maureenc Posted December 7, 2008 Share Posted December 7, 2008 Please can I ask for some help from those of you more knowledgeable about these matters? Can someone drive my motorhome on a 'normal' car insurance? We are going to Australia for 4 weeks in Jan/Feb & I wanted to ask a neighbour if he would take my van for a ride a couple of times whilst we are away to keep the vehicle battery topped up. The motorhome is insured with Safeguard & I know I can pay approx £25 per week to add someone else to the policy, but I wondered if he could drive it under his own insurance as he is covered to drive any car. Sorry if it seems a silly question, but I don't really understand how it works, but I wouldn't consider doing anything that would not be legal or would be risky, but at the same time if I could get away without paying £50 to Safeguard to cover my neighbour for 2 weeks, I shall have a bit more spending money in Oz :-> Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
fred22 Posted December 7, 2008 Share Posted December 7, 2008 Hi, if your neighbour can drive your motorhome on his car insurance, check the cover it gives. Such cover is often limited to third party damage only. Best to pay the £50 and have comprehensive cover on your vehicle just in case. Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Den Posted December 7, 2008 Share Posted December 7, 2008 Most insurance companies covered the person with fully comp to drive with permission an other car/vehicle incl MH's... But beware they no longer automatically carry this type of cover. Phone call to his ins to clarify.. Also driving a car belonging to someone else's is only covered 3rd party.. I'm sure its worth the £50 for peace of mind. Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
colin Posted December 7, 2008 Share Posted December 7, 2008 A call by him to insurance company is whats needed, on one of my insurances the cert says 'insured to drive other vehicles' but the policy states 'insured to drive other vehicles only in case of emergency' Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Guest JudgeMental Posted December 8, 2008 Share Posted December 8, 2008 For a month? I would not worry about it.....would just leave it as is and give it a good run on my return. Worst case scenario, you will need a jump start from your neighbour on your return. Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Rapido-lass Posted December 8, 2008 Share Posted December 8, 2008 As already stated - your neighbour can drive your motorhome under his insurance BUT it will only be 3rd party - personally I would not risk my motorhome with only 3rd party insurance. Either pay and put him on your policy or leave the van. Worst case scenario is that it'll need to be jump start it when you get back. Many people leave their motorhomes longer without driving them only to dust them off when the good weather arrives. Enjoy Oz!! Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Tony Jones Posted December 8, 2008 Share Posted December 8, 2008 If you do decide to let him drive on his insurance, make sure it really DOES have "other vehicle" cover. Some companies are quietly removing this provision - partly because the police don't like it. It can mean that a vehicle which shows on their almighty database as "uninsured" can still be driven legally, which can leave them with egg on thier faces! Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Derek Uzzell Posted December 8, 2008 Share Posted December 8, 2008 maureenc: I totally agree with JudgeMental. As long as you've taken appropriate steps to ensure that your motorhome won't be 'weather damaged' during your absence (drained its water-system completely, charged up the batteries, etc.), then it should comfortably survive 4 weeks without being driven. If you are leaving it with an alarm running, then perhaps you can arrange for your neigbour to charge the battery powering the alarm directly, without needing to start the vehicle. If that's not possible, then perhaps he can just run the motor for 15 minutes or so once a week, rather than actually 'drive' your motorhome. (OK, there are insurance implications even doing this, but the predictable risks begin when the motorhome starts to move.) Me, I wouldn't let any of my neighbours drive my motorhome unless it was absolutely unavoidable, even though I'm aware that some have experience with large-ish vehicles. It's not so much that I don't trust them (though that certainly comes into it!), but it would involve a foreseeable risk that I see no reason to take. If you MUST have your neighbour drive your motorhome while you are away, then, to ensure that your motorhome is 'comprehensively' insured, you'll need to have him added to your Safeguard policy. There's minimal chance his own policy will allow him to drive your vehicle with a similar level of insurance cover as you have when you drive it. Before deciding to add him to your own policy, you should be 100% confident that you know about his driving record (accidents, convictions, etc.) as this could easily have an impact on whether Safeguard would accept him. Far worse, if there were a need to make a subsequent insurance claim relating to him driving your motorhome and something about his record emerged that Safeguard had not been informed of and considered to be significant, there's every chance that the claim would be rejected. Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Brian Kirby Posted December 8, 2008 Share Posted December 8, 2008 I agree with Judgemental, Rapido Lass and Derek.As the Judge says, you don't need your van to be driven within the 4 week period of your absence. Just take it out when you get back. Driving them once per month is a guide, not an obligation. Every 4-6 weeks is fine, leaving it static from November to march is not!As Rapido Lass says, another person's insurance will almost invariably provide only third party cover if they drive your vehicle. After all, he may own a second hand mini worth £2,000, which he insures comprehensively, and you might own a new Rolls worth £200,000! How could his FC insurance premium possibly be adequate to cover the risk in your car?If you are unhappy for your van to stand for 4 weeks, then, as Derek says, get him added to your Safeguard policy, but be very sure you know his full driving and accident record! Perhaps you could leave him the key, in case it had to be moved in an emergency, and possibly he could just check it over weekly, just to set your mind at rest: but drive it? No. Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
malc d Posted December 8, 2008 Share Posted December 8, 2008 I agree with those who say it should be o.k. t leave it for four weeks without it being used. You could buy one of those small solar panels which you leave on the dashboard and plug into the ciarette lighter socket to trickle charge the battery. I used one on my aging car for two months last winter and it started first go when I returned home. Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Mel B Posted December 9, 2008 Share Posted December 9, 2008 I'm afraid I can't think that there is any way at all that his normal car policy will cover him to drive your motorhome fully comprehesively. Your motorhome more than likely costs a lot more than his car, and therefore even if they would cover him comprehensively, I bet there would be an upper limit. If you can get him to charge the batteries on hook up-after a couple of weeks that should be all you need to keep your van 'happy'! This will ensure that the batteries don't get discharged too low and be damaged. I'd also ask him to visually check it weekly, both inside and out, to make sure that nothing is wrong, ie externally: check for signs of attempted break-in, damage etc, internally: to make sure that no 'creatures' have taken up residence and that no leaks have developed to let the weather get in, or that something is causing a problem. Much better for your van to remain static and just have the above checks done than for your neighbour to drive it and for him to have the worry of possibly damaging it inadvertently, and for you to worry about anything like this happening to your pride and joy whilst on holiday. Unfortunately with the best of intentions, accidents do happen to vans being driven by seasoned motorhome owners, a total novice driving one, no matter how good he is, is just asking for trouble and worry. Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
maureenc Posted December 10, 2008 Author Share Posted December 10, 2008 Thank you for all for your input. It is really helpful to get other peoples views & angles on things. One of the reasons I was going to ask my neighbour to take the van out for me whilst we are away, was because we had to have a new vehicle battery last winter, due we think, to us not running the van regularly during that period. We also had a problem getting a suitable battery, as we did not want to pay the £206 our local Peugeot garage wanted to charge, ending up having to get one from a Marine Battery supplier. So you can understand why we are being more cautious this year! We will be taking your advice & asking our neighbour to check the van over inside & out weekly & to perhaps start it up & run the engine for a little while a couple of times. Many thanks once again, although this is my first post, I am a regular 'reader' & really appreciate the hints, tips & advice I gain from the forum. Maureen Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
libby Posted December 11, 2008 Share Posted December 11, 2008 £206 for a new battery may well be cheaper than damage to the vehicle, however unintentional and carefull your friend is. If I'm away and leave mine static I ask a friend to run the engine occasionaly and check the interior. Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
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