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Dementia
Affects Car Insurance
Dementia is the “loss of
intellectual functions (such as thinking,
remembering, and reasoning) of sufficient
severity to interfere with a person’s
daily functioning.” One of the things that
would obviously come under daily
functioning is the idea of driving a motor
vehicle, but yet many still drive with
this disease.
The problem is that although you may be
suffering from dementia, you may not have
truly come down with severe enough
symptoms to warrant pulling their licenses
or canceling their car insurance policies.
Most insurers will continue to cover a
victim of dementia as long as they are
still approved by the Driver and Vehicle
Licensing Agency (DVLA).
Most insurance companies will handle each
person on a case by case person, as each
person is in a different stage of the
disease. Someone just diagnosed may go on
to drive for months or years, whereas
someone else may only have weeks or months
where they can still safely drive. Once
they can no longer drive safely, they must
give up their license.
If you are diagnosed, it is your
responsibility to inform the DVLA
immediately, and then they will make a
determination as to what kind of license
you are allowed to carry, and for how
long. Sometimes drivers are given a year
on their current license, sometimes they
get a special license for up to three
years, it just depends on the situation.
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