UK Carpooling Rules & Regulations

For normal cost‑sharing carpooling (where you only receive contributions towards your journey costs and make no profit), UK insurers and their trade body say that standard private car insurance is usually sufficient and is not affected by passengers contributing to costs.

The ABI states that its member motor insurers have agreed your insurance cover will not be affected if passengers simply contribute towards your journey costs (including fuel and other running costs), as long as you are not making a profit and the vehicle seats eight passengers or fewer.

Independent guidance summarising the ABI position confirms that in the UK, car sharing does not usually require any extra or special insurance beyond your normal motor policy, provided you only share costs and do not operate as a passenger‑carrying business.

Special “car share insurance” products and additional commercial policies are mainly needed for peer‑to‑peer car rental or “hire and reward” (where people rent out their whole car for money, or operate like a taxi), which is a different model from Qruuze’s non‑profit cost‑sharing.

Qruuze is designed so that drivers may only recover their share of genuine running costs and cannot make a profit, which fits the ABI’s definition of non‑profit car sharing that does not normally require special insurance beyond a standard private policy.

This information is a general summary of UK car‑sharing and insurance guidance and is not personal legal or insurance advice. Always read your own policy and, if in doubt, speak to your insurer or an independent adviser.

The UK government’s taxi and private hire licensing guidance confirms that car sharing is a lawful and legitimate form of transport and distinguishes it from commercial taxi/private hire services.

The same guidance explains that the licensing regime is not intended to regulate non‑commercial car‑sharing, and that decisions to share a vehicle and costs are a matter for the individuals involved. The Department for Transport states that if a driver is only collecting expenses and not making a commercial profit, the vehicle should not be treated as a licensable private hire vehicle.

UK law on car sharing is set out in the Public Passenger Vehicles Act 1981, which allows cost‑sharing journeys where passenger contributions are arranged before travel and do not exceed the fuel and running costs (including wear and depreciation) of the vehicle for that trip.

Parliamentary discussion of the car‑sharing provisions confirms that these rules were specifically introduced so that private motorists giving lifts on a cost‑sharing basis would not have to hold public service vehicle licences, making cost‑sharing “both a legal and a practical proposition.”

UK government guidance on not‑for‑profit passenger transport further confirms that car sharing is exempt from permit requirements where payments from passengers “do not exceed the running costs of the vehicle for the journey.”

Independent UK car‑sharing guides summarise the law in the same way: informal car sharing does not require a taxi licence where only journey costs are shared, no profit is made, and the vehicle has eight passenger seats or fewer.

This information summarises public UK legal guidance on non‑commercial car sharing and is not individual legal advice. For specific situations, users should check local licensing policies and seek independent legal advice if needed.