AS people return to the workplace, Admiral Motor Insurance is warning drivers to check the class of use on their motor insurance policies to ensure it’s still relevant to their current driving use.

The insurer saw the highest number of customers moving their class of use to ‘Social, Domestic and Pleasure’ in March 2021 when 6,552 made this change to their policies, as many drivers continued to work from home. That month also saw the highest number of drivers making any change to their class of use, with 15,879 motorists doing so.

Now Admiral is reminding any drivers who made a change to their class of use during the pandemic to check their policy meets their current circumstances and to let their insurer know if it has changed, to make sure they’re covered.

In particular, drivers that previously had commuting or business use on their policy, but changed it to ‘Social, Domestic and Pleasure’ as they started to work from home, could be under-covered if they’re starting to work away from home again.

Clare Egan, Head of Motor Insurance at Admiral said: “We know that many motorists changed their car insurance cover during the pandemic to suit their needs at the time – whether that was adding cover to allow them to make deliveries, or removing cover for commuting or driving for business as they were working from home.

“While we all know it’s illegal to drive without car insurance it’s also illegal to have the wrong type of cover, so it’s vital that drivers make sure they have the right class of use in place.

“As we return to a form of normality, we urge drivers to check their policy to make sure it fits their current situation. It’s not just people returning to the commute who need to be aware of this, many drivers have changed jobs or have acquired a second job so we’re asking them to ensure they’re correctly covered.”

The pandemic also saw many UK workers pivot to become courier drivers for the first time, delivering parcels and takeaway food in their domestic vehicles.

To meet this growing trend, Admiral has launched a new class of use called ‘Carriage of goods for hire and reward’ in response to the rise of people using their cars to make deliveries. Courier drivers face different challenges to the usual day-to-day driving with more frequent stops, high mileage and busy delivery schedules and this new class of use provides cover for those activities.

The new category of cover insures the vehicle, but any goods or merchandise being carried aren’t covered. It allows someone to deliver food or parcels but excludes the carriage of paying passengers for hire and reward, so couldn’t be used by someone using their car as a taxi.

What is class of use?

When buying car insurance, it’s important to be accurate on how the vehicle is used as it affects the price you pay and what you are covered for. If the wrong class of use is chosen then your insurance company could refuse a claim if you’re ‘under-insured’ or the circumstances of your claim don’t fit the car use.

General class of use categories