Thread: traders policy not covering new driver

hi everyone, i hold a traders policy for which i am a named driver for the pupose of motortrade and social domestic including pleasure etc, it is renewed on a monthly basis, my half sister passed her driving test 1 week ago, so i bought her a little fieseta as a present, now in accordance with my policy anybody could drive my cars with my permission, so i put the car in my name as we all know how much young drivers are charged nowadays! the thing is she was stoped on saturday just gone and was asked to produce insurance etc, no problem i thought so i posted my insurance policy to her as i live in suffolk and she lives in sunny london! but after reading the small print, i realised that she would only be covered if i was in fact with her at the time which i was not! now after phoning my insurance company apparently this had been changed in the new year and i failed to notice, my big mistake???? my sister has to attent the police station on this coming saturday to produce, now my problem is that the new driver law states that in the first two years she must not acumilate more 6 pionts or more or her driving licence will be revoked and she will have to first apply for a new provisional and start all over again, and for what? a stupid misunderstanding in the first week of driving and it was her first day of driving a car having fully past too, she has now taken out her own car insurance and is attending a pass plus course tommorrow, is there anything i/we can do??? please help!

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Did your broker/insurer tell you of the change before your last renewal?

The only thing you can do is hope they don't notice the small print. On the bright side lucky you found out before she had an accident and did several thousand £'s worth of uninsured damage to someone elses car and ended up paying out of her own pocket.

Most motor trade policies are named and approved drivers only. Frequently demonstration cover for motor trade purposes is automatically included, conditional on the 'test driver' being accompanied by the policyholder or another motor trade employee.

You state "so i bought her a little fieseta as a present, now in accordance with my policy anybody could drive my cars with my permission, so i put the car in my name as we all know how much young drivers are charged nowadays!" As an inexperienced driver this would have justified additional premium, even on your policy!

My suspicion is that the scenario you describe would not have been covered even on the former basis that you refer to. Motor trade policies do not cover vehicles belonging to employees or other persons, only those that belong to the policyholder or to the policyholders customers. Even when covered for social domestic and pleasure, the policyholder can normally only drive their own vehicles or their motor trade customers vehicles - For example, they cannot just borrow a friend's car and drive it for pleasure. It is a trade policy and this fact must not be foregotton.

26 years in dealing with traders' covers!

H

Helford, you state that it is a trade policy. I have employed a polish driving licence holder as the company's driver only to find that I cannot put him on the motor trade policy. He has held the polish licence for 12 years, but has recently moved to London, but the insurers wants 2 years of residential documental evidence. I have tried to explain that he is new to London and I was not informed of this rule. Does anyone know what I can do about this situation?

1jasmine, best to start your own thread in the insurance forum!

All insurers have their own rules. Might be worth approaching a Broker. It might be better to insure a specific vehicle (if possible) with the Polish driver specifically disclosed to insurers.

H