Conference terri::cars_uk

Who is your car with currently ?

>    Does anyone know of insurance companies which will insure a US driver
>    for a month of my (personnel) car, at a reasonable cost (less than 150
>    pounds)?
 

	Have you tried adding an "any driver over 35" to a policy.

	We changed our policy from 2-named drivers, to "any driver over 35" 
	and it cost us an additional 30 quid for the year.
	

	Heather

Dodgy.

A US citizen driving your car is a material contribution to the potential 
losses your Insurance Company may suffer. And you haven't disclosed it.

What this means in practice is, that if you get stopped by a policemen, then 
the driver will be covered. This is because there are limitations to 
the restricitions that may be put on a certificate of insurance. However, if 
he had an accident, only the third party injury (may include TP damage these 
days) will be paid; this is all detailed within the policy rather than the 
certificate. Theoretically they could avoid the entire claim, but they will 
then be asked to pay it by the relevant bodies. You will have to withstand 
your own losses and potentially re-imburse the insurance company for any 
payoout they made. In addition they will decline your insurance in future, 
and this will massively affect your insurance premiums with anyone else.

Insofar as declaring who you are adding, then the effect on your policy 
(pocket) depends on the Insurance COmpany. For example, the Norwich Union are 
quite liberal about foreign nationals in general, and US nationals in 
particular. OThers most definitely are not.

US Nationals are considered a liability since they are entitled (as we all 
are) to sue from either the country in which the incident occurred or their 
own country. The civil liablity payments in the US are the problem.

M.

You could try contacting your own insurance company and asking them.

My insurance agent (Co-op) has told me that I can temporarily add an extra 
driver to my "self & spouse" policy for a small administrative fee.
I would expect it to be quite a common request for insurance companies
to deal with.

Carol.

    Re: .1
    
    My car is currently with the RAC Insurance.
    
    S.

    Re: .2
    
    As I am currently 27, any driver over 35 would rather cut me out of
    things! 8^)
    
    Of course if any one out in digital land (Reading) is going on holiday
    around the weekend of 7th to 10th of August and would like to have
    someone look after there leese mobile, instead of having to park it in
    an airport car park, and risk it being stolen/broken into, then I would
    be glad to volunteer! 8^)
    
    Cheers, 
    
    Steve

>                           -< Re: Heather's note.. >-
>
>
>Dodgy.
>
>A US citizen driving your car is a material contribution to the potential 
>losses your Insurance Company may suffer. And you haven't disclosed it.

	Are you saying that a policy which states any person over 35 actually
	doesn't mean that, and it limits you to British people?

	Heather 

    re .several 
    
    Well my wife is a US citizen, and is insured to drive my car. I didn't
    declare that she is a US citizen on the proposal form -- does that
    leave us in a dodgy situation if she prangs the car?
    
    John

Re: Last two

I would, in both cases, tell the Insurance Companies concerned. It *IS* a 
material fact, and even if they decide not to charge, they still must be 
told. IF they say it's ok, you've lost nothing. If they get difficult, you've 
potentially saved yourself a nasty situation.

More specifically - Heather

No, that wasn't what I said. Pick up your Insurance Certificate, What does it 
say under driving restrictions ? Read your Policy, what does it say under 
declaration of material fact. (Material or not is something they will decide. 
It says, if in doubt, tell them). 

Your Insurance Company is unlikely to be the RAC, I suspect they are the 
brokers. Do you know who the Ins. Co. is ? (the Ins. Cert. will tell you.)

M.

John,

Didn't the proposal form ask some sort of nationality related question ? I 
know they had trouble with this and they were potentially going to have to 
remove the question from the form, but I don't know if they did. I've been 
out of the industry for 6 years now.

M.

    re .10
    
    As far as I recall, there was no nationality question on the proposal
    form. (It was a Norwich Union form). However I did clearly state that 
    my wife has had a US licence for x years (she doesn't have a British one 
    yet) so they may or may not have construed something from that.
    
    John

    Mark's correct. Most insurance policies have what's called a
    "claw-back" clause, which basically states that if you fail to disclose
    something they later consider a material fact, although they will
    fullfil their legal obligations as regards paying out, they will take
    action against you to recover their losses.
    
    A good example of this is a student at college in London who 'comes'
    from say, the wilds of Yorkshire. If he/she told his local (to home)
    brokers he still lived there, and yet in reality spent a large
    proportion of his/her time in London, in the event of an accident, the
    insurer could invoke "claw-back". They would do this because the time
    spent in London seriously affected their risk, hence the premium, and
    hence was a "material fact". I realise a lot of people do this sort of
    thing all the time, and get away with it, but if it were a very
    serious claim, say multiple deaths through bad driving, the insured
    would be in it "good and proper". Yes, Mark?
    
    Laurie.

Yes.

Usually it's worse because not only is the location wrong, they've insured it 
in the parent's name. Sure you save yourself 200 quid, but the ramifications 
can be awful. ALthough, an Insurer will find it tough to prove in the event 
of a single claim. In fact, what they will normally do is agree to pay the 
claim if you pay all the back premiums you should have paid. However, that 
depends on the seriousness.

Re: John

It sounds as if you may have mentioned your wife's nationality to your 
broker, hence they've put you with Norwich Union. But, if I were you, I'd 
double check in writing.