spospe Posted August 17, 2016 Share Posted August 17, 2016 Whilst renewing my motorhome insurance with Safeguard, I found out to my surprise that their policy does not cove me for Third Party risks whilst driving a vehicle not owned by me, or hired to me under a Hire Purchase Agreement. Every car insurance that I have had has covered me for Third Party risks and I had naively assumed that motorhome policies would do the same as a matter of course. When asked about this Safeguard said that they do not offer this cover, even as an add-on at extra cost. If Third Party cover is important to you (say to allow you to move another vehicle to a place of safety following an accident, or to shuffle vehicles around on a driveway to make parking space, etc.) then you will need to look elsewhere than Safeguard. At the time of writing, I have not spoken with any other motorhome insurer, so cannot say how widespread this problem is. Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Muswell Posted August 17, 2016 Share Posted August 17, 2016 My Caravan Club insurance allows me to drive a private motor car. I forgot it was cars only and once drove someone's van to help them out .....then had a sudden nasty doubts halfway through. Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
malc d Posted August 17, 2016 Share Posted August 17, 2016 Muswell - 2016-08-17 9:46 AM My Caravan Club insurance allows me to drive a private motor car. I forgot it was cars only and once drove someone's van to help them out .....then had a sudden nasty doubts halfway through. My Camping Club insurance is similar - it allows me to drive someone else's " private motor car " :-| Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Billggski Posted August 17, 2016 Share Posted August 17, 2016 My car insurance with Churchill only gives minimum legal cover, and only for 30 days, when abroad, I have to pay extra for the "green card". It use to be part of the policy, but has been removed. Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Derek Uzzell Posted August 17, 2016 Share Posted August 17, 2016 A DOC (Driving Other Cars) risk used to be commonly covered within ‘comprehensive’ motor insurance policies, but that’s no longer the case as this GOOGLE-search shows. https://www.google.co.uk/?gws_rd=ssl#q=motor+insurance+DOC+ If you can’t be bothered to check your Certificate of Insurance, or wade through your Insurance Policy’s documentation, it would be wisest nowadays to assume that you have NOT got DOC cover (whatever type of vehicle your Policy relates to) rather than assume that you have... Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
spospe Posted August 17, 2016 Author Share Posted August 17, 2016 Just to make it clear, I expected to be covered for Third Party risks when driving someone else's car, not just their motorhome. I have virtually no need to drive another motorhome, but quite often might want to move a car (to create a parking space for example). All my previous car insurance policies have covered this risk, but I no longer have a car, just a motorhome and so find myself no longer covered even for the most basic use. Caveat Emptor Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Muswell Posted August 17, 2016 Share Posted August 17, 2016 My certificate makes no mention of driving someone else's motorhome, only private cars. Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
747 Posted August 17, 2016 Share Posted August 17, 2016 You need to check new Insurance Policies closely nowadays. I am just changing over to ESURE for the car and verified that I can drive other cars. This is mainly because a Grandson sometimes leaves his car at ours. As has been said, it is not on every Comprehensive Policy now. Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
StuartO Posted August 17, 2016 Share Posted August 17, 2016 Donkey's years ago I remember that my Insurance Certificate told me that I could drive "any vehicle" not owned by me and not hired to me under a hire purchase agreement (or whatever it was) and then it became "any car" and more recently (under some policies) there was no Drive Other Cars cover at all. But currently my motoring policies (with LV) do cover "any car". If you need DOC cover you need to check before you buy or renew because many insurers do seem to have withdrawn it. I have added my kids as named drivers of my MH as a contingency, to cater for being brought home if I need it. It doesn't seem to cost any more providing you do it at the time you take out a policy or renew. Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
veletron Posted August 17, 2016 Share Posted August 17, 2016 None of my Motorcaravan policies have allowed me to drive any other 'vehicle not owned by me' 3rd party, so that's at least Safeguard, Comfort and CaravanGuard not allowing this. The van is my sole vehicle so perhaps this is the reason or perhaps its for all their policies - check your small print! Nigel Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
