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Cuvva's terms and conditions
Cuvva's terms and conditions

Here's everything you need to know about our Ts&Cs

Joey M avatar
Written by Joey M
Updated over a week ago

Why you should read these

Please read these terms and conditions ("terms") carefully before you use Cuvva.

These terms are a binding legal agreement between you and Cuvva that govern your right to use the websites, applications, and other offerings from Cuvva (our "services"). These terms will tell you who we are, how we provide products and services to you, how we might change these terms, how you or we could end our agreement to these terms, what to do if there's a problem and other important information.

If you think there's a mistake or anything needs amending, please get in touch. The best way to speak with us is usually in the app - or you can email us at support@cuvva.com. We’re here to reply within a few minutes any day of the week, during peak hours. Bear in mind that we may reduce our support hours at quiet times (such as late at night), during the Christmas period or in other circumstances.

These terms are provided by Cuvva Limited ("Cuvva", "we", "our") a company incorporated in England (no. 08907985) with registered office at Cuvva, 4th Floor, Old Sessions House, 23 Clerkenwell Green, London, EC1R 0NA. We're authorised and regulated by the Financial Conduct Authority ("FCA") under number 690273. And we're registered with the Information Commissioner's Office ("ICO") under number ZA056769.

These terms will be legally binding when you accept them. We'll make small changes from time-to-time, so come back and read these terms now and again. We'll notify you by email or by a notification in the app or website if we make material changes, so you can read and let us know if you accept the updated version.

We're a motor insurance intermediary offering innovative insurance products (our “Products”) and services. We can:

  • offer you Products so that you can insure a vehicle;

  • help you borrow a vehicle from other Cuvva customers; or

  • help you lend your vehicle to other Cuvva customers.

Clauses 2 (Our insurance products and services) to 10 (Claims and incident reporting) inclusive are relevant to you if you are purchasing an insurance Product with us on your own vehicle.

If you are purchasing an insurance Product with us on someone else’s vehicle which you are borrowing, clauses 11 (Additional terms when sharing vehicles via Cuvva) to 14 (Payments for sharing vehicles) inclusive will also be relevant to you, in addition to clauses 2 to 10.

If you won’t have any insurance Products with us but are instead just using our services to facilitate lending your vehicle to a third party, clauses 11 (Additional terms when sharing vehicles via Cuvva) to 26 (Law and jurisdiction) inclusive are relevant to you.

Clauses 15 (Termination, freezes and bans) to 26 (Law and jurisdiction) inclusive will be relevant to anyone using any Cuvva Product or service for any purpose.

Our Products are underwritten by insurance companies (insurers), not Cuvva. To buy a Product, you need to agree to a contract with the relevant insurer (insurance contract or “insurance policy"). This will govern the terms and conditions on which the nominated vehicle or individuals are insured.

Cuvva doesn't give personal recommendations or advice. Cuvva hasn't carried out an analysis of the market to identify the best possible offer for you. You'll need to make your own choice on whether the Product is suitable for your needs.

Our Products are provided by insurers on a non-exclusive basis. Details of the relevant insurer can be found in your insurance contract before purchase, and are available on request.

Currently it's not permitted to buy our products when you're outside the UK.

Cuvva Limited is authorised and regulated by the FCA, as we described earlier. We're permitted to arrange non-investment general insurance contracts. You can check this on the FCA's Register by visiting https://www.fca.org.uk/register or by contacting the FCA on 0800 111 6768.

Cuvva is responsible for arranging and helping insurers administer our Products. As part of this service, we want to give you an exceptional level of customer support at all times. But if you're unhappy with Cuvva, we have a formal complaints policy.

The insurer named on your policy will be responsible for administering and paying any claim(s) you may have under your insurance policy. If you’re unhappy with the insurer, you will also have the right to complain to the insurer. If your complaint about Cuvva and/or your insurer remains unresolved, you have the right to refer your complaint to the Financial Ombudsman Service (FOS).

