Car Insurance Buyers Guide:
Third Party Cover
Some drivers, especially owners of
older vehicles of limited value, make the judgement that because their
car is not worth much, that they would be better off by taking out
third party only car insurance.
However, there are several reasons why taking out third party car
insurance (instead of comprehensive cover) is a mistake and should
never be considered.
The most critical reason is that it is not just the owner's car that is
not covered in the case of an accident for which the car owner is
liable. He and his passengers are not covered for injuries either.
Thus, for a relatively common whiplash injury (for which insurers would
typically pay £3,800) there would be no compensation nor, indeed,
would there be any compensation for any other more serious injuries or
death.
Compensation for serious injuries can run to millions of pounds and to
be deprived of this simply because you chose the wrong type of car
insurance would be tragic. If a passenger was badly injured yet
uncompensated, this would be an especially unwelcome outcome.
In fact, third party car insurance cannot even been justified on the
basis of price. Because those that buy third party car insurance are
more likely to crash, insurers take account of this in setting the
premium. Further, it is third party car insurance cover that has seen
the biggest price hike over the last year.
As most price comparison sites do not check third party policies, yet
they do check enough comprehensive car insurance prices to identify the
best deals, invariably a comprehensive quote can be found that is
cheaper than the third party car insurance quote; so there is no price
advantage to selecting third party cover.
So, if it's not cheaper and it leaves you dangerously exposed in terms
of risk, why does anyone buy it? The likely answer is that they have
not thought through the above lack of cover and its implications or
they have decided to accept the risk. That, however, is a hugely unwise
choice and one that could become the most foolish decision they ever
made.
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