Named Drivers, Additional Drivers And Who Can Actually Drive Your Car?

If you’re planning on driving someone else’s car, or having someone else drive yours, it’s important to do it legally and make sure the new driver is covered by insurance in case anything goes wrong. It can be confusing to know just how to add a new driver to your policy, who can legally drive your vehicle or which vehicles you can legally drive. We’ve gathered together all the information right here, so that you’ll know everything about names and additional drivers.

Adding Someone To Your Car Insurance Temporarily

Adding a person to your car insurance temporarily is relatively straightforward, and is a cost-effective way of allowing someone else to drive your car. Whether you’re going on a long journey and want someone to share the driving with, or you’re borrowing a family member’s car for a road trip, it’s not difficult to share the driving load with someone else

But how do you go about it? We’ve got the answers.

Can I Insure A Car For A Week?

You may not be able to get a brand new policy for just one week, but you may be able to add yourself as a named driver to an existing policy of a friend or family member. This is often the most cost efficient way of looking for temporary insurance.

A temporary change is one that is in effect for a limited time period. A permanent change is one that stays in effect until the end of the policy. Depending on the type of Mid Term Adjustment (MTA) you want to make, the policy’s premium may increase or decrease. In some cases it may stay the same.

If you want to make an MTA to your policy, contact Chill and we’ll be happy to help you make a temporary or permanent change.

There may be some restrictions if you’re trying to take out car insurance for a week. For example, you might not be able to get insurance for such a short period of time if:

• You’re a young driver or you’ve only just passed your test
• You want comprehensive cover

Can You Get Car For One Day?

In short, yes. To do this, the policy owner should get in touch with their provider and arrange to have a named driver added. This is usually simple to do and you could be insured on the car within minutes.

Depending on the driver’s details, there may be a cost to add them to the policy and in certain circumstances the cover may be reduced from comprehensive cover to third party, fire and theft.

Using A ‘Driving Other Cars Extension’

Without a shadow of a doubt, one of the most common queries we receive here at Chill is people trying to find out if they are insured to drive someone else's car. There's lots of confusion about what is called a ‘driving of other cars extension’, so we’ve compiled all the information here to help dispel the many myths around this particular cover type.

What Is A ‘Driving Other Cars Extension’?

In a nutshell, ‘driving other cars extension’ is a policy extension which lets you (being the policyholder only, this does not apply to named drivers on your policy) drive somebody else's car - one that is not owned by you, hired or leased to you, or a company car.

How Do I Get The Extension?

Some motor insurance policies allow you to drive other cars as standard, but be warned: this isn't always the case. For instance, drivers under a certain age, those who have not been driving that long, or provisional licence holders may be excluded. To find out if you're covered, check out your certificate of car insurance. It will clearly tell you if you have a ‘driving other cars extension’.

Why Do I Need It?

Without this type of extension, you're not insured to drive somebody else's vehicle. If there has even been a time when you desperately need to get behind the wheel of a friend's car, then you should take a closer look at this extension.

Is There Anything Else I Should Know?

Yes. ‘Driving other cars extension’ is normally limited to third-party only cover, which means the insurance company will only cover claims made against you by other drivers. It also means that if you borrow your friend's car and crash, damage to the car will not be covered. Also, a ‘driving other cars extension’ only ever applies to the proposer on the policy.

How To Get The Best Insurance Quote

With so many cars on the road, it means that there are more people searching for their car insurance. However, since we all go through the same processes of searching for our car insurance, how come it can seem like we get different quotes from all the different insurers? Here’s how to get the best deal on your insurance policy.

Am I Insuring The Person Or The Vehicle?

The quote process always begins the same. We usually start by looking in the same places for what we think should be competitive cover, and then we purchase. But from time to time, you could find that someone else who has the same car as you, as well as the same level of driving experience, might get a completely different quote to the one you get. This may get you thinking: how is this possible? Who or what is actually getting insured? Is it the person or the vehicle?

Your policy is a combination of both actually. When you are searching for a car insurance quote, you may notice that insurers will ask questions about you and the vehicle you are looking to insure. This is because the insurer is looking to get a holistic overview of the entire policy, both of the insuree and the vehicle. This information will then be combined with statistical and historical data, that the insurer has for someone in your category grouping, to calculate your quote.

Read More: How Insurance Uses Statistics and Probability

The Information You Need To Provide

The more exact and accurate the information that you provide your insurer, when you are looking for car insurance, then the more competitive your quote could be. This information is drawn from both your driving history and the type of car you have. Examples of the type of information an insurer might look for includes.

The Insured:

• Age
• Address
• No Claims Bonus
• Occupation
• Licence Type
• Penalty Points, claims or convictions
• Type of cover required (TPO, TPFT, Comprehensive)
• Any named drivers such as a spouse to be on the policy

The Car:

• Make and model of the car including registration number if known
• Any modifications that have been made to the car
• Area of use
• Car security
• Average annual Mileage
• Value
• Class of use

All of this information allows an insurer to build a profile of the person looking for cover, and what risk grouping they might fall into. Insurers will then use this information to provide you with a quote.

Little Details Can Affect Your Quote

Certain groupings can be considered an insurance risk over others. For instance if your vehicle’s value is high, and it is primarily used in an area that might be considered crime-prone, then your car insurance quote could be higher than someone who primarily uses the exact same vehicle in another part of the country. The quotes will differ, since there could be a larger probability that those in the crime-prone area will use their cover during the lifetime of the policy than the other.

Another example could be that sometimes young and inexperienced drivers can find it difficult to get what they deem to be a competitive car insurance quote. This is because insurers may not have statistical information, no claims bonus or named driver experience for the person in question. The type of car they are looking to quote for is taken into consideration, but in this example the lack of historical data on the insuree themselves means that they are part of a grouping that might be considered a higher risk for insurers.

Find The Best Policy With Chill

At Chill, our quick quote takes the hassle out of searching for car insurance. We work with some of the leading insurers in Ireland to help you get a car insurance quote for you and your vehicle. We offer a range of cover options such as comprehensive, third party, fire and theft meaning you have more choice to suit your needs and your budget. Get a quick quote online now, or call us on 01 4003400 to speak to one of our friendly and helpful team.