Penalising policy?

sickasapig

I have been with the same car insurance for years but now find that shopping around could save me a fortune (yeah, I was just idle/complacent before).

For several years now I have legally been driving a taxi (not mine but a fleet car) on weekends. When getting quotes from other companies I see that some assume that I do not have a second occupation and that I am not a taxi driver. I don't use my own car as a taxi.

I have no convictions or accidents going back over 20 years, max no claims etc, but am I going to get penalised for needing to work another job?

Anyone know?

Trojan1965

You will need to disclose your part-time occupation to an insurer as this is a material fact. Many insurers will not provide cover.
The main issue being that "they" as your insurer may be liable should an accident occur whilst you are driving the taxi and the taxi insurance fails.
This is getting into the realms of RTA and technical parts of insurance however, should you be involved in a claim in your own car and the insurers find out about your p/t job, they could an probably would void the policy.

This occupation is on many insurers "decline" lists even though it is not your primary occupation and you do not use your vehicle for this purpose.

dunstonh

Quote portal sites are generally designed for Mr average. If you fall outside of that then you often have to revert to telephone or local broker. If you read the t&c of the quote portals that you agree to before you get a quote you will find they cover themselves for things like this.

brummiedevil

sickasapig wrote: »

I have been with the same car insurance for years but now find that shopping around could save me a fortune (yeah, I was just idle/complacent before).

For several years now I have legally been driving a taxi (not mine but a fleet car) on weekends. When getting quotes from other companies I see that some assume that I do not have a second occupation and that I am not a taxi driver. I don't use my own car as a taxi.

I have no convictions or accidents going back over 20 years, max no claims etc, but am I going to get penalised for needing to work another job?

Anyone know?

You do need to declare it and unfortunately for yourself being a taxi driver can load your insurance. - just shop around and see.

sickasapig

How this panned out was that when I called round for quotes I could not get Class 1 business insurance for my main job. The "risk" was that I would use my own car as a taxi...... er, I think not.

I called one insurer who also could not give me Class 1, for the reason mentioned above, but they put me through to Direct Choice Insurance who managed to get me Class 1 business insurance for my main job and it still worked out cheaper than Direct Line.