Long trips, shared driving and car insurance

Whether you're visiting friends or family in other parts of the country, or exploring the UK in all its scenic beauty, sharing the driving can help make the trip more relaxing for everyone.

No matter where you’re going or what you’re doing, you need to make sure that whoever takes the wheel is insured to drive the car. Here’s how.

Drive-any-car cover

Some car insurance policies provide cover that lets the policyholder drive another person’s car, so long as they have permission. Quite often however, this is only in the event of an emergency or where a temporary one-off necessity exists.

Even if your situation fits the bill, the cover is generally third-party only. This means that if the driver has an accident, the insurance will pay towards the damages suffered by anyone else involved, but not for the car they are driving. Nor will it pay out if the vehicle is stolen, or damaged/destroyed by fire.

So if someone with drive-any-car cover is going to be driving, make sure the circumstances meet their insurance requirements. You should also agree up front how to foot the bill for any repairs in the event of an accident.

Named-driver cover

Many couples already have a joint car insurance policy, where one person is the policyholder and the other is a named driver. The policy gives them both the same level of cover.

It’s also possible to add other named drivers to a policy, sometimes on a temporary basis. This is worth thinking about if you’ve got a trip coming up and want to share the driving.

There will be a fee for making an adjustment to the policy and an additional premium to insure the new named driver, but it’s a simple process. Get in touch with your insurer and they’ll tell you exactly what’s involved.

Whichever option you choose, it won’t take long to get sorted. You can then relax and concentrate on enjoying the trips you’ve got planned.

To check out the details of your existing Co-op Car Insurance or to get a quote for a new policy, visit our car insurance page.