We're also covered by the Financial Services Compensation Scheme ("FSCS"). You may be entitled to compensation from the FSCS in the unlikely event we or your insurer can't meet our obligations. Further information about the compensation scheme is available here: https://fscs.org.uk/your-claim

All transactions to buy Products are completed via our app, or via our website. Before payment you'll be given a quote which will be valid for a limited period. You should only go ahead and authorise payment if you accept the quote, the terms and the insurance contract, and want Cuvva to collect money from you.

After you authorise payment, we may carry out final checks which can result in a failed purchase. If this happens and results in an uncaptured payment, we'll automatically release the payment within a few minutes. But it may take up to 7 days to be processed by your bank.

Before buying our Products, you should read the relevant insurance contract with the insurer. The insurance contract is in addition to these terms between you and Cuvva. The insurance contract covers any terms and conditions between you and the insurer.

You can only use our app or website to purchase motor insurance for yourself. You can't purchase motor insurance on behalf of another person. If you represent yourself as another person to apply for a motor insurance Product, the Product may not be valid.

We reserve the right to charge you reasonable costs for chargebacks raised in your name, or against any payment cards you've used.

We can't make changes to any policy which is for coverage of 1 hour up to 28 days inclusive (which we call our “short-term motor insurance” Product once it's been purchased. So if you purchase short-term motor insurance, you wouldn't be able to change it to cover a different vehicle, for example. If you wanted to cover a different vehicle in that case, you would need to get a new quote in the app or website, before purchasing a new short-term motor insurance Product.

Referrals are intended for people you know. So please don't post your referral links publicly. We might cancel or limit how many people can redeem your links if we find any posted publicly.

The expiry date of any discount will depend on the promotion you're looking to benefit from. But no discount will last for more than 12 months from the date of redemption. If you have any questions, including when the deadlines are, please chat to us and we'll help.

Cuvva can't guarantee that our app or website will be available at all times, including due to problems with third party websites or your internet connectivity. Cuvva won't be responsible to you for any losses or inconvenience as a result of our app or website being unavailable or not functioning properly.

Cuvva will select an insurer to consider insuring you. If that insurer declines to insure you, Cuvva is not obliged to offer your business to any other insurer on its panel. Cuvva cannot guarantee that you will be offered a quote (at the same price as previously nor at all), even if you have previously purchased insurance via Cuvva. Your current quote may differ from your previous quote, due to a range of factors, including criteria set by the insurer, which may change from time to time.

In the case of all insurance, the validity of cover and the amount you pay depends on the information you provide. It's your responsibility to provide complete and accurate information to us and the insurer at all times, including when you buy your product. It's important that all statements you make and all questions you answer are complete, true and accurate.

You must tell us about anything which may affect the Product, insurance policy or quote. For example, this could mean telling us about any previous incidents you've been involved in, your occupation or if there's any reason you may not be able to legally drive the vehicle.

You can update your details yourself or chat with us in the app, via the website, by email, or in writing. All communications are recorded - see our privacy notice for more information.

If you're not sure whether you need to tell us something - please ask. We're happy to help!

If the information provided by you isn't complete and accurate:

  • The insurance policy may be voided by the insurer, meaning the insurance policy effectively never existed, and you may be liable for driving without insurance.

  • The insurance policy may be cancelled by the insurer, meaning the insurer can refuse to pay a claim, or may not pay a claim in full.

  • The insurer may require you to pay additional premiums, change the compulsory excess, or the extent of the cover may be affected to reflect the increased insurance risk; and

  • You may be responsible for damage or loss to a third party if you cause an accident.

Further details of the insurer's rights are set out in the insurance contract.

We won't be responsible for any loss, damage or otherwise that results from you not having not provided complete and accurate information, unless it would be illegal for us to exclude or attempt to exclude our responsibility to you.

If you purchase any Products, the details of your cancellation rights will be included in the relevant insurance contract. In most cases, due to the rules governing short-term motor insurance, once a Product is active you no longer have a right to receive a refund.

Your insurance contract will include a cancellation clause for the insurer in certain circumstances. You should ensure you understand when this might happen before you enter into the insurance contract.

