how can this be?? insurance

[timmothy]

ok so i phoned my insurance company the other day to find out about driving other cars on my policy, they said that as long as the car does not belong to me or not hired to me that there are no restrictions and that i can drive any car i wish even if the car is not insured under anyones name but only third party.
Now how can this be? was the lady totally wrong there as i do not understand how this works. Surely for the car to be on the road it must be insured as a main policy, secondly how can there be no restrictions on what the car is or the mileage that i do in it?
would that not mean that if i bought a ferrari v12 and insurance was to high, that i could just get a cheap policy on a micra and say i will only drive 1000 miles and then actually just drive the ferrari for 50 000 miles a year.

sorry for the long post just want to hear some thoughts on this.

 

[Dogbreath]

What you have described is DOC cover, it's a pretty standard feature of many (but not all) insurance policies. You will only be covered for third party liabilities however.

It's intended for occasional use of other cars, what you have described re. the Ferrari is a form of fronting, and the insuarnce company will likely not be impressed if they find out. Also, who would drive a Ferrari covered by third party only insurance?

 

[OllyM]

would that not mean that if i bought a ferrari v12 and insurance was to high, that i could just get a cheap policy on a micra and say i will only drive 1000 miles and then actually just drive the ferrari for 50 000 miles a year.

No, because it only covers you in cars that don't belong to you for a start.

 

[Memphis]

You can not be the owner of the other car.

 

[SGWills]

DOC(drive other cars) is normally a restrictive use where the car should be insured elsewhere and owners consent needed, for example if you got a 2 car household, you come home first and the second car parks behind you, you want to go to the shops, rather than moving two cars just to nip out, you could use the second car, which company you with ?

 

[SB118]

DOC(drive other cars) is normally a restrictive use where the car should be insured elsewhere ...

they said ... that i can drive any car i wish even if the car is not insured under anyones name but only third party.

Not that restrictive this time i'm guessing. Logically the car doesn't need to have it's own policy in force as he will be using his own insurance when he is driving it.

Surely for the car to be on the road it must be insured as a main policy,

To be stored on the road it does. But what if the car is stored in a locked garage?

 

[Fr0dders]

regarding the "legal requirement"

you're only legally required to have 3rd party insurance. you're not obliged to have fully comp.

So the D.O.C. covers the basic minimum, but obviously if it isnt subject to its own policy, cant be left parked on the streets as it will technically be un-insured.

 

[[TW]Fox]

The thing that stops you buying a Ferrari is:

a) If the car isnt insured by somebody else, once you step out of the car, it is not insured at all. This means you cannot park it on any public roads or carparks accessible to the public.
b) It only covers vehicles not owned by you. So not your new Ferrari. Note that says not OWNED by you. not whose name is on the V5. So you cant just put it in your Dads name.
c) It only offers TP cover. So if you crash the Ferrari, sucks to be you.

 

[Dogbreath]

c) It only offers TP cover. So if you crash the Ferrari, sucks to be you.

Or if it's nicked, catches on fire, vandalised etc. If you could afford to lose a Ferrari, you could afford to insure it.