If you intend for someone such as your partner or other family member to drive your car reasonably regularly (ie more than a couple of times a year) then your best bet is to add them as a Named Driver at inception or renewal of the policy.
NB. Don’t be tempted to distort the truth about the extent of the additional driver’s use though, especially if they are a young driver. This is known as Fronting and can result in the insurer refusing to pay for any damage to your vehicle!
If the Named Driver is a similar age to you and has a similar driving history, the chances are that adding them as a Named Driver will not be significantly more expensive than just insuring yourself to drive. However, if you choose to add several Named Drivers then the insurers are likely to be much less receptive, particularly if the additional drivers are of varying ages/experience.
Away from planned/regular additional drivers, what about emergency situations, or occasional lending of your vehicle?
The best advice is to tread very carefully – it is an offence to drive uninsured, so if you intend to lend you car to someone other than a Named Driver on your own policy, you will need to satisfy yourself that they have adequate insurance in place. They may well say “It’s ok, I’ve got my own Comprehensive policy and that means I can drive any vehicle” – but as we’ll examine in the FAQs that follow, this is rarely the case.
Rather than taking their word for it, a better solution might be to direct them to one of the short-term insurance providers. There they will usually be able to buy a policy in their own name which will last for as long as they choose. It will be uploaded to the Motor Insurance Database (see later section on MID) and, best of all, you can rest assured that the No Claims Discount that you’ve earned on your own policy will not be jeopardised by any accident the borrower may have!