British Motorists Don't Trust Their Friends Or Family Behind Their Wheel

• 68 per cent don’t trust their friends and family to drive their car
• 26 per cent say this is because of their lack of driving experience
• 11 per cent don’t trust their best friends to drive their car

New research from car insurer Liverpool Victoria (conducted by YouGov1) reveals that most Brits (68 per cent) don’t trust their nearest and dearest to drive their cars. Mums and best friends fared worst, being the least trusted. The top reasons given were perceived inexperience, speeding and nerves when driving.

Who we least trust to drive our cars, and the reasons why, ranked:

Women are most anxious about people speeding when driving their car (23 per cent), whereas men are more concerned about the inexperience of the driver (30 per cent). Surprisingly, less than one in 10 Brits are worried about past brushes with the law, reckless driving, road rage or a history of accidents.

The survey also disproves the common belief that men are more preoccupied with how people park. Eight per cent of men said that this was why they did not trust others to drive their car – only two per cent more than women did (six per cent).

John O’Roarke, Managing Director at Liverpool Victoria General Insurance, said: “The dilemma faced by motorists seems to be how to tell their friends and loved ones that, despite trusting them with most other things in life, they don’t trust them to drive their cars. However, it’s encouraging to see that the British motorist does not hand over the car keys easily and is conscious of the potential risks.

“Before allowing a friend or family member – or anyone else for that matter – to get behind the wheel of your car, you should make sure that they have adequate insurance cover. The only way to guarantee full cover for your own car is to make them a named driver on your policy, and ensure that the policy has Comprehensive cover for own vehicle damage. Otherwise any niggles of doubt you had about letting them take your car may come back to haunt you.”

Surprisingly the under 30’s seem to agree with their own stereotype as the most careless age group on the roads and are the least likely to trust their peers with their cars. 19 per cent don’t trust their best friend with their car, eight per cent above the national average. And more than double the national average said that their siblings were not to be trusted either (29 per cent vs 14 per cent respectively).

ONLY FOR INCLUSION IN SCOTLAND
Scottish motorists were the most worried, expressing the greatest number of concerns. They cite all of the following as one of the reasons they would not trust that person to drive their car:

However, the Scottish bucked the trend by being the least likely to cite lack of driving experience as a reason.