Not parking in driveway overnight in snowy weather?

socks_uk

Hi all, I know I could ring my car insurer (Tesco) but don't want to put any 'flags up' with them.

I normally park in my driveway and have a discount because of that on my car insurance but my driveway is on a slight slope running down from the road towards the house. So if the forecast is like we are having now with snow or ice I choose to park on the road because, as I have found in the past, once my wheels start spinning on frozen snow or compact ice, the car is at risk of sliding towards the bay window.

So I was wondering if my insurance is invalidated by not parking in my driveway during the severe weather? Any advice/experience greatly appreciated. Thanks.

Quote

I'm certain that what you're proposing to do will be absolutely fine.

lisyloo

My own view FWIW is that if you very occassionally leave your car off the drive then you should be ok.

For example if you forgot your wallet and stopped for 2 minutes then I don't think insurers would expect you to put the car on the drive/in the garage.

If snow is exceptional where you live then I think your actions are perfectly reasonable. If you lived in Scotland and got snow regularly then I'd answer differently.
It's the difference between regular activity and exceptional cirucmstances.

What I would also point out is that sometimes these discounts are very small and not really worth it.
For exmaple if it's a £5 then is it really worth it for the freedom to park whereever you like?
The same is true of alarm on houshold insurance, you get a small discount but then you MUST use the alarm, so you need to ask yourslef if it's worth it.

socks_uk

Quote wrote: »

I'm certain that what you're proposing to do will be absolutely fine.

I hope so Quote. Thanks.

socks_uk

lisyloo wrote: »

My own view FWIW is that if you very occassionally leave your car off the drive then you should be ok.

For example if you forgot your wallet and stopped for 2 minutes then I don't think insurers would expect you to put the car on the drive/in the garage.

If snow is exceptional where you live then I think your actions are perfectly reasonable. If you lived in Scotland and got snow regularly then I'd answer differently.
It's the difference between regular activity and exceptional cirucmstances.

What I would also point out is that sometimes these discounts are very small and not really worth it.
For exmaple if it's a £5 then is it really worth it for the freedom to park whereever you like?
The same is true of alarm on houshold insurance, you get a small discount but then you MUST use the alarm, so you need to ask yourslef if it's worth it.

Yeah, thanks... it makes sense to check.

mikey72

Our insurance was no different if it was drive or road. We put them all down as "road", then whoever is home first parks on the drive.

Morph4610

Dare I say it but I do think that most insurance companies understand unusual circumstances or common sense in motoring. I would be amazed if this caused you a problem

socks_uk

Morph4610 wrote: »

Dare I say it but I do think that most insurance companies understand unusual circumstances or common sense in motoring. I would be amazed if this caused you a problem

Thank you... maybe I was worrying over nothing.

Thanks again everyone!

Newly_retired

surely if you are away overnight it does not invalidate your insurance, so I don't see why this should.