hagrid Posted August 17, 2016 Share Posted August 17, 2016 As others have said, driving other vehicles on a policy is now an exception rather than the norm, in any event the cover is limited to 3rd party cover so does not cover damage to the vehicle you are driving and, the vehicle needs to be insured under the owners policy to validate your cover. I have been looking to renew my MH insurance and have read through probably most of the available underwriters MH specific policies, there are at least two policies which cover the insured to drive a vehicle not belonging to them, they do not differentiate between car and motorhome. One of the things I did come across in the conditions of at least two policies which included breakdown and recovery cover was within the breakdown policies, a limit of £1500 per breakdown, a sum which would go no where near the potential costs of repatriation from abroad or indeed long distance recovery in the UK. Also there are some policies from well known sources which have windscreen cover limited to only £600 in the policy year! It seems that more than ever, one needs to have time to read policies carefully before making a decision. Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
thebishbus Posted August 17, 2016 Share Posted August 17, 2016 My current Comfort certificate, covers me third party cover to drive a car not owned by me or hired to me. Brian B. Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Derek Uzzell Posted August 18, 2016 Share Posted August 18, 2016 This link is to a November 2013 document (so may not be current) summarising the AVIVA Horizon/Horizon Advantage Motor Caravan insurance policies offered by Comfort Insurance http://www.comfort-insurance.co.uk/wp-content/uploads/V6-Keyfacts.pdf Towards the foot of the document’s first page is the following statement “Policyholders with Comprehensive cover who are aged 25 or over at the commencement or renewal of the policy will be entitled to Third Party Only cover whilst driving other people’s cars. Your certificate will confirm if you have this cover.” The certificates relating to the Comfort Insurance policies for my motorhome and my wife’s car both include a DOC ‘permitted’ clause. Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
spospe Posted August 18, 2016 Author Share Posted August 18, 2016 Thanks to you all for your observations and it is reassuring to know that some insurers do still offer Third Party cover when driving another insured vehicle. What brought the matter to my mind was an incident earlier this year that I was involved in. We live on a steep hill and one morning a lady driver dropping her son off at school, got out of her car which she had just parked outside our house. As she walked round the car, her son managed to release the handbrake and the car set off down the hill backwards with him in it. It veered across the road and crashed into a series of other cars before slowing to a temporary halt. I ran after the car and managed to reapply the handbrake before the car ran away again. The lady driver was so upset, she could not do anything, about the situation, so I got in the car and moved it to a place of safety. i.e. I "drove" the car uninsured and it was this incident which sparked my interest in the subject and caused me to ask Safeguard about their cover at renewal time. The lady's insurance company refused to pay out on her claim, citing a get-out clause along the lines that they would use if the car had been stolen because the keys had been left in it and the engine running. I suffered no consequences from my actions. Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
alanedwin Posted August 19, 2016 Share Posted August 19, 2016 This is interesting because I have just checked with the Caravan Club and my insurance does NOT allow me to drive other vehicles third party. So I wonder why some of us can and others not? Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
spospe Posted August 19, 2016 Author Share Posted August 19, 2016 The main message from this thread is, do not assume you have Third Party cover if all you have is a motorhome policy (or any other type for that matter). Assumption is a dangerous thing at times. Caveat Emptor. Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
stvekay Posted August 20, 2016 Share Posted August 20, 2016 I had a bad experience with insurance about 30 years ago. I always had fully comp domestic use and any thing connected to my own business/ excluding hire and reward etc. After a head on collision(not my fault) I found not even insured to travel to and from work!! I now read as much as i can when changing company's, as I had filled out the proposal exactly as I always had. Lesson learnt. Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Wirralian Posted August 22, 2016 Share Posted August 22, 2016 My current Comfort insurance policy provides third party cover to drive any other 'vehicle' (with the usual provisos). On the other hand, my wife's LV car insurance policy is specific about driving other 'cars'. But interestingly, it goes on to imply that she is not coved third party to drive a van which has been adapted to carry passengers but can drive a car/van not exceeding 3.5 gross vehicle weight (GVW). Can we stretch a point that a motorhome not exceeding 3.5 gross is not a van adapted to carry passengers?! John L Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
malc d Posted August 22, 2016 Share Posted August 22, 2016 spospe - 2016-08-19 7:10 PM The main message from this thread is, do not assume you have Third Party cover if all you have is a motorhome policy (or any other type for that matter). Assumption is a dangerous thing at times. Caveat Emptor. .................. and don't just look at the cost of the insurance - lowest ain't always best ! ;-) Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
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