Research conducted by Churchill Insurance has shown that, in the past 12 months, 5 million car owners have lent their car to friends or family members that were not on their insurance policy. While in other countries, insurance policies cover the use of the car for any driver, this is not the case in the UK, although some policies do cover the driver to drive other vehicles, but only with third party coverage.
Driving without insurance is considered a serious offence, and it typically carries a penalty of six penalty points, a fine of around £500, and may lead to disqualification. It has also been highlighted as being responsible for the biggest increase in insurance premiums for those drivers that are found guilty of the offence. While even receiving points for speeding can add to a premium, an IN10 conviction can add as much as 40% to an insurance policy.
Furthermore, it is not only an offence for the person driving, but it is also an offence for the car owner to let somebody use their car without checking that they have insurance. This is an IN10 infringement and it can carry the same severe penalties as driving without insurance.
According to the research by insurer Churchill, of the 5 million drivers that have said they have lent their car to another person despite them not being named on the policy, 650,000 of them, or 13%, said that they did not even check to ensure whether the other person was qualified to drive the vehicle.
When it came to the main reasons for lending the car, some were minor reasons, such as allowing the use of the vehicle to go and collect furniture or other shopping items. Some car owners asked friends to drive because they were over the limit and didn’t want to drive while drunk, while 11% lent their car to a friend so that they could commute to work. 13% of respondents said that they had lent their car to somebody else simply because they had asked.
