If you want
to drive a car, motorcycle or any other motor vehicle on a
public road, you must have a ‘certificate of motor insurance’
to prove that you are covered against any damage you do to
other people or their property. That is the minimum required
by law but it is likely that you will want insurance against
your car being stolen or damaged as well. You therefore need
to decide the level and type of cover that is approriate for
your individual needs including those of the car.
What is covered
What your car insurance covers you against depends on the
level of cover you choose to pay for.
Tthe higher the level of cover, the more you will pay.
When obtaining a car insurance quote, check cover summaries
to compare limits. If in doubt about the levels of cover for
your car, download the policy documents.
There are three main types of cover:
Third party is the most basic cover and fulfils
your legal obligations by covering you for your liability
(and possibly your legal costs) for injuries to other people
– including your passengers – and damage to other
people’s property. This type of car insurance, which
is sometimes called ‘Act only’ because it fulfils
your legal obligation under the Road Traffic Act, will also
cover you for your legal liability for injuries to other people
caused by your passengers (for example, if your friend does
not look before opening the car door and knocks a cyclist
over), and for injuries or damage caused by a caravan or trailer
attached to your car.
Third party, fire and theft insures you for
everything covered by a ‘third party’ policy and
in addition pays to repair or replace your car if it is damaged
or destroyed by fire or if it is stolen.
Comprehensive insures you against the same
things as policy for third party, fire and theft but also
provides cover for accidental damage to your car, some cover
for personal possessions left in the car – usually up
to a limit – and medical expenses which you have to
pay as a result of an accident involving your car.
Comprehensive policies also provide limited personal accident
benefit which pays out a specified lump sum if you (and sometimes
another named person insured to drive under the policy) die
or suffer certain specific injuries – typically loss
of sight or loss of a limb – in a car accident. A comprehensive
policy will generally cover you for damage to your windscreen
and other windows and it may also provide a courtesy car if
your own car is too badly damaged to drive, or while it is
being repaired, after an accident. However you should always
compare the excess levels for these claims.
Driving other cars
If you are going to drive a car that belongs to someone else,
do not assume that you will be covered by your own insurance
policy on the same basis as driving your own car. Most policies,
whether comprehensive or not, will cover you to drive a car
that belongs to someone else provided you have the owner’s
permission – but the cover is limited to third party
liability only, which means that you are not insured by your
own policy for theft of the car or any damage that you do
to it. However, if the owner of the car has comprehensive
insurance on a policy which allows any driver (without exclusion),
you will be fully covered. So if you are planning to drive
someone else’s car, do not rely on your own insurance
to cover you for more than the legal minimum. If you are a
young driver or you have a bad driving record, your insurer
may exclude cover for driving another person’s car from
the policy so that you are only allowed to drive the car that
you are insured for. Always check the policy wording to find
out any restrictions regarding driving over cars
Driving abroad
All UK car insurers provide the minimum cover required by
law in countries which have signed the Multinational Guarantee
Agreement (MGA). These countries include all the member states
of the European Union (EU) plus Norway, Hungary, Iceland,
Switzerland, and the Czech and Slovak Republics. You are guaranteed
the minimum level of cover provided by the country you are
visiting or the UK statutory minimum, whichever is greater.
This means that you do not have to take out extra insurance
to meet the legal requirements for driving in these countries.
However, if you want to be covered for more than the legal
minimum when driving abroad, check your car insurance policy:
some insurers automatically extend the cover you get in the
UK to trips abroad (although there may be a limit on the length
of each trip) while other insurers will extend cover only
at extra cost. So unless your car insurance policy specifically
says that it provides the same level of cover as you get in
the UK while you are driving abroad, you will need to read
your policy carefully beforehand.
Green Cards
If you will be driving in a country that has not signed up
to the MGA, you will need to ask your insurer for an international
motor insurance card – called a green card – which
proves that your insurance provides the minimum legal cover
for the country you will be driving in. the green card itself
does not provide any insurance cover. You can also get a green
card for driving in countries which have signed up to the
MGA and, since it is internationally recognised by the police
and other officials, this may be worthwhile. However, your
insurer is more likely to recommend that you take with you
instead your certificate of motor insurance and policy booklet
(which should give details of who to contact in the event
of an accident).
Spanish bail bonds
If you plan to drive in Spain, you will need a ‘bail
bond’ to prove that you can meet any claim for damages.
If you cannot prove this, the police can detain you and impound
your car after an accident. If a bail bond is already included
in your policy (with appropriate Spanish translation), you
should take your policy document with you. If your policy
does not include a bail bond, you will have to ask –
and possibly pay – for a separate bail bond from your
insurer.
Step 4
- What your Car Insurance quote may not or does not cover.
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