There are all kinds of reasons why you might end up driving a mate’s car. Perhaps you want to share a journey to a festival or football match. Maybe you’re moving house and their motor is going to be a much better bet than your own for transporting that collection of saucepans or shoes. Or it might be a spur of the moment thing. You’re staying with a friend and they ask whether you’ll nip to the shops or pick someone up from the station.
Whatever your motivation for getting behind the wheel of someone else’s car, you need to make sure that you have proper insurance cover. And that may not be as straightforward as you think.
Won’t my own car insurance policy cover me?
Not necessarily. It’s true that if you have a comprehensive policy on your own car, it may include third-party cover for other vehicles that are not listed on your documents.
But do be careful.
Policy terms vary from insurer to insurer, so you’ll need to check out the detail. The idea of the ‘driving-other-cars’ benefit (or DOC to people in the insurance business) is that it’s there for emergencies. What’s more, you may not be covered if you’re under 25.
And think for a moment about third-party cover. It’s a legal minimum. If you had an accident, you’d be covered for the damage to another person, vehicle or property. But that’s not the same thing as having cover for the car you’re driving or any injuries that you might suffer yourself.
What about adding my name to the owner’s policy?
Yes, that is an option. But it involves the policy holder contacting their insurer and getting you added as a named driver. This may not be necessary if you’re only going to be using the vehicle for a short period and could also affect the vehicle owner’s premium. It might be better to think about temporary car insurance instead.
How does short-term insurance work?
The great thing about taking out a temporary policy is that you can set the length of time you need to be covered for. Jaunt offers flexible cover for up to 28 days. It’s completely flexible. Which means you can tailor your cover to meet your needs and your budget.
With short-term car insurance, you will have comprehensive cover, so in the unlikely event you have an accident, you have the kind of peace of mind you just can’t get from third-party insurance. The owner of the car is able to rest easy as well, as any claim on a Jaunt policy will not affect their no claims discount..
Find out more
As you can see, temporary insurance may be just what you need when you want to borrow a friend’s car for a short period. If you want to find out more, why not check out our guide to short-term insurance here.