For all Products, we'll tell you the insurance premiums, taxes and fees payable in our quote summary which you can see before purchase.

We receive the whole of your payment on a risk transfer basis, as the agent of the insurer. This means that when you pay for your policy, your payment is deemed to have already been received by the insurer. Depending on the Product, your payment may be held in a non-statutory trust bank account. These measures help us keep your payments safe.

We're usually paid by receiving an administration fee from you for arranging the insurance. Alternatively or in addition, we may agree with the insurer to be paid by receiving a percentage of the insurance premium in commission from the insurance or service provider. We may earn interest on the money in our bank accounts, and additional amounts from insurers to reflect the performance of the Products.

If you use our “Car Sharing” service (see clause 11 onwards), in addition to or instead of the remuneration set out above, we may also charge you a separate fee for our services in helping you to lend your vehicle or to borrow another customer’s vehicle. Any such fees will be set out separately to any of our fees for arranging your insurance and will show any value added tax (“VAT”) on our fees.

Cuvva is entitled to vary its fees for any of its Products or services from time to time. Any fees due will be made clear at time of payment.

Prior to buying your Product you'll be able to review the insurance contract in long format. You'll also be able to review a summary, called an Insurance Product Information Document ("IPID"). Following purchase, you'll get an email with your insurance certificate and insurance contract for your policy. The email will also include a breakdown of what you've paid and some other useful information, like how to contact us or the insurer if you have an accident. You can find your documents within your Cuvva account too.

We may need to contact you from time-to-time; whether by email, app or web chat, letter, telephone or any other reasonable method. It's important you read any messages sent to you and respond in a timely way when needed. We may need certain information from you on behalf of our insurers, and failure to provide such information can result in the cancellation of an existing policy and/or not being allowed to buy future policies. Any action like that will be taken in line with your insurance contract.

It's important to ensure the details of any vehicle you want to insure match the details you enter in the app or website. Failure to do so can lead to you getting insured on the wrong vehicle! Please also check that the details we give you about the vehicle, before purchase, match the vehicle you wish to drive.

All UK car insurance policies are automatically added to the "Motor Insurance Database" ("MID") which is used by the police and Automatic Number Plate Recognition ("ANPR") cameras to confirm cars are driving legally. Although Cuvva sends information to the MID faster than other companies, unfortunately, the MID database is slow to update, and it's possible your policy will have expired before it shows up on the MID.

Your policy documents (found in app, website, or by email) are proof of your cover. If there are any questions from the authorities, they can do a live check or get in touch with Cuvva. The quickest way for the police (and indeed, anyone) to get a response from us, is usually via app / web chat or by email at support@cuvva.com.

Please ensure the authorities double-check your policy documents. If there's any doubt, they should contact Cuvva. Once your car is impounded you typically have to pay a high fee for the vehicle's release.

Claims should be notified to the insurer as soon as possible. If you don't, an insurer may refuse to deal with your claim or reduce the amount you receive from them - Cuvva can't intervene with the insurer on your behalf. In the event an insurer becomes insolvent or delays making settlement, we don't accept responsibility for paying any unpaid amounts owed to you.

As part of our services, we may offer functionality to make it easier for you to lend your vehicle to another Cuvva customer, or to borrow another customer’s vehicle. In these terms, we call this our "Car Sharing" sharing feature. If you are lending your vehicle to another customer we refer to you as the “Lender”. If you are borrowing another customer’s vehicle we refer to you as the “Borrower”. The following clauses 11 to 14 are relevant if you are a Lender or Borrower.

Lenders and Borrowers are expected to abide by our Expected Behaviour Policy when sharing vehicles, which are incorporated into these terms by reference. In particular, Lenders and Borrowers must avoid committing any Harmful Behaviour via Cuvva. “Harmful Behaviour” means posting, creating, messaging or publishing anything defamatory, libellous, offensive, harassing, obscene, malicious, discriminatory or which may otherwise be harmful, distressing, inappropriate or unacceptable. Cuvva may take such action as it considers necessary to ensure that Lenders and Borrowers are using our app and Car Sharing features in an appropriate manner, and to protect Lenders and Borrowers from any Harmful Behaviours. You can report any Harmful Behaviour by other users to us via the flag function in the app or by email to support@cuvva.com.

