Passenger insurance

[antoni]

Just renewed my insurance with Haggerty (cheapest for the cover needed), rang back and queried the legality of carrying a pillion without pillion insurance.

They confirmed that it is not illegal to carry a passenger without their cover, just that in an accident which was my fault, any harm to my passenger would not be covered. They didn't say it but it's true that the passenger could sue me however.

Then they said that there is no additional premium for carrying passengers (!) So I asked why they asked the question. I didn't fully understand the answer but did not want to string out the conversation.

You can take the odd passenger without passenger cover. News to me.

[Rex]

Same as car passengers? I've never been asked if/how many passengers I carry in the car but I bet they could sue me if I was demonstrably at fault for any accidents, or the other bloke's insurance company if he was at fault.
"Pillion insurance" sounds like an expensive add-on to me.

[TGR90B]

What they were probably saying is that carrying a pillion does not invalidate your insurance, but the passengers themselves are not covered. If you regularly carry a pillion, particularly someone known to you, I would get cover. It may be cheaper for them to take out a personal accident policy.

[antoni]

I always say I won't carry a passenger when asking for an insurance quote. I do that hoping for a cheaper quote because the second-to-last passenger I carried was my elderly mother a long time ago.

I'd assumed if passenger cover was not specified then it would be illegal to carry a passenger. That was my mistake.

It's unlikely that in the event of a mishap my mother would have sued me. All the same the possibility of the plod catching me with said mother on the back would have caused me to refuse her a ride - apparently through my own misunderstanding and gold-plating of the 'rules'.

You *can* take a passenger without passenger cover, but choose who you take. I did not appreciate that until today.

[iansoady]

Surely any passenger is a third party and hence would be covered under that section of the insurance?

[mini-me]

Exact same question in the  AMC forum,how many answers do you need?