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Can car insurance be in someone else’s name?

If you have your own car insurance, it may allow you to drive other cars without having to be a named driver on someone else’s policy. This cover may be for the third party only, which is restrictive cover. If you are a named driver on a comprehensive policy in someone else’s name, you will also be insured fully comprehensive.

Insuring a car you don’t own

When taking out a car insurance quote, most insurance policies expect that you are the owner and registered keeper of the car. If you don’t own the car, some insurers will have restrictions about the cars you can insure. Usually, you can only insure a partner’s car, one owned by a parent, an employer's car or a leased vehicle.

Most insurers assume that you own the car insured. If this is not the case, and you have not told the insurance company about ownership details, the policy will be invalid.

It is possible to take out your own car insurance policy to cover you for a vehicle that the owner has also insured, though you must not be the main driver. Some insurers will charge you more for a policy to cover a car that you do not own, but like all insurance cover, it can pay to shop around or use price comparison sites.

The registered keeper of a car may not be the owner. For example, if you have a company car, your company owns the vehicle but you can be registered as the keeper. The company may have an insurance policy that covers all the cars it owns. You will be qualified to drive the car and be covered by the company in this instance.

If you hire a rental car, you will have insurance cover to drive it, but may face hefty excess charges for any damage. You can take out additional insurance to cover these excess charges.

Can car insurance be in someone else’s name if I’m the main driver?

Insurance companies expect the person who takes out a car insurance policy is the main driver. Any other person named as a driver must not be the main driver.

It is cheaper to add a young inexperienced driver to an insurance policy than to take out a policy in their name. A parent may be tempted to take out a policy as the main driver and add a son or daughter as a named driver. If the son or daughter is involved in an accident and the insurance company finds out that they are in reality the main driver and not the parent, the insurance claim may be rejected.

If the parent is insured as the main driver with their child as a named driver and the parent never or only rarely drives the vehicle, this is known as “fronting” and is illegal.

This means it’s best to be truthful when insuring a car with other named drivers, and be honest about declaring who is the main driver.

Make sure you are covered

If you want to drive a car not insured in your name, you will be able to drive it on the owner’s insurance policy as long as the car insurance company is informed and you have paid any extra charges. Always check the extent of the insurance cover and be aware of any excess charges should you make a claim.

Don’t assume that your own car insurance covers you to drive someone else's car. Check your policy documents carefully to find out and be aware of the risks if you are only covered for third party.

Other related FAQs

Looking for more related content to this? We’ve picked a selection of related topics that you may find helpful

In the UK, every car is allocated an insurance group. This helps insurance companies determine the cost of cover. The groups run from 1, which offers the cheapest premiums, to 50, which offers the highest. The cheapest car insurance group is therefore group 1.

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Car insurance can go up for a number of reasons – especially if you’ve had an accident or received a fixed penalty in the last year. If you haven’t, you might find you’re just getting a poor deal when your deal automatically renews – so don’t be afraid to shop around until you’ve got a better price.

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There are a number of reasons why car insurance quotes can change, such as if you’ve recently changed your address, or for reasons out of your control, like government tax increases.

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If you’ve had an accident of any kind, you’ll need to report it to your insurer soon afterwards. When you do, they’ll seek a detailed explanation of what’s happened and assess the damage done to your car. When they have a clear understanding of what’s occurred – and assuming you have fully comprehensive cover, they’ll arrange to repair your vehicle – or pay its market value if it’s written off.

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Insurers generally do not offer the facility to put your car insurance on hold – and cancelling and restarting your car insurance cover rarely makes financial sense. If you’ve got a reason for needing a break in cover, talk to a specialist company who cater for your circumstances – like classic car insurers or student policy providers.

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Unfortunately, it’s impossible to accurately calculate how much your car insurance is going to cost without getting a range of quotes. As well as looking at national driving statistics, insurers will seek a huge amount of information about you and your vehicle before deciding on a personalised price.

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Generally speaking, your car insurance covers your vehicle and damage that you may cause to other vehicles and motorists. Depending on the type of policy, it can also cover a range of additional extras, such as medical expenses and breakdown assistance

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Backdating car insurance cannot be done under any circumstances. Since it is a criminal offence to do so, you will not find any broker or insurance company who will be able to do this for you.

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If you make a claim on your insurance policy, car insurance excess is the amount you will pay towards that claim. There are two types of car insurance excess – one compulsory, the other voluntary. The compulsory excess that your insurance company sets is the amount you must pay towards any repair done to your vehicle if you cause an accident. The voluntary excess is an optional amount on top of this – which means you’ll pay more towards repairs – but your annual premium price will come down in exchange.

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A no claims bonus is a discount that’s applied after your insurance premium is calculated by a car insurance provider. The discount doesn’t stop your premium from going up; instead, it simply gives you a percentage off your premium – and that discount grows with every claim-free motoring year you have.

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