Insurance company wants to see my license -why?

[jimmyybob]

Had a similar thing just last week, went to hire a van and they asked to see the paper licence and NOT the photo one, they claimed the paper licence was the only 'Proof' that there are no points or convictions perhaps insurance companies dont have this info.??

As for insurance companies i bet if you read the small print they can even ask you for your shoe size and waist measurements before offering you cover.

[zipgun]

Since you insure the car ,not the driver.. I wonder what you get asked for if you tick " Any driver " ???

[Maaarrghk]

Write a polite short letter to the MD explaining exactly why you are changing after 30 years and why you will not be recomending them to anyone else in future.

It might get binned, but you never know for sure until you try.

[jimmyybob]

Since you insure the car ,not the driver.. I wonder what you get asked for if you tick " Any driver " ???

You still need a named policy holder who can be held legally responsible for the vehicle.

[mr rusty]

Teenage miss Rusty had to send a copy of hers off when she was on a learner policy, presumably that was to make sure she wasn't someone who had passed the test trying to masquerade as a learner to get it on the cheap. Where long term licence holders are concerned I would imagine too many people are lying about convictions, I don't think, although I could be wrong, that insurance companies have access to this sort of thing, the coppers have, obviously, but I think they're the only ones. I would be very surprised if anyone else has this level of access.

[OneCarefulOwner]

You still need a named policy holder who can be held legally responsible for the vehicle.

But the person responsible for insuring the car doesn't necessarily have to be the owner, or the driver; what if I don't drive but I pay for the insurance on a car I own & get driven around in?

[tractorman]

Not sure about that one OCO - isn't there something about the main driver too? I'm thinking of my nephew who bought his first car and it was insured by my sister (who would have been the main driver if said nephew hadn't written it off in the first month). The payment was reduced significantly because owner and policy holder were different. Had he had the car another week, my nephew would have been back at sea for four months, when my sister would have been driving the car!

My mother gave up driving a few months before selling the car (a Metro). I used to drive it for her, originally on longer trips, then all the time - on an any-driver policy - but I'm now wondering if I was wrong to do that! I have a friend with Alzheimer's, I wonder if his three tractors, Land Rover and car are still insured in his name; he had to hand his license in a year or more ago, but his wife and children still drive the vehicles.

[mr rusty]

But the person responsible for insuring the car doesn't necessarily have to be the owner, or the driver; what if I don't drive but I pay for the insurance on a car I own & get driven around in?

.......... they could presumeably in that case ask for the licence of whoever will be the main driver- every insurance proposal since the dawn of time asks 'are you the main driver?' I've always said yes but I would imagine that if i said no, then they'd ask who is. Unless of course it's a trade any driver policy but that's a different kettle of fish.

Insurance companies only used to ask for the licence if you had an accident, I would imagine so many people have undeclared convictions now that they're just covering themselves- the irony is though that these days they tend to ignore speeding convictions unless they're really bad ones, but people probably don't know this and don't declare them. I have one I picked up last year and declaring it made no difference to the renewal cost, but you can bet your life if I didn't declare it and then had an accident it would make my policy null and void.

[OneCarefulOwner]

There's the rub; I made 2 claims 5 years ago and even then they never asked for a copy of my licence!

Consistency is key, eh?

[TerryG]

The only time an insurance company has asked for my licence was on a conference call with the DVLA after a fairly serious accident so they could verify i had no points. They have never asked to see it.

You must be a dodgy character