Sister in law driving uninsured my husbands car

[Hann111]

We had one of his family members weddings - 3 hours away. We left late and on the way back my sister in law took over driving on his vehicle - motorway driving and gone midnight. She's not insured on his car and I'm pregnant. I'm annoyed that my husband left the wedding so late that he then got his uninsured sister in law to drive his car half of the way. AIBU? Thanks

I would assume the OD (original driver) felt too tired to drive. Which is very dangerous of course. His wife was asleep so not the ideal person to ask, and his sister offered. I wouldn't offer if I wasn't insured personally.

Do you often over worry? This seems a lot of fuss over nothing.

If I discovered that my DH was twat enough to let someone drive his car, who he believed not to be insured to drive it, I wouldn't consider it 'nothing'. Especially if his own driving record wasn't that great (6 points on his licence).

MNers have been furious with their husbands for a lot less.

You can add LV to that list, or at least my LV policy includes it.

This isn't true at all. It had to be specified by the insurer. Lots of occupations don't get it. It's not automatic

And Saga - just checked my policy and I'm covered for driving other cars too (as I assumed I was)

Admiral policies have this cover if you are over 25 and in certain occupations. If you're in the motor trade etc you won't have it.
It will state the you are covered to drive any other insured vehicle Third Party only. It can't be your spouses vehicle however

If he didn't drink why didn't he drive home?

Oh got. OP, seriously, unclench. Nothing happened. Her insurance probably covered her anyways.

It may well not have. I've just googled and virtually every result has said that this used to be the case but it no longer is in many/most cases.

And had she had an accident, or been stopped, this is from the AA website

A driver who is involved in an accident or caught without DOC insurance, even if the car they are driving is insured by the owner, will be dealt with severely by the law. They will be heavily fined with up to 8 licence penalty points, and could be banned from driving.

What's more, the owner would also face prosecution for allowing an uninsured person to drive their car. The owner's insurer will have to meet any third party damage and injury costs but would almost certainly cancel the policy. They may then take legal action to recover their costs from the owner, who would also be liable for the cost of repairing their own car.

Insurance companies take convictions for driving without insurance very seriously. Both the owner and the driver will find it very difficult to obtain affordable car insurance in the future. This could be a very good way of losing a friend!

Note all the references to the owner also being penalised.

So OP does not need to unclench. She's discovered that her DH and SIL are not morons, and she's entitled to be annoyed.

In case that image isn't readable, it says:

If I have fully comprehensive car insurance can I drive any car?
No. There was a time when many fully-comp policies automatically gave you third-party insurance to drive any car, but those days have gone.

My policy doesn't cover me to drive other cars.

It also doesn't mean that I'm suddenly an unsafe driver if I get behind the wheel of one that I'm not covered to drive. (Not that I would!)

There's a difference between what's legally okay and what's practically okay, if that makes sense.

The op was in no more danger in this situation than she would have been if they'd been in a car the other person was covered to drive. The driver was more at risk of repercussions though.

I've just checked my admiral policy and it does insure me (3rd party).

This

If you do get a ticket they will check whether her policy allows other vehicles to be driven. If it does, she gets done for speeding and if it doesn’t she still gets done for speeding and driving without insurance. Your DH would be prosecuted for permitting her to drive without insurance.
As far as the event itself unless you get a speeding ticket through the mail I would forget it.

@RewildingAmbridge full comp cover on your own car would normally only grant third party cover on someone else’s though …

'In other words in the event of an accident the other car would be covered but any damage to yours wouldn't be'.

So if you had 3rd party and someone crashed into you, their insurance wouldnt pay out to have your car fixed? Doesnt sound right to me, are you sure?

@saraclara I just think so many people over estimate risk on here though! How many times do you have car accidents ?? And how many times does the police randomly stop you?

On the balance of probabilities, it's unlikely either of those two things would happen on a one off trip.

@saraclara I also just want to add that I've never driven an uninsured car or had anyone drive mine. But it's happened to Op and it all worked out.. so I don't see the big deal. Maybe the Op can point out the consequences to her husband and tell him next time not to take such risks. But I wouldn't call into question the brother and SIL entire character over it.

I absolutely would call into question their character. They both agreed to do something that's illegal, and DH demonstrated that he had no concern for the financial and practical risks (any more points for him and he'd lose his license) and for no good reason.

Of course there's no need for OP to fret about danger, because it's over. But she absolutely can fret that she's married to an idiot who would risk his licence (presumably at significant inconvenience to her) for no good reason.

Funnily enough, if the mother of the young man from my in-laws village who was killed by an uninsured driver, posted here, of course everyone would be up in arms about someone choosing to drive uninsured.

@saraclara the fact that he's got 6 points doesn't help him at all. It sounds like he's just really irresponsible in general...

If the driving was a one off thing but he was otherwise reasonable I would say OK. But taking the 6 points into consideration, I'm with you and OP on this now.

@Hann111
Thank you. I'm not sure why some kept on saying that.
You are a very mindful, caring and lawful person I just there were more people like you.

@Blowthemandown third party, fire and theft, if someone else hits you that's on their insurance. So the only thing not covered is of SIL drives the car into a wall/tree

I've just renewed my insurance with co-op it covers me to drive any other insured vehicle, in abusive with my licence, with the permission of the owner. I know DB and SIL have the same because of an incident recently where DM ended up in hospital and we were sorting logistics to retrieve her car. DH doesn't as he is only a named driver on my car.
I would've just asked at the time, does your insurance cover you to drive this? If she said no, I would've said well if DH doesn't want to drive, I will.