', or words to that effect. They didn't impound the van as my mate has insurance for it, with him and his wife as named drivers. Be careful out there. Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
mad_pete Posted October 6, 2012 Share Posted October 6, 2012 If they have drive any other car on another policy it will be 3rd party only. So it's legal BUT they hit another car the other car gets repaired your car gets nothing. They need to phone up and arranage temporary full comp cover on your car. I did it with Admiral cost £20 for 24 hours and did the same thing with Tesco before. I have also put temporar drivers on my policy for other reasons as an option. If I'll selling a car they need to prove fully comp before they drive it or leave the price of the car as deposit and have drive any other car under you break it I keep the money deal :-) Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Nigelw Posted October 6, 2012 Share Posted October 6, 2012 I got caught out big time, did the insurance bit when I was test driving a BMW 323 and got a pull, turns out it had no MOT!!! My mistake, didn't check took it at the guys word it had approx 6mnths left on it and hey presto 6points and a £550 fine, turned out to be an expensive car in the end but it was so nice to drive, made more than my fine when I sold it on so no loss there but insurance premiums took a whack for the 6 points!!! came off a few months ago thank the gods. Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
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