Which vehicle insurance classification?

[FrugalFish]

Hi all.

It's been a long time since I've posted much on these boards, but hoping someone can offer an answer to a question. I know I should probably just call the insurance company, but they won't answer without accessing the account, and past experience says that will often lead to a screw-up, so... I'll ask here first.

We got an annual mileage/use review to fill out and return. I am a stay at home mom and the car I drive is designated as a pleasure vehicle used for errands, visiting, etc. One of the regular "errands" this car is used for is to transport a young child to school (less than 1 mile) which made me wonder if the designation for the car more rightfully falls into the "work/school" category.

I tend to think of the work/school category as a function pertaining to the primary driver of the vehicle, where that driver takes the car to a work or school location, parks it for a period of time, and then leaves at the end of a session, but I'm just not sure the more I think about it.

So, in classifying the usage for insurance purposes, does using the car several times per week to transport a child to elementary school reclassify it as a work/school vehicle, or does taking kids to school classify as an "errand" that falls under pleasure vehicle?

Anyone shed some light here?

TIA

[siggy_freud]

All they're really looking to ascertain is the frequency of use and overall use within a year. Work/School implies it's a daily use vehicle, as the majority of folks work/attend school daily. A pleasure vehicle tells them it's not a primary use vehicle, and will have a minor number of miles put on it in a year compared to the primary use vehicle.

If you change the use to work/school, your rates will most likely rise on the vehicle. If you're staying under the mileage limitation to meet the "pleasure" restrictions, keep the vehicle listed as that in my opinion.

Obviously, check your policy to ensure "pleasure" doesn't restrict you from certain activities that you could otherwise do with work/school. I've never seen that though, and I can't imagine they would.

[studentmommy]

Generally speaking, it would still be considered a pleasure vehicle if your travels are under 3 miles one way, even if you take the child to school 5 days a week. Hope that helps!

[bjl584]

Laws may vary by state, but I know I used to have what was considered a pleasure vehicle by my insurance company because I put less than 5000 miles a year on it.

[siggy_freud]

We had a pleasure vehicle insured, and the stipulation was less than like 8k miles a year. Sometimes I drove it to work, which was 60 miles round-trip.

Total yearly mileage is usually the biggest, and sometimes only, stipulation. They can't really tell how many miles per day you're driving it, so limiting that is rather pointless.

[FrugalFish]

Thank you all for the feedback, it is very helpful.

Mileage on the vehicle was already listed rather low, and after reviewing records, I realized that usage has dropped another 1/3 or so in the past year or two. I'm just trying to be ethical where the forms are concerned, so thank you for taking the time to respond!

[Robert742]

I'm sure you completed and returned the form by now, but here's a tip. Some companies charge more for pleasure rating than a vehicle with an under 3 miles one way commute each day. For companies not charging a higher rate for a pleasure rating, work commutes 3 miles or less one way (30 miles a week) 5 days a week are rated the same as pleasure. It would be legitimate to rate your car as having a 10 mile weekly commute if you drive two miles (there & back) 5 days a week to drop off your child, though many companies may not insist on it.

More importantly, with those use forms insurance companies send you, is to make sure your reported odometer readings reflect the annual mileage rating for your vehicle. If you are rated as 7,000 miles a year, and there is a 10,000 mileage difference from your last odometer reading from a year ago, expect your rates to go up.