I am fully comp. insured for social & commuting only. If I drive to a client's house and have an accident, what are the implications? My boss just said I could claim I was driving to work, but I'm not so sure.

I occasionally drive to an office other than my normal place of work and my insurer (Noel Dazely) said I had to have Business Class 1 - but it didn't actually put the premium up.

My guess is that you would officially not be insured - Whether they would find out is another question but surely not worth the risk IMO.

You need Business Class 1. This shouldnt cost hardly any extra if you take it out the time of renewal.

Thanks Rob & Rufus, I'll get onto it.

Commuting is usually to a fixed place of work only.

Business class 1 is the way to go (I use my car for going to meetings and interviews etc) - it normally costs less than £20 extra

I think the phrase is 'vicarious excursion' - i.e. when a sales rep. goes out of his patch to visit his mistress ... company will not cover him and neither will the company's insurance!

The cost seems to vary a fair bit in my experience. I had some people refuse to insure the Coupe for class 1, although in the end Greenlight only charged me an extra £2 a year!

The Clio is more expensive for business use, in fact some of the quotes i'm getting in now are more expensive than for the Coupe fully modded!

My understanding is, if you get paid milage for the journey its commercal use.
Direct Line has always given this to me for free.

XXMrsF

But just because you aren't being paid mileage doesn't mean that it isn't commercial use.

For example, a builder doesn't get paid for his travelling, but his van would still have to be covered for business use.

Some companies (More than) won't cover for buisness use.

Its worse if you are a rep and give clients a lift. Then you deffo need to make sure your insurance is up to the job.

What if you're a temp. worker or change jobs regularly?

Based on conversations with several insurance companies I'd say they don't know.

For example, the team I work for is based in Milton Keynes and, technically, that's my base office even though I've been on a project in Newcastle full-time for 4 years.

Technically every time I travel to Newcastle it's a commercial trip, because I am undertaking it on behalf of my employer's business. On the other hand, the Newcastle office is also my permanent place of work, in as much as I always work from there.

Do I therefore need class 1 business use to commute to Newcastle every morning? How about if I visit the office in Milton Keynes (which I do, on average, once a year). I can reclaim my mileage for that trip, is it therefore commercial despite MK being, arguably, the place I have worked from since 2002?

Having this conversation with several insurance companies has always led to them basically shrugging their shoulders and suggesting that I get class 1 business use (normally at no extra cost) just to be on the safe side.

I bet they don't shrug their shoulders if you ever have to make a claim. I'll ring my insurance company on Monday, but it doesn't sound like Class 1 will cover me for client site visits.