As insured drivers, we normally take being able to drive other people’s cars for granted. However, it is not always as black and white and there is often lack of clarity about what is known as ‘driving other cars’ extension

‘Driving other cars’ cover is a policy extension which allows you as a main driver on an insurance policy to drive another person’s car once the car is not owned or rented by you and is not a owned by a business. This extension should not be confused with ‘Open Driving’ – a benefit which you can add to a policy which allows other people to drive your vehicle. There is normally no extra charge for this and is added as standard to most insurance policies.

The fact that it is generally offered as standard often means that every driver is under the impression that they are insured to drive other cars. But this isn’t always case – there are some exceptions where the ‘driving other cars’ extension is not applied to policies. For example, some insurers do not give the extension to those under a certain age normally 25 years or to those that only have driving permits or provisional licences.

If you have already taken out a policy but are unsure if you have this extension or not, get your policy schedule provided to you by your insurer. Among the particulars, it will show if you have ‘driving other cars’ as part of your cover. For those with the extension, take into account that you would only have third party only cover and does not apply to any named drivers on your policy.