The Driving Other Cars extension or DOC as it is more commonly known is a policy benefit included in some car insurance policies. DOC allows you to drive another person’s car with their permission on a third party only basis whilst being covered on your own policy.
If you have fully comprehensive insurance you might believe you are covered by your policy to drive any car. Increasingly this benefit does not come as standard on fully comp policies, so you will need to check this with us.
Not everyone with fully comp cover is eligible for this extension on their policy. The most common requirement is that you need to be at least 25. This is because young drivers are considered by most insurers to be high risk. If you turn 25 in the middle of your policy term, DOC won’t automatically be added to your policy. You’ll need to ask if DOC could be added to your policy mid-term.
Even if you are over 25 you are not guaranteed to have DOC. The second most important factor is your occupation. Occupations deemed high risk by insurers may be excluded from having DOC. This includes most occupations in the motoring industry so contact your insurer to check if you are eligible.
The driving other cars extension is not intended for or suitable for regular use. In fact it is designed to be used in emergencies only e.g. if you need to get an injured person to hospital quickly.
Another common mistake is thinking that you can drive anyone’s car under DOC. Actually the cover cannot be used to drive a car belonging to your spouse or partner.
The level of cover provided under DOC is Third Party Only, even if your own policy is fully comp. If you while crash driving a mate’s car your insurer would cover the third party involved. However, repairing your friend’s car is down to you. This is definitely something to bear in mind before hopping into someone’s car!
To be completely certain if this section applies to your policy we suggest that our customers contact us for confirmation.
Source:https://www.veygo.com/car-sharing/can-i-drive-someone-elses-car/