Borrowing Car One Month - Can I Get Insurance

[ludditetech]

Coming to Thailand for a month to visit wife's family, will be there for a month and a family friend has offered to lend us a car.

I rang TID who I have used previously (and found to be good) and they said they only cover excess of a certified car hire company, meaning they will only pay the excess and only if I hire a car from a registered car hire company.

The car is a couple of years old and as I understand it insured.

Having been around a bit I am leary of borrowing the car and being at the mercy (less-ness? of the system there and would really prefer to be covered on my own terms with my own company.

Can anyone recommend a company that would insure me for accident and damage to a car I have borrowed, whether it be a Thai or Aussie company?

Cheers.

[ThailandBert]

If the car you are borrowing has first class insurance then you are already covered. To cover the car costs around 20,000 baht for the year. You only then have to pay the excess which is between 9 - 15,000 Baht depending on the cover provided.

[IamNotaNumber]

If the car you are borrowing has first class insurance then you are already covered.

Maybe. Some people have only named drivers on their policy in order to reduce the premium. This is still "first class".

The owner will know.

And one should remember that any payment or reward made to the vehicle owner could make it a rental, which is specifically excluded from normal insurance policies. So if the OP was paying even just the price of a beer for the use of the car he could be driving without insurance.

[ThailandBert]

If the car you are borrowing has first class insurance then you are already covered.

Maybe. Some people have only named drivers on their policy in order to reduce the premium. This is still "first class".

The owner will know.

And one should remember that any payment or reward made to the vehicle owner could make it a rental, which is specifically excluded from normal insurance policies. So if the OP was paying even just the price of a beer for the use of the car he could be driving without insurance.

The guy said BORROW / LEND a car and not RENT a car. no mention of any money changing hands. And do you honestly think that buying a guy a beer or two for lending him the car is going to invalidate the insurance ?

I have never been offered the option to have just named drivers on any of my first class insurance policies I have had. They have all been any driver / Rider with my permission .

[stevenl]

If the car you are borrowing has first class insurance then you are already covered.

Maybe. Some people have only named drivers on their policy in order to reduce the premium. This is still "first class".

The owner will know.

And one should remember that any payment or reward made to the vehicle owner could make it a rental, which is specifically excluded from normal insurance policies. So if the OP was paying even just the price of a beer for the use of the car he could be driving without insurance.

The guy said BORROW / LEND a car and not RENT a car. no mention of any money changing hands. And do you honestly think that buying a guy a beer or two for lending him the car is going to invalidate the insurance ?

I have never been offered the option to have just named drivers on any of my first class insurance policies I have had. They have all been any driver / Rider with my permission .

Yes, any driver is standard, but named drivers is normally a possibility to reduce the premium.

[simple1]

Whilst waiting delivery of a new car I borrowed a car from a Thai friend. I arranged 1st class insurance cover for myself that cost me 8k baht for three months. When the new car delivery came after one month I received a 50% refund. This was arranged through an insurance broker, policy was in English, AA Insurance in Pattaya. You may like to contact them at:

http://www.aainsure.net/insurance_pattaya.html

[IamNotaNumber]

The guy said BORROW / LEND a car and not RENT a car. no mention of any money changing hands.

Indeed. And this is why I said "it should be remembered" but not necessarily by the OP in this instance. Other people might be in a similar situation.

And do you honestly think that buying a guy a beer or two for lending him the car is going to invalidate the insurance ?

Yes. Insurance companies can be extremely inventive when trying to avoid payouts. I prefer not to give them the opportunity. You can do as you wish, of course.

I have never been offered the option to have just named drivers on any of my first class insurance policies I have had. They have all been any driver / Rider with my permission

You have to ask. You have to ask for higher excess too, and this also reduces your premium.

I like reducing my premiums and I dont like giving money for nothing to insurance companies and brokers. You are welcome to pay more than necessary, if you like.

[wayned]

You need to go with their friend and his policy to his insurance agent and have them explain if you are covered and exactly the coverage and amount It might be "first class" insurance but one area to be very careful with is medical coverage per person per accident. I've seen many policies where this is very low and won't cover a short hospital stay. If the coverage needs to be increased to your liking I think the agent would do it for you. My 2 cents!

[ThailandBert]

The guy said BORROW / LEND a car and not RENT a car. no mention of any money changing hands.

Indeed. And this is why I said "it should be remembered" but not necessarily by the OP in this instance. Other people might be in a similar situation.

And do you honestly think that buying a guy a beer or two for lending him the car is going to invalidate the insurance ?

Yes. Insurance companies can be extremely inventive when trying to avoid payouts. I prefer not to give them the opportunity. You can do as you wish, of course.

I have never been offered the option to have just named drivers on any of my first class insurance policies I have had. They have all been any driver / Rider with my permission

You have to ask. You have to ask for higher excess too, and this also reduces your premium.

I like reducing my premiums and I dont like giving money for nothing to insurance companies and brokers. You are welcome to pay more than necessary, if you like.

I pay what I am more than happy to pay and wouldn't want to be tied to just a few named drivers when for the sake of a few thousand Baht anyone I like can drive my car.

[marstons]

I am with AXA and can add 1 named driver at no extra cost, strangely enough i wanted to take the named driver off and they said that would increase the premium if my name only. Personally dont understand that. SO basic answer is with AXA the owner can add you to the policy.

[IamNotaNumber]

I pay what I am more than happy to pay and wouldn't want to be tied to just a few named drivers when for the sake of a few thousand Baht anyone I like can drive my car.

You are welcome to pay as much as you like. Personally I prefer to pay less, especially as I specifically do not want to let other people drive my car. They can rent their own car.

The point is that the option is there, and as far as I know all insurance companies provide it if you ask.

[canopus1969]

You need to go with their friend and his policy to his insurance agent and have them explain if you are covered and exactly the coverage and amount It might be "first class" insurance but one area to be very careful with is medical coverage per person per accident. I've seen many policies where this is very low and won't cover a short hospital stay. If the coverage needs to be increased to your liking I think the agent would do it for you. My 2 cents!

There is ample coverage for small scratches and for anything serious you have your health insurance to cover that

[wayned]

You need to go with their friend and his policy to his insurance agent and have them explain if you are covered and exactly the coverage and amount It might be "first class" insurance but one area to be very careful with is medical coverage per person per accident. I've seen many policies where this is very low and won't cover a short hospital stay. If the coverage needs to be increased to your liking I think the agent would do it for you. My 2 cents!

There is ample coverage for small scratches and for anything serious you have your health insurance to cover that

I'm talking about injuries to other persons if you caused the accident! My Thai neice was just in an accident and had serious injuries to her leg. The person that hit her had insurance, but it maxed out at 20k baht per person [per accident. The women that hit her was really surprised that her insurance didn't cover it and thought that she was of the hook. But the hospital bill was over 100k baht. She was responsible for the extra 80k that her insurance didn't cover, not my neices insurance company.