Insuring family members

Until now only my husband and I have used our Motorhome. However our travelling days may soon be over due to ill health and my daughter and partner are keen to borrow the van before it goes. We were reticent as they are expensive items and need careful handling but perhaps we are just being a bit fussy. My daughter is a responsible adult!
Just wondered if any others have done this and what they did about insurance.

Thanks for any comments.

HH

Sorry to hear of your looming ill health. Your reticence is only natural to what's at risk, that being your pride and joy. Personally I and perhaps many others would feel the same in, could I trust anyone else to drive our van?  Don't know complexities surrounding vehicle insurance, however suggest you speak to your insurance company about your daughter becoming an additional named driver. Or maybe she takes out insurance in her own right (saves you the hassle and extra expense) but of course you would remain the owner of the vehicle. That way there would be no loading on your insurance premium in the event of a claim IMO. What ever you decide, your anxiety will never leave you on both counts of firstly, your
daughter keeps safe and secondly your van avoids any damage. Regards.

You need to contact your insurers and have your daughter and her partner added as additional drivers. It might be pricey depending on their ages and driving history. I don't believe it is possible for them to insure in their own right because they do not own the van.

Make sure too that they hold the correct driving licences to allow them to drive your van, particularly relevant if it is over 3500kg.

Sorry to hear you're thinking of giving up and hope your ill health recovers. The usual way, from the dark days when I worked in insurance, was to add your daughter as an additional driver to your policy for a small additional premium. There are two issues with her having her own insurance on the vehicle. Firstly you can't insure something you don't own and secondly two policies can't run concurrently on the same vehicle. As I said, it's a few years since I worked in the industry and things may have changed. Worth a call to your insurers to check it out. I would share your reticence, but if you're giving up maybe it's worth thinking about.

Good luck.

"You can't insure something you don't own" - are you sure?

Our motorhome is registered in my name but insured by Mrs B as the policyholder, with me shown as a named driver.  The insurance company (Safeguard) note this under Interest of Owner using a standard policy endorsement code.

For the avoidance of doubt, Mrs B does actually do the lion's share of the driving so the policy is written in this way as it is an accurate reflection of the vehicle's use, not some sort of premium reducing dodge.

I don't think it's true that you can't insure a vehicle that you don't own - though it may make the insurance more complicated and the company will want to hear a good explanation as to why.

However, as harrysp says (and as I've also been told by my own insurance company) you cannot have two policies that cover one vehicle at the same time so, as said, they would have to be named drivers on your existing policy.

They may also be covered under the policy of their own vehicle to drive yours with your permission - but as that would only be third party cover, it would be unwise to rely on that!

As I say, it^s been awhile and with husband and wife they both have insurable interest in something they own., so are interchangeable.  But as I recall to insure something you have no financial interest in wasn't allowed. So I can't take out a policy on someone else's motorhome, even if it is uninsured, because I have no financial interest in it. 

In the Ops case their only insurance option, as I understand it, is to add their daughter to their policy. This can be done either for the remainder of the policy or as a temporary adjustment, say for a week.

harrysp wrote:
In the Ops case their only insurance option, as I understand it, is to add their daughter to their policy. This can be done either for the remainder of the policy or as a temporary adjustment, say for a week.

 
With regard to cost I can only relate to my son's experience when his sister in law was visiting and wanted to borrow one of their two cars for a bit of sightseeing. The cost until the end of term of their policy (over 6 months) was less than £10 more than for 1 week on a total cost of £38 Oh I forgot she had not passed her test at this stage so wanted to practice with boyfriend in the car who had
David

Hi
My sons have borrowed the van on a number of occasions and we simply add them as named drivers for the period that they need. The cost has been modest - around £20 for a long weekend even for under 30 year old. 
The van is precious to us but are happy for the whole family enjoy it.

Similar experience here when my daughter and our son-in-law came over from NZ. I added them both to my car insurance as temporary named drivers, it cost about £20 per day extra. Expensive, but what cost peace of mind..
Al.

Thanks to all for your comments. I will find out what the position is with our insurer (fortunately we are not with Saga at present as they will not insure under 50ties). We don't mind if its expensive just want to be properly covered.

Slightly off subject but its good to hear some wives drive quite a bit as this is one of the main issues with us stopping motorhoming. My husband has multiple and complex health issues giving him severe fatigue and weakness in hands and strength meaning that on our last outing (only less than 2 hours drive) he found the driving hard. If I took over more of the driving and we found another way of cleaning the roof of the van(!) we may be able to carry on for a few more years. We are only early 60ties and I feel too young to be giving up just yet. I am resigned to no more foreign trips (very reluctantly!) but not ready to give up just yet. Think I may post another query separately to enquire how many women manage the driving and maintenance of their motorhomes themselves or what support or help they get. (Just hope that isn't a frowned upon question??)

Thanks all.
HH

Sorry to hear of your husband’s health problems. I would definitely recommend that you have a go at driving and maintenance. The majority of the 17,000 or so miles our van has done have been my solo adventures (sadly hubby still working long hours).
I’m sure you would soon be really comfortable driving. I acknowledge that at 5’8” I have no problem reaching handbrake etc which I know can be an issue for smaller women. Didn’t your OP mention a daughter and partner? - perhaps they could do the roof!

happyhelen wrote:Thanks to all for your comments. I will find out what the position is with our insurer (fortunately we are not with Saga at present as they will not insure under 50ties). We don't mind if its expensive just want to be properly covered.

As my post above, I'm with Saga, and they had no problem adding my daughter and son-in-law, at ages 38 and 41, on a temporary basis. What made it a little more expensive was that neither of them hold a UK licence anymore.
Al.

When the topic of women driving cropped up before it turned out several women drive. I do, but not a great deal. Over the years I've noticed an increasing number of m/hs being driven by women. As for washing it, is it possible to go to a truck wash anywhere near you?

We've had motorhomes since 2007, having bought our first one with a family inheritance, so felt it only fair that our two sons and wives (and in the case of the younger son, grandchildren should have the use of it.    I have no qualms about their driving ability.    The four of us, me, Wendy, and both sons, 48 and 45 yrs, have always been on the insurance and I'm still in under £400..level.       The older son hasn't used the present van for a few years (not their scene) so I enquired about taking his name off, but the difference was negligible.

Naturally one is paranoid about having their pride and joy damaged, but hey, it could just as easy be you who is the guilty party  (watch this space   .      I get of lot of joy that our offsprings are enjoying the wonderful experience too.

Not yet had the joy of my son wanting the camper (well wonder why we choose 2 berth) but in April they asked again to borrow the caravan and usually I have to tow it for them but this time told them to get a towbar fitted on their new car. Guess what been at his house 80 miles away ever since, guess I have lost it now and will have to ask to borrow it!!!!!!

We have just bought our first MH. We added it on to our car insurance and also included our son in law as a named driver just for the MH. It cost us just £3.50 more for him to be added. If he had got temporary short term cover  for  the odd weekend it would have cost far far more. So in my opinion its better to have them added to existing insurance. It also means they can borrow the MH when ever they want, subject of course to us not using it!