Are you considering using BlaBlaCar or another carpooling service? In this case, you are not obliged to take out specific car insurance or additional guarantees.
However, it is important to check a few details and understand the legislation before getting behind the wheel or allowing yourself to be driven.
1. You are a driver
As a driver, you will get to know about the carpooling services and what is has to do with your insurance policy.
In no time, let’s begin.
Do you have to take out a special carpooling guarantee?
There is no warranty extension specific to carpooling, which is considered a friendly service. Carpooling therefore does not entail any additional cost to your current car insurance.
However, we advise you to inform your insurer of your intention to carpool. Here are the main points you need to review:
Carpooling takes place within the framework of home-to-work journeys – Are these travel conditions covered by your car insurance?
Does your contract include an exclusive conduct clause? Some insurance policies only cover the driver(s) named, others include increased deductibles in the event of the loan of a steering wheel.
If you want to lend your wheel to a carpooler, check with your insurance company beforehand.
Is a deductible applied in the event of the loan of a steering wheel to a novice driver? This clause is important in the event of a claim.
Indeed, if said novice driver causes an accident, the amount remaining at your expense may prove to be particularly high.
Is your vehicle a company car? If so, the insurance of this vehicle often excludes the transport of passengers.
Do you derive any financial benefit from carpooling? If you accept remuneration greater than the sharing of travel expenses, you must take out specific professional insurance for remunerated passenger transport.
Some insurers are aligning their offer with this new practice and offering contracts dedicated to carpooling, with special carpooling guarantees.
These professionals often have a partnership with carpooling platforms.
This is for example the case of BlaBlaCar today in partnership with AXA.
If you borrow the wheel when carpooling with BlaBlaCar, you will be better covered if your current insurance does not cover this practice or only slightly.
However, a few conditions should be met: loan of the steering wheel to a passenger with more than 3 years of license and that you do not have an exclusivity clause in your insurance contract.
Be careful, however, in the event of an accident: it is you who will be awarded a penalty.
HOW YOU WILL BE COMPENSATED IN THE EVENT OF AN ACCIDENT
In any case, if an occasional driver causes an accident, it is you, as the policyholder, who will be penalized with a penalty.
The only exception to this rule: if the driver took the wheel without your knowledge, your reduction-increase coefficient (CRM) is not affected.
The stages of compensation in the event of a traffic accident correspond to those of a classic claim.
It may be a claim for which you are responsible, a victim, or for which the third party could not be identified. Consult our article dedicated to road accident compensation to find out how to proceed.
2. You are a passenger
You must check two essential elements before getting into the car:
Does your driver hold a driver’s license?
Is the car used properly insured? you can easily find out by consulting the insurance certificate on the passenger side windscreen.
How you will be compensated in the event of an accident
As a passenger, your bodily injury is covered by the civil liability of the vehicle in the same way as all other third parties.
However, you must not commit any inexcusable fault.
For example, you are not compensated if you jump out of the moving car or pull the handbrake while the vehicle is moving at high speed.
In the event of a business trip, your company’s “work accident” insurance can also cover your incapacity for work as a passenger.
In general, the accident must occur on the home-to-work journey. A detour to get to the meeting places for carpooling is allowed.
However, it must not exceed a certain percentage of the total journey: for example 20%.
Can you drive as a passenger?
During your carpooling journeys, it sometimes happens that the driver gets tired and asks to hand over the steering wheel to one of the passengers.
The loan of the wheel is possible, you will then be covered by the insurance of the driver and owner of the vehicle. In the event of an accident, it is the owner who will be awarded a penalty.
This way you will be protected, limit the risks due to driver fatigue and therefore drive in greater safety.