Cuvva’s Car Sharing feature can merely help Lenders and Borrowers connect. Cuvva does not own or control any vehicle listed or insured through Cuvva. The contract to lend or borrow a vehicle is directly between the Lender and Borrower.

For Cuvva’s Car Sharing feature, Cuvva acts as agent to the Lender to collect any payment owed by the Borrower to the Lender for Car Sharing (see Section 14 below for more detail).

While our app or website may facilitate the sharing of vehicle or driver information, such information is solely informational. It's up to you to decide whether or not to rely on and use that information to lend your vehicle, or borrow another customer’s vehicle. Cuvva does not review or verify the information which Lenders and Borrowers provide to us nor to each other. Cuvva has no control over, and does not guarantee: the existence, quality, safety or legality of any driver, vehicle or vehicle loan; the truth or accuracy of information provided; or that a Lender or Borrower will complete a loan, or return the vehicle in the same condition, or at all.

In providing information about yourself and your vehicle for the purposes of Car Sharing, you agree that we may use such information to facilitate Car Sharing, including providing it to other Cuvva customers, and you acknowledge that we have a legitimate interest in doing so. Please refer to our Privacy Notice for more information on how we treat your personal data.

If you borrow another customer’s vehicle, it is always your responsibility as the Borrower to take out insurance for the duration of your borrowing. It is not the responsibility of the person lending you the vehicle to take out insurance for you.

A Lender will not have rights under a Borrower’s insurance policy. This means that if the Borrower has an accident in a Lender’s vehicle, it is up to the Borrower to make a claim under the Borrower’s insurance policy.

As a Lender it is your responsibility to ensure that the vehicle which you are lending to a Borrower is:

  • Owned by you, or you otherwise have the legal right to lend the vehicle to the Borrower;

  • Roadworthy and has a valid MOT;

  • Has up to date road tax and is not registered as off the road ("SORN"); and

  • Validly insured by you, the Lender, in respect of your own use of the vehicle.

As a Borrower it is your responsibility to ensure that, when using the vehicle loaned to you, you will:

  • Comply with the terms agreed between you and the Lender about how you will use the Lender’s vehicle;

  • Not sell, rent, dispose, damage or otherwise deal with the vehicle or any part of it, and you will not give or purport to give any other person any rights over the Lender’s vehicle;

  • Return the vehicle to the Lender in the same condition as you received it;

  • Have valid insurance for the duration of your borrowing; and

  • Drive safely and legally and comply with all relevant laws and regulations, including holding a valid driving licence.

In using or accessing our Car Sharing service, you are solely responsible for:

  • The accuracy, content and legality of the information you provide about a vehicle lending or borrowing transaction;

  • Your commitments to the Lender or Borrower (as appropriate) and for the lending and borrowing transaction in its entirety, and agree that if you have any problem with a vehicle loan you will take that up with the Lender or Borrower and not involve Cuvva (save to the extent relevant to your insurance policy arranged by Cuvva); and

  • The legality of your actions in relation to the vehicle lending or borrowing transaction.

In using or accessing our services you will not:

  • Breach or circumvent any laws, third-party rights, intellectual property rights or our systems, technical measures or policies;

  • Use our services if you are not able to form legally binding contracts or drive (for example, if you are a minor) or are temporarily or indefinitely suspended from using our services;

  • Provide false, inaccurate, misleading or defamatory content to any person about yourself, any other person or any vehicle;

  • Use the contact information or personal data of any other customers for any purpose other than solely lending a vehicle to them or borrowing their vehicle.

You should always make sure to abide by our Expected Behaviour Policy when lending or borrowing a vehicle.

