Can I drive someone else's car on my own insurance?
Where the driving other cars extension came from, why it is now rare, what it covers when it does exist, and the one document that settles it.
- Difficulty
- beginner
- Time
- 15 min
- Read
- 5 min
- Safety
- warning
Short answer
Only if your certificate of motor insurance says so. Driving other cars cover — DOC — was once common on comprehensive policies and has been steadily withdrawn, so most drivers no longer have it. Where it exists it gives third party cover only, usually requires you to be the policyholder and over a certain age, and requires the other car to have its own valid policy. Check the certificate itself, and never assume it because you hold comprehensive cover.
This is one of the most confidently held wrong beliefs in British motoring. For years a comprehensive policy usually carried a clause permitting the policyholder to drive another car with the owner's permission, and a generation learned it as a rule. Insurers have removed it from most policies since, partly because it was widely misunderstood and widely abused. The belief has outlived the cover, which is why people are still stopped by the police having driven a friend's car in good faith.
Safety
Step by step
- Find your certificate of motor insurance.Not the policy schedule and not the booklet — the certificate. It is the document that states who may drive and on what terms, and it is the document a police officer or a court looks at. It is usually available in your insurer's app or online account as well as on paper.
- Read the section headed 'persons or classes of persons entitled to drive'.If driving other cars is included, this section says so in terms — commonly something like 'the policyholder may also drive a motor car not belonging to them and not hired to them under a hire purchase agreement'. If that wording is absent, the cover is absent. Silence is not permission.
- Understand what it covers when it exists.Third party only, regardless of the level of cover on your own policy. If you damage the borrowed car, it is not covered. If you damage someone else's car or injure someone, it is. That asymmetry catches people out badly, because the borrowed car is usually the one that gets damaged.
- Check the conditions attached to it.Typical conditions include being the named policyholder rather than a named driver, being over a stated age, having the owner's express permission, the other vehicle not being owned by or hired to you, your own vehicle still being in your possession and not written off, and the other vehicle having its own valid policy in force. Every one of these is a condition, and failing any of them means no cover.
- Note the emergency-use restriction if it appears.Some policies restrict the extension to emergency use or to a limited number of days. Where that restriction exists, driving a friend's car for convenience is outside it. Read the wording rather than reasoning from what feels reasonable.
- Use the right alternative instead.If you need to drive someone else's car, the recognised routes are being added to their policy as a named driver, or a temporary policy taken out in your own name on their vehicle. Both are ordinary products, both take minutes, and both leave a document that proves cover.
- Remember the borrowed car's own policy is not the answer.An owner's policy covers whoever it names. Unless it says 'any driver' — rare on private policies — it does not cover you simply because you have permission from the owner. Permission from the owner and cover from an insurer are unrelated things.
- Check the vehicle is insured before you drive it, not after.Even where driving other cars cover exists, it usually requires the other vehicle to have its own policy in force. The owner can check the Motor Insurance Database through askMID for their own vehicle. Driving an uninsured vehicle collapses the extension entirely.
Tips
- If in doubt, phone your insurer and ask them to confirm in writing or by email whether you hold driving other cars cover and on what conditions. A screenshot of that reply is worth having.
- Driving other cars cover is not the same as any-driver cover and not the same as being a named driver. Three different things, three different documents.
- It usually does not extend to vans, motorcycles or hired vehicles. The wording almost always says 'motor car'.
Common mistakes
- Assuming comprehensive cover automatically includes driving other cars — It once usually did and now usually does not. The assumption is the single commonest route to an unintended uninsured driving offence.
- Relying on the owner's permission — Permission from an owner is not insurance. Only a policy that names you, or an extension on your own certificate, provides cover.
- Using the extension to drive a car regularly — Where it exists it is generally intended for occasional or emergency use, and some policies say so explicitly. Regular use of a second car should be insured properly.
Questions people ask
How do I know whether I have driving other cars cover?
Read your certificate of motor insurance. If it does not explicitly permit you to drive a car not belonging to you, you do not have it. No general rule about cover levels or insurers can answer this — only your own certificate can.
If I have it, am I covered if I damage the car I have borrowed?
No. The extension gives third party cover only unless the certificate says otherwise. Damage to the borrowed vehicle is not covered, which is the opposite of what most people assume.
Can a named driver on my policy drive other cars?
Almost never. Where the extension exists it is usually restricted to the policyholder. Named drivers are covered on the insured vehicle only.
What is the penalty if I get it wrong?
Driving without valid insurance carries a £300 fixed penalty and 6 penalty points at the roadside, according to GOV.UK. In court the fine is unlimited and the court can disqualify. The police also have the power to seize and in some cases destroy the vehicle.