Car insurance cooling off period?

Smurggle

Hiya,
I wonder if anyone knows the answer to this question, I am going to buy a car on Saturday (I have agreed with the guy that I will be buying it as long as it is as described on ebay) but I want to sort out my insurance for it before I go because you can get much better deals and cashback online as opposed to sorting it over the phone, my question is that if I arrange insurance online and then the I don't buy the car, can I cancel the insurance and not get charged a fortune?

Cheers for any info

dogbot

If you cancel during the cooling off period you should get your money back, so long as you have not used any of the cover (i.e. you cancel it before it comes into force). If you cancel it after it comes into force you would usualy be charged a small amount for the cover used. It is best to telephone and ask the insurer you are interested in taking out the cover with (you don't have to then buy it over the phone, just make the enquiry).

dacouch

Bear in mind some Insurers have an admin fee if you cancel in the cooling off period so take Dogbots advice and ring and ask the Insurer (Take a note of the persons name and the date / time of the call)

dwsjarcmcd

I recently had to cancel a policy because the online brokers were useless and charged for everything and had premium telephone numbers. There was much more to it than that but within the 1st 14 days of cover, you will only be charged pro rata (plus this shower's £45 cancellation fee!). After you go over the 14 days, you start getting charged short term rates, so if I had cancelled between 14 days and 1 month, I would have been charged 30% of the annual premuim.

I am a huge fan of the online world but for motor insurance don't just rule out high street brokers. I got the cover replaced with a high street broker for about the same money but better cover and they don't charge for everything!

General thought, use online insurers by all means but be wary of online bucket shop brokers.

honeypop

You could get a short-term insurance for the purpose of driving it home, where you can then set about finding the best deal for 'proper' insurance. Some places on the net do a few days or a weeks cover, which would be cheaper probably than taking out full insurance then cancelling it with some charges.