Lenders and Borrowers are free to agree between themselves how much the Borrower will pay to the Lender in order to borrow the Lender’s vehicle (the “Car Sharing Payment”), if anything. This should be specified clearly up front by a Lender and should not be varied after being accepted by the Borrower.

Cuvva or our third party partner will receive the Car Sharing Payment from the Borrower, and pass on the Car Sharing Payment less Cuvva’s fee (see below) to the Lender.

Where a Car Sharing Payment is paid to Cuvva, Cuvva will act as the Lender’s commercial agent. Where you are a Lender, you agree that Cuvva is authorised to conclude your Car Sharing arrangement, by accepting the Car Sharing Payment on your behalf. Note that Cuvva’s obligations in receiving a Car Sharing Payment are distinct from: (i) the obligations which Cuvva has to act as the agent of the policyholder when arranging their insurance; and (ii) the obligations in specific situations (such as when handling insurance premiums) which Cuvva has to act as agent of the insurer.

Cuvva will initiate payment processing in the 24 hours following a car share being agreed between Lender and Borrower. Payments are subject to bank processing times and may take up to 7 days to show in your account.

Where any Car Sharing Payment is unclaimed (whether because a Lender has failed to provide valid bank account details or for any other reason), Cuvva reserves the right to claim ownership of any unclaimed Car Sharing Payment 12 months after it falls due.

Cuvva may, in its sole discretion, provide the Lender with a discount voucher or credit for its services up to the equivalent monetary amount of the Car Sharing Payment, valid for up to 12 months. Such a voucher or credit may be provided on an ex gratia basis and no compensation shall be owed to the Lender or Borrower.

Cuvva is entitled to charge Lenders and/or Borrowers a fee for using our Car Sharing service. This will typically be charged directly to the Lender and expressed as a portion of the Car Sharing Payment, but Cuvva remains free to vary its fees. Where Cuvva charges a fee to a Borrower, this will be charged on behalf of the Lender who in turn authorises Cuvva to receive and retain that fee. Any fees for Car Sharing, and any VAT, will be set out clearly at time of payment. Any Car Sharing fee charged by Cuvva is distinct from any fee due to Cuvva for arranging insurance (if any), as detailed at clause 7.

Cuvva may partner with, and share your data with, third party payment processing and account service providers to facilitate Car Sharing Payments Any data we share will be in accordance with our Privacy Notice.

We reserve the right to terminate this agreement with you and/or to resign as your insurance intermediary at any time. We may terminate, resign, issue a warning, suspend, or freeze your account if we think that you were or are:

  • in breach any of these terms;

  • using a product or service outside its intended application;

  • in breach of our Expected Behaviour Policy;

  • using the app or website to commit or attempt to commit a criminal offence; or

  • abusing our staff.

If we freeze your account, we might not be able to tell you why. But we'll continue to fulfil any outstanding regulatory responsibilities to you.

We reserve the right at any time to suspend, discontinue or modify any of our services (such as our Car Sharing service) or some or all of its features. If we do suspend, discontinue or modify a service or feature, we’ll try to provide you with notice where feasible, but some changes might occur without notice. Unless stated otherwise, such suspension, discontinuance or modification will not terminate or modify these terms, which will continue in full force and effect. In the event of termination of this agreement, the following terms will remain in full force and effect: clauses 3, 8, 10, 15 to 18 and 20 to 26 inclusive.

We provide our services on an “as is” basis, without any guarantees, warranties or representations. We do not guarantee the quality, suitability or safety of vehicles, the reliability or trustworthiness of drivers or the availability or suitability of our services. You agree that the entire risk arising out of your use of the services or out of lending or borrowing a vehicle remains solely with you, to the maximum extent permitted under applicable law. We shall not be liable for delay or failure in performance resulting from causes beyond our reasonable control.

We don't accept any responsibility for any loss or damage you may incur as a result of the acts or omissions of your insurer, a Lender, a Borrower or any other third party.

