Dual Car Insurance

What is the difference between temporary car insurance and dual insurance?

When you take out temporary car insurance on a vehicle that already has a level of insurance e.g. an annual policy, this does not mean the car has dual insurance. The policy covers the risk profile of the driver and the vehicle.

Having two policies run concurrently on the same vehicle through Tempcover would not be considered dual insurance as most of the time you will be insuring a separate policyholder on the vehicle or insuring it under your name for business use, as where your annual insurer wouldn’t quote.

What is dual insurance?

You’ve probably heard the term dual insurance come up when talking about insurance. It’s essentially the idea that you take out multiple policies covering the same type of risk on the same subject for the same period of time.

A great example of when dual insurance can occur is when you’ve specifically insured your personal possessions when going on holiday through an extra gadget cover add-on. This item is also covered via your home insurance and the exact same risk is covered through a travel insurance policy included with your bank account.

Without even trying, you will be covered for the same thing under multiple policies and dual insurance is well and truly in place. This is just one example of how easy it is to accidentally have dual insurance covering your items.

What is the dual car insurance law?

One of the most common myths associated with dual insurance and the aspect of it you’re probably most likely to be aware of is that it is illegal to be insured twice. The act of dual car insurance itself is not illegal – otherwise thousands of holidaymakers each year would facing hefty punishments.

It is, however, fair to say payouts can become complicated when dual insurance is in place.

Taking dual car insurance, for example, if you have to make a claim, you are entitled to what is known as “restitution in full”. This means that you are put back into the position you were in prior to the accident – whether this is getting a pay-out for the car, or getting it fixed etc.

If dual motor insurance was in place, you wouldn’t be able to make a claim twice on the two separate policies, for example getting one insurer to pay out for the car while getting the same car fixed by the second insurer as this would result in more than “restitution in full”.

Instead, this is known as “betterment”. Essentially the insurers would be putting you back into a better position than you were prior to the incident, this is considered as fraud and would, therefore, be illegal.

This, of course, doesn’t work the same way for policies such as home insurance policies which promise to replace an item on a “new for old” basis if you make a claim. This type of “betterment” is promised in the policy wording and is therefore not considered fraud.

How does dual insurance affect temporary car insurance?

Having two policies running concurrently on the same vehicle through Tempcover would not be considered dual insurance, as the majority of the time, you would be insuring a separate policyholder on the vehicle or insuring the vehicle under your name for business use, where your annual insurer wouldn’t quote.

There’s no need to worry about dual car insurance or fear that it’s illegal to have multiple insurance policies in place – as long as you’re not using dual insurance to try and get more than you had at the beginning of course!

Need temporary car insurance when borrowing someone else’s car? Get a quote in under 2 minutes when you Tempcover it!

Frequently Asked Questions

What is dual insurance?

Dual insurance is when you have multiple insurance policies covering the same risk on the same item for the same period of the time e.g. a policy for a device or gadget that is covered by both home insurance and travel insurance.

Is dual car insurance illegal?

No, dual car insurance is not illegal. However, it can complicate your claims process and you cannot claim more than what you’re entitled to from multiple insurers. If you do this, it’s known as Betterment and is considered illegal.

What happens if I make a claim when I have dual insurance?

You’re entitled to your claim in full but you can’t claim twice for the same loss. Your insurance companies will coordinate to ensure there is no overpayment.

Can I use dual insurance to get more compensation?

No, this would be considered fraud and is illegal.