Jo Posted June 16, 2012 Share Posted June 16, 2012 I have some friends due to visit, unfortunately my husband has been taken seriously ill and will be in hospital for at least a fortnight possibly longer, so during their visit they would be left to their own devices, they are good friends so not a problem. I have been told that as they are mature and have more than 10 years driving experience they can drive my french registered car on my insurance but that they would be liable for any damage they caused in event of an accident. Does anyone have any experience that might save me a trip to the insurers at a already very hectic time? Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Patf Posted June 16, 2012 Share Posted June 16, 2012 Sorry to hear about your husband, Jo - hoping he has a speedy recovery.I think in France the car is insured, not the individual driver, so they should be ok to drive your car. As long as they have current driving licenses.Don't know about the damage part though. It will be all written in your insurance contract somewhere.But can't you ring the insurers on Monday to confirm? I don't think it needs a visit. Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Chancer Posted June 17, 2012 Share Posted June 17, 2012 They will be covered under your insurance policy on the vehicle, if they have an accident the insurer will meet their obligations, the franchise (excess) will be your responsibility to pay, as they are mature drivers it will be no more than you yourself would pay were you to have an accident, it is only increased for young and/or inexperienced drivers but critically they would still be insured, as has been pointed out you insure the car not the driver.In brief your friends would not be liable for anything although morally they may feel an obligation to pay your franchise, in the years that follow you would pay more for your insurance having lost some of your bonus, other companies could possibly load your premium due to the accident but I would have thought that more likely if it had been yourself driving, perhaps representing a greater risk but logic doesnt and even commercial sense dont seem to be traits of French insurers.Please read your policy and:or contact your brokers to be 100% sure but I have not heard of any French mainstream policies that are different to the above, hope that is of some comfort to you. Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
AnOther Posted June 17, 2012 Share Posted June 17, 2012 It might be prudent to give them a signed note to prove that they have the car with your permission. Maybe not legally necessary but a simple act which could save potential aggro of they did get stopped by the gendarmes or had an accident.It used to be that additional drivers signed the insurance certificate and there was much discussions as to whether people still had to do it or not, my argument was that whilst signing it might not be right by the same token it could not possibly be seen as wrong ! Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Hereford Posted June 17, 2012 Share Posted June 17, 2012 We were told (by Allianz) that our son could drive our car with no restrictions (he is 39 and lives in Canada) and that he only needed to sign the insurance certificate if he drove the car on a trip to the UK with us. I did give him a letter saying that he had my permission to drive the car for when he went out in it without us, not because it was seen as essential - just to cover awkward questions if he was stopped.He did not crash the car (!!) so no experience of a claim.H Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Chancer Posted June 17, 2012 Share Posted June 17, 2012 The signing of the certificate is only required in certain EU countries which include the UK where insurance does not cover all drivers and would normally specify named drivers, I guess the intention is to avoid unecessary arrests on suspicion of being uninsured although there have been many nonetheless. Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
idun Posted June 17, 2012 Share Posted June 17, 2012 We have let friends and family use our car in France. I always checked with our insurers and then we always gave them a letter saying that they could use the car as well as making sure that they had all the usual paperwork in the car. Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Val_2 Posted June 17, 2012 Share Posted June 17, 2012 I would never let anyone else drive my car apart from my son who is named on the policy anyway without speaking to the agent first because the franchise may need to be upped for non-named drivers as the insurers have no details or history of their previous accidents/claims etc. Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
AnOther Posted June 17, 2012 Share Posted June 17, 2012 The franchise when others are driving should be a predetermined factor of your own policy and stated in your documentation somewhere so in case of an accident any 'upping', if necessary, should be automatic.AFAIK pretty well the only thing taken into account for potential other drivers is their age and then the franchise is only raised for certain younger and/or older age groups. If it were necessary to give a drivers history every time it would make a nonsense of a car being insured for any driver in the first place.Also what history for a UK driver do you think you could practically or meaningfully give to a French insurance company? Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Jo Posted June 18, 2012 Author Share Posted June 18, 2012 Thanks for the helpful replies, and for your concern Patf, not going so well at the moment but he's in the best place. Just to be certain I will ring the company but will have to ait till tomorrow as they as closed Monday!! Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
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