‘Can I borrow the car?’

Don’t give your festive guests the gift of penalty points this Christmas

With children heading back from university for Christmas or friends and family coming to stay, many hosts will be confronted with the same question: ‘Can I borrow your car?’ 

Such requests are likely to be even more common this year, with many guests trying to avoid public transport or staying for longer periods to make up for the time apart during the pandemic. 

However, according to leading insurance comparison site Quotezone.co.uk, obliging hosts should be aware that depending on the insurance in place, they could face losing their no claims bonus – or even getting in trouble with the law.

According to research from the Office for National Statistics, almost two-thirds of UK students have moved out of their family home to study at university – meaning when they do flock home for the festive season they are unlikely to have a permanent insurance policy in place on the family car.

Greg Wilson, Founder of Quotezone.co.uk, comments: “Whether or not to let children or guests drive your vehicle is a seasonal dilemma for many hosts, and the pressure will be even greater this year. However vehicle owners need to be aware of the insurance options before handing over the keys.

“Perhaps the most obvious solution is to add the other person to your own insurance policy as a named driver, particularly if it’s your own children that are asking to borrow the car. However, if they are involved in an accident, you could lose your no claims bonus.

“An alternative is for them to take out a separate policy in their own name. Temporary policies can be arranged for anything from a few hours to a month, and could give you greater peace of mind, especially if you have a large no-claims bonus. It may also work out cheaper too because you aren’t insuring them for the full year.

“Either way, insurers will want details of your guests including their driving licence and details of any convictions.

“Whichever option you choose, the most important thing is to ensure that your guest does have insurance in place. There is still a common misconception that anyone with comprehensive insurance on their own vehicle is automatically insured to drive another car on a third-party basis. However, this isn’t always the case so it’s important to check whether their policy specifically includes ‘driving other cars’ (DOC) cover.

“Driving without insurance is a serious offence punishable by a minimum £300 fine and six penalty points. In more serious cases, the driver may be given an unlimited fine or disqualification and the police may have the right to seize and destroy the vehicle, even if it belongs to someone else.  The vehicle owner could also be committing an offence and may be given points and a fine.”

Where children or other guests do stay for longer periods and hosts add them to their own policy,  they should be wary of how much time they spend behind the wheel  The main policyholder (known as the proposer) should still do the bulk of the driving, because if someone else is driving more often it could be regarded as ‘fronting’, a type of insurance fraud that could result in a large fine and a criminal record. 

Quotezone.co.uk helps around 3 million users every year, with over 110 UK car insurance providers including niche products such as temporary insurance, named driver insurance and third party insurance.