It’s incredibly important to review your insurance policy packages. Speak to your insurer or broker to avoid disappointment, should the need to claim ever arise. When informing the insurer, several actions could be taken to accommodate you. Your insurer could increase your premium, impose an additional excess amount or change your cover completely from private to business use.
There’s also bad news, depending on the insurer. If you’re the sole driver and accepting payment from all passengers, you may find that your policy excludes cover. The exemption to this is if you could prove that the compensation you receive is only sufficient to cover the basics. Failing to do so could result in your future claim being rejected.
Sure, you may end up paying a little more money for the change, but its way better than the alternative.
The ideal scenario for carpooling, then, is one of alternating drivers. Everybody takes turns using their own vehicle and covering the costs themselves. Therefore, no money exchanges hands, it’s not a business, and insurers will be happy to accept this.
In fact, if you’re with a great insurer, you may even find that your premium is reduced due to the fact that you don’t use your vehicle that often.