Latest Advice

Could Driving Your Car This Morning Have Invalidated Your Car Insurance?

You could have invalidated your car insurance this morning by simply driving to work due to a decision you made while taking out your insurance. Selecting the correct class of use is crucial as each use has several restrictions that could dictate how you use the vehicle.

Class of use refers to what situations and scenarios you can use your car for.

Some categories are all inclusive and have no restrictions but some may only be used for social and domestic trips and may not cover your morning commute.

It is essential that the correct class of use is selected because otherwise you could invalidate your premium and have claims rejected.

Social, Domestic and Pleasure Use

This type of cover refers to the vehicle being used by named drivers, for non-work-related driving only.

It will also cover things such as driving to the shops, seeing family and friends and other ordinary tasks.

Commuting Use

Commuter policies include all the same allowances as Social, Domestic and Pleasure Use, but will also cover you to drive to and from a permanent place of work.

It also includes driving to the train station and parking your car. This means that if you drive to different places of work; such as different offices or sites or external meetings then you will need business use.

One grey area with commuting policies is that some insurers will allow you to drop other people off at work and some won’t so it is worth checking.

For example, you may have Commuting Use but if get into an accident driving your partner to work you may not be covered.

Business Use

Business is slightly more complex than the other two uses and has multiple levels.

All policies include the above benefits and also allows all of your business-related driving away from your normal place of work.

Another business use can allow the car to be used by additional drivers or a spouse.

In addition to these two versions is Commercial Travelling Use, which may be needed if driving is a key factor in your work.

This includes thing such as selling goods on the road or deliveries.

“It’s crucial you’re declaring the correct class of use when taking out a car insurance policy otherwise you could land yourself in hot water. Class of use tends to have a bearing on the level of risk you are deemed to an insurer, and can, therefore, affect the cost of your premium.

Usually, for example, business users are considered a higher risk than social and domestic drivers, so you can expect the premium to be slightly higher. Remember to be honest about the car’s use when you apply for cover, otherwise you could risk invalidating your car insurance and having any claim you make rejected.”

Matt Oliver

Here’s a few other ways that might help you keep costs down and avoid making a costly error.

1. Use the right job title

Your occupation is one of the major pieces of information that insurers use to work out your insurance premium and some occupations are viewed as more ‘risky’ than others.

In some cases there may be more than one job title on a pre-defined list that accurately describes what you do and depending on what you select you could make some savings.

It’s not just those in full-time work that this applies to, for instance, if you’re a full-time parent, retired or a full-time student make absolutely sure you’re selecting those titles and not ‘unemployed’.

It’s important to always make sure you’re honest when giving your job details as knowingly misrepresenting yourself will invalidate your cover.

2. Adding a more experienced driver to your policy

Many inexperienced and young drivers add a more experienced, low-risk driver to their policy. New drivers usually save money by adding a parent on to their policy as it makes the overall risk slightly lower, as they won’t be the only one driving the car.

What people must be aware of though is the issue of ‘fronting’, where younger or less experienced drivers claim to be the ‘named’ – additional driver when they’re actually the sole or main user of the vehicle. In this instance, using a more experienced driver to bring the cost down is illegal, so it’s worth people bearing this in mind when taking out a policy.

Drivers caught ‘fronting’ can face a huge fine and their insurance could be cancelled.