This petition was submitted during the 2017-2019 parliament
Petition Insurance should be on the car itself instead of the individuals who drive it
In some countries, such as America and Portugal, insurance is based on vehicle itself instead of being based on the individual who drives it. This is an effective method for families and friends as they are able to share a car without paying for multiple insurances.
More details
Scenario: 3 friends go on a night out in the same car, they all have driving licenses, but only one of them is insured on the car. 2 of them are under the influence of alcohol and incapable of driving, including the car owner. If the car was insured on itself, the sober friend could drive it legally. However, because each individual is insured on the car, no one would be able to drive it as it would be illegal.
This petition is closed This petition ran for 6 months
Parliament debated this topic
This topic was debated on 5 March 2018
Government responded
This response was given on 9 January 2018
The Government has no plans to change the motor insurance system to require vehicles themselves, rather than the use of a vehicle, to be insured.
Read the response in full
There are a variety of approaches to motor insurance taken around the world, and the UK Government is not alone in requiring the use of a vehicle to be insured.
The current motor insurance system of insuring individual drivers, rather than cars, does not prevent named drivers from being added to an insurance policy for shorter or longer periods of time. This allows for friends or relatives who share a car to be included on one insurance policy.
The price of insurance depends on a range of factors, including many which are specific to the person driving; for example, driving history (whether the driver has had previous claims or unspent convictions for drink driving, for example), the use they make of the vehicle (for example, for commuting or business use), and their years of driving experience.
If insurers had to cover the vehicle itself and were not able to take driver-specific factors into account in their pricing, then the cost of insurance would likely rise for those with a good driving record and history of driving safely.
Department for Transport
Related activity
MPs to debate changes to car insurance
On Monday 5 March, MPs will debate the petition "insurance should be on the car itself instead of the individuals who drive it".
The debate will be opened by Susan Elan Jones MP, a member of the Petitions Committee. You can watch it live at http://www.parliamentlive.tv/Commons.
You can read a transcript of the debate at hansard.parliament.uk a few hours after the debate finishes.
We don't know exactly what time the debate will start. This will be the second of two petition debates on Monday 5 March. The first debate will start at 4.30pm, and the second debate will start when that debate finishes. There are three hours in total for the two debates.
Who are the Petitions Committee?
We are a cross-party group of MPs called the Petitions Committee. We are independent from Government. You can find out more about us on our website: http://www.parliament.uk/petitions-committee/role
You can follow us on Twitter: @HoCpetitions