What Does Social, Domestic and Pleasure Mean?

People use their cars for different reasons. Some just need their motor to get around, while others use it for work. When you buy car insurance, you’ll need to tell your insurer how you plan to use your car, which is called the “class of use.”

Choosing the right class of use is important. Insurers see a big difference between using your car occasionally to visit friends and using it daily for work or transporting goods. This affects the risk they take and can change how much you pay for insurance.

Our guide explains each class of use and what you can do with each one.

What are the different car insurance usage categories?

There are three main types of car insurance classes of use:

Social, Domestic and Pleasure only (SDP)
Social, Domestic, Pleasure and Commuting (SDPC)
Personal business use (SDPC and business use)

Make sure you pick the right type of insurance for how you use your car. If you don’t, it could cause issues if you need to make a claim. Also, if you’re caught driving with the wrong type (like having insurance for personal use but driving to work), it’s considered driving without insurance. This can cancel your policy and might even lead to a criminal charge.

What is Social, Domestic and Pleasure Insurance (SDP)?

SDP insurance is perfect for those who only use their vehicle for personal trips. This could be things like driving to the shops, visiting friends and taking your children or grandchildren to school.

What is Social, Domestic, Pleasure and Commuting Insurance (SDPC)?

SDPC insurance includes all the benefits of SDP insurance, plus it covers your trips to and from work. This means it even covers driving to a train station if you’re taking the train to work.

For students, this insurance covers your trips to school, college or university.

Note: You’ll usually find that just one place of work is covered by SDPC insurance. If you travel to multiple workplaces, you’ll need SDPC + business use insurance.

What is Social, Domestic, Pleasure Commuting and Business Use Insurance?

With SDPC and business use insurance, you get all the benefits of the other two options, plus coverage for business-related driving. This is necessary if you use your vehicle for work tasks beyond just commuting, such as driving between workplaces, visiting clients or transporting goods.

There are three classes of business use insurance:

Class 1: Covers you for travelling to different places for work, like visiting clients or patients.
Class 2: Same as Class 1, but you can also add another driver, like a co-worker.
Class 3*: For those who drive long distances regularly for work, also called commercial travelling.

Additionally, there’s commercial car insurance for people whose main job is driving, like taxi drivers.

If you have an accident while driving for work and you don’t have business use insurance, you won’t be able to claim.

*Saga does not offer cover for class 3 business use.

Does business use cost more to have on car insurance?

The cost of business use insurance can vary based on several factors specific to your driving habits and work requirements. Here’s a clearer breakdown:

Distance: The length of your daily commute to work can impact the cost. Longer commutes generally mean higher premiums.
Occupation: The nature of your job plays a role. For example, if your job involves a lot of driving or transporting valuable items, the insurance might be more expensive.
Routes: The types of roads you frequently use, such as motorways or busy city streets, can affect the price.
Cargo: What you carry in your vehicle for work matters. Transporting heavy equipment or valuable goods can increase the insurance cost.

Each factor helps the insurance company figure out the risk and set your premium. The type of vehicle you drive also matters. Vehicles are divided into different insurance groups, and prices vary based on the group your car is in.

What counts as commuting for insurance?

Commuting for your car insurance usually means travelling to and from one place of work or driving to the station if the train is your normal transport to work.

Does commuting increase car insurance?

It can increase the cost of car insurance if you're driving on busy roads during peak hours when accidents are more likely. Likewise, if you’re leaving your car in a train station car park all day, it may be at more risk of theft and damage than if it were parked at home.

What counts as driving for work?

This can come in many different forms, such as driving between workplaces, visiting clients or patients, transporting goods or travelling long distances regularly for your work. People who use their car solely for their job, such as driving instructors or taxi drivers should be covered by commercial policies.

If you’re unsure what level of cover you need, talk to your insurer.