Money Helpdesk: Car share proves costly

MY BROTHER and I occasionally go out on trips with our wives and we share the driving. However, when driving my brother's car recently I had a minor accident which didn't cause too much damage to either car but was worth making an insurance claim. As I was driving I made the claim on my own insurance, but much to my surprise I found that I wasn't covered to drive someone else's car.

Although my brother's insurer did meet the other person's part of the claim, it wouldn't meet the cost of repairing his car because he wasn't driving at the time – and he lost his no-claim bonus.

I thought that every comprehensive policy enables the policyholder to drive other cars provided permission is given by the car's owner? My insurance company insists it is in the right, but is it?

BJ,Edinburgh

IAN Crowder of AA Insurance writes:

Certainly, it used to be the case that pretty much all car insurance policies allowed policyholders to drive other cars. This part of a policy is known as "Driving Other Cars" (or DOC) but many insurers have withdrawn the cover because it was often being abused. For instance, people who owned a relatively cheap car used the cover to regularly drive a much more expensive or high-powered vehicle that would otherwise be very costly to insure. Many insurers do still provide the cover, but often with restrictions. In addition, the cover is usually restricted to third party only when you are driving someone else's car.

This DOC extension is only really intended for occasional or emergency purposes and to ensure that when you are driving someone else's car you are at least covered for the legal minimum cover.

It is also useful if you are buying a car from a private vendor – your insurance will provide minimum legal cover while you are taking it for a test-drive: but remember that if you do have a collision that is your fault, only damage to the car or property you hit or people you injure will be covered, not damage to the car you are driving.

The solution is for each of you to add the other as a named driver. Under normal circumstances this shouldn't cost very much and will ensure that you are both covered, fully comprehensively. Unfortunately, because you have effectively been driving without insurance, it is possible that insurance companies will add an additional premium, especially if you were prosecuted for driving without insurance.

For other readers who wonder whether they have DOC cover, check your certificate of insurance – on that it will say something to the effect that you are "covered to drive another vehicle with the owner's permission".