At the heart of the specialist car sector is, quite simply, the love of driving and in this our latest article on what sets Lockton's policy apart from other insurers, we'll be looking at how we make driving your car simpler – both for you and for others.
The majority of motor insurance policies, for privately owned vehicles, are issued on what's termed a “named driver” basis. In a world of technical words and phrases, this one's refreshingly simple – it means that your policy covers the driver/s named specifically.
For the majority of car owners and households, this works perfectly. The owner of the vehicle will almost always be the main policyholder and then name their partner, and any other drivers they need to be insured.
Most motor policies can also provide what is known as “driving other cars” cover. Again, a simple term used to describe what is insured. This extends your policy to apply when you drive another vehicle but there are a few important points to take on board;
- The cover usually applies to the policyholder only and not named drivers.
- Cover is on a Third Party Only basis – this means that there is no cover for any damage to the vehicle being driven.
- The vehicle you are driving must have an insurance policy and you must have the permission of the owner to drive it.
- It isn't provided as standard. Some insurers will restrict availability to drivers over a certain age for example.
- It is sometimes referred to as “emergency” cover, but this is rarely defined within a policy wording.
It is also worth highlighting that many “multi vehicle” policies still have a single main policyholder, meaning that additional vehicles belonging to other family members may not receive the “driving other cars” extension.
So how is Lockton different?
Our clients are enthusiast owners. They generally take more care of their vehicles and use them less frequently. The claims statistics support this as we simply have fewer claims.
Many are also members of a car club. This means that they will spend time with fellow enthusiasts, a lot of it behind the wheel. They are also likely to have friends with similar vehicles.
Our policy will allow anyone aged over 35 who doesn't live with you to drive your cars with your permission, on a Comprehensive basis.
For your household, we can arrange for drivers to be named on your policy. This can include your domestic partner, children and anyone else who lives with you. Younger drivers may be excluded on higher performance or very expensive cars but we can design a programme around your precise requirements.
Our policy also includes cover enabling you to drive someone else's car and unlike most policies, this is on a Comprehensive basis.
Consider this scenario…a friend offers you the opportunity to drive their car. This could be during an organised club driving tour, during a road trip with a group of friends or simply because they have a different, or updated version of a car you own.
Under most motor policies, this cover would be on a Third Party Only basis. This means that if you were to damage the vehicle, there would be no cover at all – a potentially costly, not to mention embarrassing, situation to find yourself in.
We have listened to our clients and understand that this extension is something that they find very useful. It is used carefully and this is supported by the exceptionally good claims record.
Choosing insurance cover based on cost alone isn't unusual behaviour. It's been marketed for many years as the number one reason why buyers select a particular policy. We understand that highlighting a single policy benefit may not alter your buying criteria but we do hope that this article will help to explain why Lockton firmly believe that buying on price alone isn't always the best policy.
If you'd like to know more, then please talk to us today for further information.