Hello All,
I've just renewed our insurance and came across something that is a bit of a suprise to me. The Wife uses the car to drive to and from one place of work. she will however once in a while drive the car to a course or seminar (Possibly twice a year) when i told the insurance company this they replied that i needed Business insurance (At a cost of about an extra 20 pounds). I've paid this as i don't believe there's any point trying to save a few quid on insurance by being economical with the truth and then finding out they won't pay up in the case of an accident.
Having looked at a few other insurance companies they all seem to be doing the same.
How many people out there are aware of this I wonder. I've been driving for 13 years and always been very careful with insurance - yet this is the first i've heard of it.
Is this a new thing or have I just been buying the wrong insurance for the last few years?
Edited by Pugugly on 21/10/2009 at 16:17
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Its fair - if she works for a public authority they will insist that she has and is able to prove that she has business cover. I agree that some people may unwittingly be breaking the law in this respect.
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Agreed - the OP already has his answer from the insurance company - not worth taking any chances for £20.
But...
I wonder where someone who travels from home to more than one place of work stands?
I'm sure many of us work in a regional office and get called in to spend the odd day at headquarters.
Another example: I know staff who work at chain fast food restaurants and mobile phone shops are often deployed to another branch for a day or two now and again.
If that's all a worker is doing, I think it's a bit unreasonable to have to pay for business cover - a person can travel from home to more than one place of business.
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I wonder where someone who travels from home to more than one place of work stands?
I work from home and get asked to meetings in various different offices at times, so I asked my insurance company specific questions about this kind of situation.
Apparently, as long as you only drive to and back to one place of work in a day, that is classified as commuting.
If you go to any other work places during that day, it becomes business travel.
i.e. the insurance company doesn't care where your place of work is, but it must be one singular place in any one day.
That's my insurance co. take it on, others may vary...
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Oil burner - same as I was informed. If during the course of a day you need to go from your place of work for that day to any other location before returning home business use should be purchased.
Of course your employer should be paying mileage to cover the extra costs of using your vehicle to undertake travel whilst at work.
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CIS (Co-op) told me a few years ago that they include business cover as standard as so many people are in this position now. Another well known company does too - Direct Line??
In the OP's case, it would be normal to be claiming travel expenses for going to a seminar and that certainly would trigger a requirement for business cover.
My daughter added business cover to her policy mid-year (she's a teacher and was having to visit other schools) and her premium went down! Admiral refunded her £15. I've since heard Admiral can be weird like that - they sometimes quote lower for cars parked on-street than on a driveway.
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Some employers have insurance to cover their employees using their own cars for occasional business use - normally subject to declaring each trip before it is undertaken.
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I need business cover on my policy. It can actually work out cheaper than "normal" insurance for some reason. Zurich are often competitive for these policies for what it's worth.
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Is this a new thing or have I just been buying the wrong insurance for the last few years? >>
Been the same for all the time I have had insurance. Different categories of business use has been explained before in other threads, but the following explains one company's view of what it is all about:
www.quotea.co.uk/business/business-use-insurance-d...p
If the car is being used in connection with work, either to visit clients or more than one place of work, the client will need a level of business cover.
Class 1
It is only the Regular Driver and Spouse who may have business use class 1. Business cover does NOT extend to cover any other named drivers on the policy, although the named drivers may still use the car for social, domestic and pleasure purposes.
Class 2
Class 2 covers named drivers and the RD/Sp business use. The named drivers only have the business use cover when they are driving the car in connection with the business of the main driver, They do NOT have cover if they are driving for the business of a different employer.
Class 3
Class 3 use provides business cover for the transportation of light goods, which have already been purchased, for example, pizzas or flowers. The driver who needs cover while selling services on a "door to door" basis will be covered by this option.
Note: Irrespective of whether or not the client is getting paid for the work that they do, they may require business use if they are either carrying passengers in the car or using the car to travel between places of work during the day.
Most companies do not charge extra for class 1.
Edited by jbif on 21/10/2009 at 19:00
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Thanks for all the replies. As I said before I have no problem with paying the extra £20 and being on the right side of the insurance company /law. Interestingly enough i've mentioned this to a number of friends / colleagues and they were all unaware of this. Does make you wonder how many people out there are unwittingly driving around without the proper cover.
Might just be me but I think this is something the insurance comapnies should make a lot clearer. I only found this out when I asked a direct question. Naively it would appear I spent the last few years thinking that the word "commuting" covered driving to and from the same workplace and the odd course / seminar.
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Summarising what others have said, I'd have thought the "odd seminar" was commuting, IF you went there independently from home and then home again.
The distinction seems to be if you go somewhere else during the course of the day.
Eg you go into work first, then take a colleague to the seminar, then drop him off on the way home, you are clearly "using the car for business". Likewise if you report in to the office and then have to go and see someone in the afternoon at another office.
There is a grey area where you make a small diversion on your way in to work in order to pick something up, or you nip out in the lunch hour to do some personal shopping but also stock up on office tea bags. It would be unfortunate to have an accident in that time and be found to have 1000 catering size tea bags in the boot, or a pack of whiteboard markers.
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Our company inisists that, if you claim mileage expenses, then you must certify that you have appropriate business insurance.
Occasionally, they will ask to see you insurance certificate (and driving license) to check. They have also been known to ask to see MOT certifcates to prove vehicle is roadworthy.
Yes, we have paranoid Health & Safety people!
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Cliff Pope said: >> "It would be unfortunate to have an accident in that time and be found to have 1000 catering size tea bags in the boot, or a pack of whiteboard markers." >>
Chris79 said: >> "Does make you wonder how many people out there are unwittingly driving around without the proper cover." >>
No problem. Simples. In these instances, when you make a claim, the Insurance Ombudsman requires insurance companies to treat your claim as if you were properly insured but allows them to take a cut for the extra premium that they would have charged had you declared the correct usage pattern for your car at inception of the Policy; an exception from this rule of thumb is allowed in cases where the undeclared use is intentional/deliberate/fraudulent or the undeclared use is of a type that the insurance company refuses to quote for in its normal day to day business.
Relax, it is not something to worry about if you have made a mistake such as described by Chris79.
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I'm an opt-out former company car driver and I've certainly read of cases where the insurance company won't pay out.
Be careful on the place of work thing - some companies specify "usual" or "regular", so if you go anywhere else you could be in difficulty.
I know this is PR, but it's interesting nontheless: tinyurl.com/yhf7xc4
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