We’ve all been there – your car breaks down; you need to get to a meeting with an important client and you don’t have a spare vehicle to use. While some people would choose to rent a vehicle from an external company, there are other solutions that are much less hassle. In fact, often the best option is to borrow a car from a colleague or a relative.
However, if you do decide to borrow a car there are some things that need to be considered. You can’t just get in the car and drive to that meeting. Read on to hear about some of the things that you should do before borrowing that car.
Are You Insured to Drive It?
Before you think about borrowing a colleague’s car, you should first make sure that you are insured to drive it. Not all car insurance policies will cover you to drive other cars, so you might find that you are breaking the law if you assume your existing insurance policy will cover you to drive that vehicle.
If your own policy doesn’t include cover for driving other cars then temporary car insurance might be the better option in this case. We suggest that you take a look at these temporary insurance providers. Once you find the right policy, you will be covered to drive the car.
Ask for Advice
Not all cars will be the same to drive and so there might be some things that you need to check before you set off. For example, you could be used to driving a manual car only to find out that this vehicle has an automatic transmission. Do you know where the indicators are, how to turn on the lights and how to de-mist the windscreen? These are all valuable questions that will help you to drive the car in the safest way possible. After all, you won’t want to do anything that could damage your colleague’s car if they have so kindly let you borrow it.
Agree on Terms
While this might not be something you have thought about, it can be useful to agree on certain terms when you are borrowing your colleague’s car. If something were to happen in a certain area and your colleague wasn’t aware that you were going to be driving there, you could find that there are problems that arise. For example, if you were to drive to the meeting and then visit a friend afterwards a bit further away and a crash occurred, your colleague might question your location.
So, before setting off in the car, let your colleague know where you are going to be driving to and when they can expect you back. They might be slightly more relaxed about this, but it doesn’t hurt to lay out the terms of the agreement beforehand. This way, everyone is aware of what is going on and there won’t be any unexpected surprises.
Check It Out
Finally, before you borrow a colleague’s car, you should make sure that you check over the car carefully. If there are any scratches or marks on the car, you should note these so that there are no questions of this afterwards. This is similar to what you might do if you were to rent a vehicle from a professional company.
When checking out the car, you should also check the fuel levels, the oil and the water in the car. Do you have emergency supplies if you get stranded and a phone number to call for breakdowns? If not, it might be useful to find out this information before you set off. The kind thing to do would be to refill the car with petrol or diesel once you return it, but it is also useful to fill it up before you set off. Once you are sure that everything has been checked, you can be sure it is ready to go.
Head Off to Your Meeting
If you have had to borrow a colleague’s car in an emergency, you might not think that you have time to follow all of the instructions that we have given in this article. However, if you don’t spend time checking over the car, agreeing to terms and organising temporary insurance, you could find yourself in a lot of trouble if something were to go wrong. Driving without insurance is illegal so don’t get caught up in this.
Follow all of the advice that we have given you and make sure that you are ready for borrowing this car. Hopefully, this will all go smoothly, and you will be able to borrow another car from this colleague in the future.
