I have recently moved to a house with a drive and a garage for the first time and need to renew my car insurance.
The insurance asks me where I will park my car overnight. The vast majority of the time, I park it in the garage but occasionally on some nights I need to leave it on the drive. This might be only once a fortnight or so.
If I say the car is parked overnight in the garage but I am unlucky and it gets stolen while parked on the drive, could my insurer refuse to pay out, or do insurers work on the basis that on some nights cars will be parked away from home or at home but not in the garage?
Drivers insurance firm will usually ask whether they keep their car in a garage or outside
Grace Gausden, This is Money, replies: Making sure your car is properly insured is essential as you will need to rely on your cover should anything go wrong.
However, it can sometimes be difficult to be completely accurate when answering an insurers questions.
For example, asking where you park your car is not a black and white question as it can vary.
Whilst some motorists will keep their cars religiously on the street, on a driveway or in a garage, others will differentiate between the three.
There are an abundance of perfectly viable reasons why car that is kept in a garage overnight nine times out of ten, may occasionally need to be parked on the drive or even the street.
You may also stay away from home and need to leave it parked in a different location entirely.
It is important for insurers to note where drivers keep their car as that could help define how secure their car is.
For example, if it is left on the street rather than in a locked garage, it is more likely to be stolen or damaged.
In your case, whilst you mostly keep it safe in your garage when at home, there are some times where you have to keep it on the drive.
If anything should happen, you are concerned you may not be covered by your insurer.
It would seem rather miserly of an insurer to refuse to pay out if on that occasion it wasn’t in the garage – but it is always important to double check with your firm to see where they stand on the issue.
This will change from firm to firm, so This is Money contacted a number of car insurers to see what they would do should a car be damaged or stolen whilst out on a driveway – instead of in a garage.
If a car was stolen from your driveway, it will depend on your insurer as to what your cover is
An Admiral spokesperson replies: In this case you would probably still be covered if your car was stolen or broken into.
We only need to know where your car is kept overnight for the majority of the time. We appreciate that people can’t always park their car in the same place every night and occasionally have to park elsewhere.
For example, if you have a dedicated parking space but someone else is parked there, or if you’re staying away from home overnight.
That said it is important to be honest with your insurer regarding where your car is usually kept overnight.
If a customer said they usually keep their car in a garage, but in reality rarely did so, this would be a misrepresentation of risk and could affect their claim or the amount they could claim for.
A Direct Line spokesperson replies: For both Direct Line and Churchill we do not ask where a vehicle is kept within our question set.
In this scenario it would not impact the cover they have on their policy, whether the vehicle is parked in their garage or on their drive.
An Aviva spokesperson replies: Providing that there is no condition in the customer’s policy that the vehicle must be kept in a garage, then it would not invalidate their insurance.
However, if at the point of claim it was proven that the customer never parked their car in the garage, this would be taken into account and we would apply a proportional settlement to any payment.
Occasionally some policies will include a requirement that a vehicle should be garaged when not in use during certain hours of the day – for example between 10pm and 6am.
Such a requirement is usually only applied for more ‘desirable’ vehicles or vehicles that have a higher probability of being maliciously damaged or stolen.
In this instance, then there would be no theft cover if the vehicle was not kept in a locked building at the owner’s home or any other address where the vehicle is normally garaged and which has been agreed by us.
Keeping your car in a garage overnight is a way to ensure it is kept safe from being stolen
Jack Cousens, Head of Road Policy at the AA, replies: If it’s in the garage most of the time then you should answer as garage but it would still be covered whilst on the driveway.
The expectation would be that the car should be parked in the garage overnight as this may have generated a discount, so if there was a theft whilst on the drive the insurer may make some enquiries as to why it wasn’t in the garage, but it would still be covered.
It might be better to check the premium both in the garage and on the driveway and if there isn’t too much difference, it might make sense to declare driveway.
Alex Borgnis, Head of Motor Underwriting at LV= General Insurance, replies: In a nutshell it’s not something you need to be too concerned about.
As part of the quote journey on LV.com we ask customers where they ‘normally’ keep their car overnight, on the basis that occasionally, depending on their circumstances, people may keep the car in a different place.
Having said that, if for any reason a customer is concerned they should always contact their insurer to discuss their specific circumstances.
Grace Gausden, This is Money, adds: It seems that, under most insurers, you would still be covered for any loss or damage to your vehicle if it was left on the driveway, despite saying it would usually be kept in your garage.
However, it is always worth calling your insurer directly to see where they stand.
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