DRIVERS need to make sure they have insurance, or could end up coughing up thousands in costs.
Here, we explain different types of insurance and how they can cover you on the road.
GettyCan you drive any car with your fully-comprehensive insurance?[/caption]
What is comprehensive cover?
Comprehensive cover will pay out if you happen to injure another person or you damage your car or another car in an accident, regardless of who is at fault.
Comprehensive car insurance also covers you against fire and theft too.
It’s the highest form of protection you can get from an insurer.
In that way, it’s different to third party insurance, as, importantly, it covers yourself instead of only the damage you may do to other vehicles and people.
But don’t let being fully and totally covered allow you to feel invincible to all on the roads – can you hop into someone else’s driver’s seat and still be covered?
Does my fully-comp insurance cover me to drive any car?
A car has to be insured to be allowed out on the road, so if you’re fully-comped but you’ve got your eye on another new vehicle you’ll have to set that up under your own insurance anyway.
So that only leaves other people’s cars – and whether your insurance covers you driving them.
James Blackham, CEO and founder at car insurer By Miles, said: “A lot of traditional policies do allow you to drive other car.
“But drivers should be careful as it is often the minimum third party only cover, not fully comprehensive – and sometimes there are clauses saying it is for emergency use only.”
If your policy does state that you can drive any other car under the third party cover then it does mean if you’re involved in an accident with it and you’re at fault, any damage to the car you’re driving won’t be covered.
You can usually add another person to your comprehensive car insurance too, then they are definitely covered that way.
Add them as a named driver or apply for short term insurance to do this.
This will give you the same level of cover as the main driver.
What should I watch out for?
Be careful with who and how you are putting yourself down on insurance if you’re looking into named drivers.
You shouldn’t put yourself down as the main driver of a car if you won’t actually be the main driver.
It’s called fronting if you claim that you are the main driver, but you rarely drive the car, and it’s not allowed.
If you are looking to drive any other car too, you’re only covered by these rules in the UK.
The car insurance experts at LV= have said to look at your policy documents first to double check you’re covered.
Plus, of course, you should make sure you’ve got the owner’s permission to use their car.
What about a specific type of insurance that means anyone can drive my car?
You can get a type of insurance that means anyone can drive your car at a time – friends or family, or anyone with your permission, will be legally insured to drive it.
That doesn’t mean you can drive anyone else’s car though, necessarily, unless they have cover too.
It’s not as common and as a result it’s going to be more expensive.
It’s also more risky as the insurer won’t have details, based on merit, on whoever is driving.
How can I drive down my car insurance costs?
Insurance companies like to reward careful drivers, so if you don’t claim on your insurance from one year to the next, you can build up a no claim discount.
But they can often reward for other acts too, like how many miles you drive.
By Miles’ James Blackham said: “If you’re finding that you’re driving less in the new normal, you could be much better off with a pay-by-mile car insurance policy.
“We only charge for the miles that our members actually drive – with no fees for driving more or less miles than you think you will cover.”
A number of apps could save you as much as £200 on costs by tracking how much you actually use your car and the type of driver you are as well.
What are the different types of car insurance?
There are a number of different types of insurance which cover different aspects, listed on the AA website.
Third party insurance is the most basic form. it just covers injuries or damage to third parties.
This is the minimum form of insurance required by law. third party car insurance won’t cover the repairs for your own car, an injury to you, or replacement costs if your car is lost because it has been stolen or is destroyed by fire.
Third party, fire, and theft insurance – often called TPFT – provides some additional cover to third party insurance:
If your car is stolen, damaged or written off by fire.In some cases, damage caused by an attempted theft (as long as you aren’t at fault).
As with third party only, you will not be covered if the accident or damage is your fault.