When you book a car through a car club, you’re the one registered as the driver. But many members wonder what happens if someone else — a partner, friend, or colleague — wants to take a turn behind the wheel. Is it allowed, and would they be covered by insurance?
The short answer is no. When you make a booking, the insurance only covers you as the named driver. Handing the keys or app access to someone else puts you in breach of the rules and leaves you and them uninsured.
Why Only Members Can Drive
Car clubs work on a membership model where every driver is individually vetted. That usually includes licence checks, driving history verification, age restrictions, and agreement to the club’s terms. The insurance policy is tied to that process.
If you let someone who hasn’t made the booking drive, they aren’t covered. If they had an accident, you would both be personally liable for the costs. In some cases, the car club could also suspend or cancel your membership for breaking the rules.
What About in an Emergency?
A common concern is what happens if the booked driver suddenly becomes unwell or is unable to continue the journey. Unfortunately, the rule remains the same: only the member who made the booking is insured to drive. Handing the wheel to anyone else would mean they are driving uninsured, even if it feels like the only option.
In that situation, the correct step is to stop the vehicle safely and call 999 if it’s a medical emergency. Once help is on the way, you should also contact the car club’s support line, which operates 24/7, and they can arrange recovery of the vehicle or advise on next steps.
It’s worth knowing that UK law does not make an automatic exception for emergencies — driving without insurance is still illegal, even if the intention was to get the car or the driver to safety. In extreme, life-threatening cases, a passenger might decide to take the risk, but they would still be uninsured and could face liability afterwards.
Even Other Members Are Not Allowed
It’s a common misconception that if your partner or friend is also a member of the same car club, they can take over your booking. That isn’t the case. Membership is individual, and each booking only insures the person who made it. Even two approved members cannot share the same booking — they must each reserve the car separately if they both want to drive.
The only exception is with certain business accounts, where multiple named employees can be linked to a single profile. For personal use, it’s always one booking, one driver.
What About Passengers?
There’s no problem with sharing a journey in the usual way — you can carry passengers just like in any privately owned car. The passengers don’t have to be members of the car club, they can be anyone you are happy and legally allowed to travel with.
But only the person who made the booking is allowed to drive.
Why You Shouldn’t Bend the Rules
It might be tempting to let a partner drive, for part of a long trip, for instance, but doing so creates big risks. If anything happened, neither of you would be insured.
You could be liable for the full cost of repairs, third-party claims, and any injuries. On top of that, the club could suspend your membership, leaving you without access to cars in the future.
Business Accounts are Exceptions
The only real exception is for companies.
Both Zipcar and Enterprise run dedicated business programmes that allow multiple employees to be registered under one account. Each employee still has to be approved individually, but once they are, any of them can drive the vehicles booked under the company plan.
For personal memberships, however, there are no exceptions — it’s one booking, one driver.
The Bottom Line on Sharing Bookings
So, can you share your car club booking with someone else? No — the insurance only covers you as the member who made the booking.
Passengers are fine, and business accounts can add multiple members, but you can’t simply hand the car over to a friend or partner. Sticking to this rule keeps you insured, protects your membership, and avoids the risk of large bills or penalties if something goes wrong.