do I need special insurance to drive my own car

[IR35 Avoider]

Well the first definition I've managed to google does say "permanent place of work" as part of the definition of commuting. (Confused.com)

I remain doubtful that insurance companies's definition of permanent place of work is the same as HMRC's though. Though no doubt they'd like us all to pay for the most expensive cover, even if we don't need it.

From a risk point of view, I think insurance companies want to distinguish between those who travel to the same destination every day, and those who travel to different destinations, and possibly multiple destinations within a day. The latter two is what I think business cover is for. (In fact on other sites there seem to be up to three levels of business cover, however they all seem to apply to something other than commuting to the same place every day.)

Reading on, confused.com does say that business cover is for when you need to drive somewhere other than your "normal place of work". (No, I don't think "home" is a contractors normal place of work, unless they work more days there than they do in a single client office. And even if the did, home possibly doesn't count for insurance purposes, it would make no sense to charge someone more for driving to the office two days a week than you would charge them for driving there five days a week.)

So, taking the descriptions at face value, you don't need business cover to drive to your "normal place of work", but commuting cover only covers you to a "permanent place of work". So there is a contradiction if you rely on the tax definition of "permanent."

The second place I googled was Admiral, which had the same definitions, and the same potential/apparent contradiction, as confused.com.

Googling further:-

Third place: Allianz. Commuting is travelling to your "usual place of work."

Fourth: GoCompare, agrees with first two.

My own insurance company doesn't appear to have any definition of commuting, that I've found so far. (I work from home five days a week, so not really an issue.)

[IR35 Avoider]

Money Supermarket says:-

Business car insurance explained

A standard car insurance policy covers your car for so-called social, domestic and personal use, which includes everyday driving such as visiting friends, the shops or a day out.

Many policies also automatically cover your car if you commute to and from a regular place of work. So, if you drive the car to the same office every day, or park in the same station car park, you would be insured.

But what if you drive to several different offices or work sites? Perhaps a colleague regularly takes your car to visit clients. Or maybe you drive hundreds of miles a week for business purposes. If so, you will almost certainly need business car insurance. It is often more expensive than standard motor insurance, but it is important to get the right cover for your needs.

[kevpuk]

As others have alluded to, you need Business Class 1

SDP covers only social, domestic and pleasure use, adding Commuting covers to and from usual/regular/permanent place of work.
Business Class 1 has all of the SDP element, but also includes driving in connection with work.......but not including selling/solicitation () and so forth. Business Class 3 includes all else, i.e. selling and so on.

Dunno what happened to Business Class 2

[WTFH]

As others have alluded to, you need Business Class 1

SDP covers only social, domestic and pleasure use, adding Commuting covers to and from usual/regular/permanent place of work.
Business Class 1 has all of the SDP element, but also includes driving in connection with work.......but not including selling/solicitation () and so forth. Business Class 3 includes all else, i.e. selling and so on.

Dunno what happened to Business Class 2

I thought that Class 2 used to cover carrying items in your car (but not for sale). So, if your client gives you a laptop and you carry that in your car, then it was class 2, but reading around it appears that it now means more than one named person using the car for business use.

[TykeMerc]

Ignoring all of the arguments about semantics of the word, Class 1 business use (or whatever it's called now) costs about two quid, it can even make your premium slightly less on some quotes I've had in the past, get it that way you avoid any risk. Plus you definitely DO need it if you travel between sites at all, even just for meetings, you need that if you're a permy too unless you're using a pool car insured by the company.

[JRCT]

Well the first definition I've managed to google does say "permanent place of work" as part of the definition of commuting. (Confused.com)

I remain doubtful that insurance companies's definition of permanent place of work is the same as HMRC's though. Though no doubt they'd like us all to pay for the most expensive cover, even if we don't need it.

From a risk point of view, I think insurance companies want to distinguish between those who travel to the same destination every day, and those who travel to different destinations, and possibly multiple destinations within a day. The latter two is what I think business cover is for. (In fact on other sites there seem to be up to three levels of business cover, however they all seem to apply to something other than commuting to the same place every day.)

Reading on, confused.com does say that business cover is for when you need to drive somewhere other than your "normal place of work". (No, I don't think "home" is a contractors normal place of work, unless they work more days there than they do in a single client office. And even if the did, home possibly doesn't count for insurance purposes, it would make no sense to charge someone more for driving to the office two days a week than you would charge them for driving there five days a week.)

So, taking the descriptions at face value, you don't need business cover to drive to your "normal place of work", but commuting cover only covers you to a "permanent place of work". So there is a contradiction if you rely on the tax definition of "permanent."

The second place I googled was Admiral, which had the same definitions, and the same potential/apparent contradiction, as confused.com.

Googling further:-

Third place: Allianz. Commuting is travelling to your "usual place of work."

Fourth: GoCompare, agrees with first two.

My own insurance company doesn't appear to have any definition of commuting, that I've found so far. (I work from home five days a week, so not really an issue.)

I think you probably need to change your username.

[NibblyPig]

I added business use to my policy, cost me about 25 quid, 15 of that was the stupid admin fee.

And I have no no-claims or insurance history cos I've not driven a car for years and when I did it was only 6 months, so my policy is quite expensive (400 odd quid iirc).

[Lightwave]

Ignoring all of the arguments about semantics of the word, Class 1 business use (or whatever it's called now) costs about two quid, it can even make your premium slightly less on some quotes I've had in the past, get it that way you avoid any risk. Plus you definitely DO need it if you travel between sites at all, even just for meetings, you need that if you're a permy too unless you're using a pool car insured by the company.

I agree.
But it seems hard to get business use on a classic motorbike policy....

[WTFH]

I agree.
But it seems hard to get business use on a classic motorbike policy....

"Classic" policies tend to be restrictive on mileage, use, etc. If you want business use, then you'll struggle to find a classic policy to cover it.

[SueEllen]

I added business use to my policy, cost me about 25 quid, 15 of that was the stupid admin fee.

Mine was the same the first time I did that. Though I was permie the first time I added it on.

When I renewed I took business class 1 of the quotes and then added it back on. It made absolutely no difference to the price.

The only reason it would be more expensive than SCD is due to your occupation. However I know some insurers don't give a damn as long as you have an office based job.