Car insurance oversight could cancel out holiday savings

Inadequate insurance cover could cost British motorists dear this summer, cancelling out savings made on cheap cross-Channel deals, warns Privilege Insurance.

Competition between cross-Channel travel providers might make a road trip on the Continent more affordable, but failing to add all drivers to the policy before setting off could make this a false economy in the event of an accident. Even if friends or family members are insured to drive other cars under their own policies in the UK, this may only give them third party cover when they get behind the wheel of your car — and may not even offer any cover at all when overseas.

Sharing the driving on long trips is good practice — particularly when you are not used to the rules of the road in a foreign country. However, if additional drivers are not already named on the insurance policy, the policyholder should make sure they are added as ‘temporary additional drivers’, enabling them to drive with the same cover as the person insured.

In common with many other insurers, the cover for driving other cars extended to policyholders by Privilege is only intended for emergency use and will just pay for damages to a third party. To ensure they have the same level of comprehensive cover, temporary additional drivers should always be added to the policy.

For a small additional premium, which will vary depending on the personal details of the driver to be added, Privilege allows policyholders to add an additional driver to their policy for up to 30 days — ideal for motorists wanting to share the driving on long holiday journeys. The average ‘temporary additional driver’ amendment last year was 12 days, pointing to their use for just this sort of road trip. Policyholders can add temporary drivers up to a total of 90 days during a year.

Ian Parker, Managing Director of Privilege Insurance advised: "In the excitement of planning a holiday it is easy to forget to check your car insurance policy. Finding yourself without adequate cover in a foreign country could not only spoil a good holiday — it could also prove costly as your insurance claim may not be valid if the driver at the time of an accident is not covered."