You agree that we shall not be liable in contract or in tort to you or any third party for any indirect, incidental or consequential damages, including, but not limited to, damages for loss of profits, goodwill, or other intangible losses (even if we have been advised of the possibility of such damages), resulting from: (i) the use or the inability to use the services; (ii) any transaction between you and any other person (whether via Car Sharing or otherwise); or (iii) unauthorised access to or alteration of your data. If we are found to be liable to you, our liability will be limited to £250 in total.

We understand that we may have responsibilities in the event of our negligence, and don't attempt to restrict or exclude our responsibility in the event of negligence, fraud or anything else that by law cannot be limited.

If we don't meet our obligations under these terms due to events outside of our control, such as machine failure, industrial disputes or because we have to keep to a relevant law, we won't be responsible for any losses or costs caused.

If you have a dispute with a Lender or a Borrower, you release us (and our affiliates and subsidiaries, and our and their respective officers, directors, employees and agents) from claims, demands and damages (actual and consequential) of every kind and nature, known and unknown, arising out of or in any way connected with such disputes.

You agree to indemnify and compensate us in full (and our officers, directors, agents, subsidiaries, joint ventures and employees) for any losses or costs, including reasonable legal fees, we incur arising out of any breach by you of these terms, your improper use of our services or your breach of any law or the rights of a third party.

Usually all communications are made via the app, but we may also contact you by email, letter, telephone or any other reasonable method. You should contact us in the app unless we specify otherwise. We can't guarantee your instructions have been received unless we've acknowledged them. We reserve the right to refuse instructions but, if we do, we'll let you know if we can.

You can find details of how we treat your personal data in our Privacy Notice, which you can find in our app or website here.

Please keep your Cuvva account details safe and confidential. Tell us immediately if you think someone else may have accessed your account.

If you don't keep your account details safe and confidential, and/or you allow another person to access your account, and another person uses your account to purchase a Product, Cuvva will not be obliged to refund you for that Product.

In order to verify that your card details are active we may charge a small nominal amount (for example £1.00) to your card or account, this will be released back to you within 7 days (this is sometimes known as an "active card check"). This may still happen if the card verification fails, and can happen more than once if you add the card multiple times.

We're obliged to report to the Serious Organised Crime Agency any suspicion of money laundering or terrorist financing activity. We may be prohibited from disclosing to you the contents of such report or the fact that such a report has been made.

We reserve the right to impose such anti-money laundering and ‘Know Your Customer’ checks from time to time as we see fit.

This contract is between you and us. Nothing in these terms will give someone who isn't party to the contract any right to enforce any of these terms. We won't need the agreement of someone who isn't party to the contract in order to end the contract or make any changes to these terms.

If any part of these terms is or becomes illegal, invalid or unenforceable then that part will be deemed removed from these terms. It won't affect the legality, validity or enforceability of the remaining terms.

Our failure or delay in enforcing or partially enforcing any provision of the terms won't be construed as a waiver of any of our rights under the terms. This means that if we don't insist immediately that you do anything you're required to do under these terms, or if we delay in taking steps against you in respect of your breaking this contract, that won't mean you don't have to do those things, and it won't prevent us taking steps against you at a later date.

By using the app or website you agree you're solely responsible for ensuring you have permission to use any relevant vehicle. Cuvva has no control and takes no responsibility for the relevant vehicle or your behaviour. Please remember to abide by our Expected Behaviour Policy when lending or borrowing a vehicle.

We don't guarantee the solvency of any insurer we help arrange your purchase of Products from. An insolvent insurer may be unable to pay a proportion or all of any claim made. If an insurer becomes insolvent you may need to pay a further premium to pay for alternative insurance cover. In the event an insurer becomes insolvent, we'll let you know as soon as we can and help as best we can. We will not be liable to pay out any claims or fulfil any obligations owed to you by an insolvent insurer.

The laws of England and Wales apply to our products, services and these terms. Any disputes arising are subject to the jurisdiction of Courts of England and Wales. If you are resident in Scotland or Northern Ireland, we recognise that you’re free to bring your dispute in the courts of your local jurisdiction, if you wish to do so.

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