N/A - DOC insurance (or lack of)

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Mon 12 Oct 2020 11:17
N/A - DOC insurance (or lack of) - MorfA

Hello

I have a bit of sensitive situation that I was hoping to get quick advice on. I am a named driver on a car belonging to my mother (but only driven by me normally). My mother is the main policy holder, but she has basically gifted the car to me and my wife.

My mother in law is visiting from Spain. The car insurance rules there appear to be quite different. In summary: she keeps taking this car for short trips, with her daughter's permission but not necessarily mine. I keep trying to explain that with me being a named driver but not main policy holder, I don't think my permission (which I'd be happy to give if I knew we were on the right side of the law) is sufficient. She is insured in Spain, but I don't know if anything her Spanish car insurance policy says about DOC or equivalent will mean anything here?

She is taking the car to help out with shopping etc while I work from home and we both care for our new baby, but the situation is stressing me out a bit as neither she nor my wife seem to care much about the risk!

Could anyone help me with a summary of the likely legality or not here, plus what would be likely to happen to the MIL, or me as named drive, or MY mother should she be stopped by police?

Thanks

MA

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Mon 12 Oct 2020 11:32
N/A - DOC insurance (or lack of) - daveyjp

This is a potentially expensive mess which needs sorting out.

Your mum can be registered keeper

Your mum can be main policy holder.

You can be a named driver

You can be the main driver

Any claim will be against your mums policy and her NCB will be affected.

If mum in law has an accident it could get expensive and messy for her. Accidents do happen at low speed in car parks and consequences can be catastrophic.

If mum in law is driving get her added as an extra driver now. Shouldn't cost too much.

If the car is in effect yours it would cleaner for you to be registered keeper, you to have the main policy and add mum and mum in law as additional drivers.

Edited by daveyjp on 12/10/2020 at 11:33

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Mon 12 Oct 2020 12:32
N/A - DOC insurance (or lack of) - RT

To hopefully clear away any misunderstanding - if your mother is the registered keeper and main policy holder and you are the main driver, then the insurer needs to know this otherwise you and your mother are guilty of "fronting".

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Mon 12 Oct 2020 13:11
N/A - DOC insurance (or lack of) - galileo

To hopefully clear away any misunderstanding - if your mother is the registered keeper and main policy holder and you are the main driver, then the insurer needs to know this otherwise you and your mother are guilty of "fronting".

Exactly. Change the insurance to you being the "Main driver" on the policy (as is the case in reality) or your insurer will be very unhappy.

The only reason the insurance is as it is is to get a lower premium than you would get as main driver, so you/your mother have knowingly given false information on the proposal.

The lady from Spain is most probably uninsured and should not drive (unless she has taken out a policy to cover her in this vehicle in the UK )

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Mon 12 Oct 2020 13:12
N/A - DOC insurance (or lack of) - Bromptonaut

I've no clear idea about Spanish insurance but I think the UK is a bit of an outlier in insuring the driver rather than the car. France and Ireland I know both require the vehicle to be insured and certificate displayed in the offside of the windscreen.

Under that set up I doubt there's any equivalent of the "DOC" concept; no need as it's the car which is insured.

As already pointed out the answer is straightforward; get your MiL added to the policy either permanently as another named driver or temporarily if she's only here for a short time. It's not normally expensive, at least for the short term option. I've added my kids that way when they were still under 25 and cost was a few tens of pounds. If the MiL is Spanish and has a Spanish licence it might be a bit more difficult but not insuperable.

DO NOT let her drive again until the insurance is in place. Driving without insurance attracts a significant penalty, both financial and points. As you/your Mum my be seen as having permitted the offence one, the other or both of you are in the frame too.

Not just the risk of an accident, even a car park scrape. If she gets flashed by a speed camera and you name a 'foreign' driver then, given the number of people trying that as a 'get out' for speed camera infractions inquiries are likely as to whether the driver was insured. Outcome as above in terms of cause/permit charges for you and or your Mother.

And finally, as RT says, make sure the insurer is aware of who the car's main user is.

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Mon 12 Oct 2020 13:25
N/A - DOC insurance (or lack of) - MorfA

Thank you for all the frank answers, folks.

This gives me the ammo I need to put my foot down on this issue. Though I'm unlikely to avoid a row (believe it or not), it's better than having to worry about what could happen. I will get all of this sorted.

In laws.......:-/

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Mon 12 Oct 2020 13:58
N/A - DOC insurance (or lack of) - Brit_in_Germany

Just to add to this - by permitting a non-insured driver to drive the car, in the event of an accident then the insurance company can come back and claim their costs from the car owner, potentially bankrupting your mum. §151(7) RTA 1988

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Thu 15 Oct 2020 15:50
N/A - DOC insurance (or lack of) - jc2

Both DOC and named drivers' insurance are available in France tho' not frequently offered-I don't know about Spain-you need to contact a supplier.

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