What to do about insurance whilst selling car?

r2theb

Hi Guys,

I bought a new car but didn't want to sell my convertible (BMW Z4 - ~£8k) during winter so have kept it in the garage. Unfortunately, my new insurer (AXA) won't insure my BMW as a temporary vehicle so at the moment it's uninsured.

I live at the end of a very quiet cul-de-sac in a relatively safe area and park my new car in front of the garage door, keeping the Z4 in the garage.

I'm now putting the Z4 up for sale on autotrader but I'm a little unsure about what to do re: insurance. If someone wants to come and take it for a test drive I know that their insurance (if they're even allowed to DOC) would only cover any 3rd party in an accident. So then, I feel that maybe I should drive on any test drives but get temporary cover (£40 / day).

But then in Martin's email there seems to be a new law coming in to say all vehicle must have insurance, whether driven or not. I have just bought 12 months road tax so don't want to class it as SORN given that someone might want to buy it tomorrow (you never know!).

It doesn't feel right that I should take out a new annual policy on the Z4 (lowest quote £1,300) only to cancel it with a few weeks (hopefully). Looking at temporary insurance, it seems to cost a minimum of £250 per month, again not great.

What do people suggest I do in my situation?

Many thanks in advance!

huckster

Go back to AXA and appeal to them. The underwriting rules the frontline staff use may say no, but I wonder whether the actual underwriters would be willing to consider this. That is what I would do first. Give them a call tomorrow and see if you can make a polite request for the underwriters to consider this again. Sometimes if you persevere, they will provide cover, subject to a higher premium rate and larger excess.

I think your post considers all the other issues you have. You could arrange temporary cover (e.g dayinsure) for yourself to drive and tell potential purchasers to arrange temporary test drive cover with their own Insurers, if they wish to test drive the car themselves. I would not be happy for them to just drive on DOC that their own Insurance provides.

vax2002

This is a bad law that will only hit the law abiding, but that what it is aimed at, repaying banking debt from the fines levied upon the public.
The Criminals will just nick or copy someones reg plates and carry on driving regardless knowing they are safe from the big brother cameras.
However to be honest, a test drive should only be done once the buyer has paid, with an agreement that if it reveals any faults you will refund the money, the days of turning up and taking it for a spin are just about over.

lisyloo

a test drive should only be done once the buyer has paid

I would think this would severly limit your chances of selling the car.
I would never buy a vehicle without driving it first.
Of course I would be prepared to leave adequate security (which either means near asking price or car/bike with V5 & id).

vaio

yep but the question then becomes who pays if you throw it into the scenery on the test drive?

lisyloo

yep but the question then becomes who pays if you throw it into the scenery on the test drive?

The insurance.
I woudln't personally do a test drive/ride without it (fully comp) either on the owners insurance (if they agreed and could arrange it) or on a temp day policy from the like of daysinsure.com which is probably easier all round.

GlynD

I can't understand this. It's just a second car so what's the issue? Can someone enlighten me please?

r2theb

GlynD wrote: »

I can't understand this. It's just a second car so what's the issue? Can someone enlighten me please?

Well, AXA say it too sporty a model for them to insure on a temporary basis.

vaio

lisyloo wrote: »

The insurance.
I woudln't personally do a test drive/ride without it (fully comp) either on the owners insurance (if they agreed and could arrange it) or on a temp day policy from the like of daysinsure.com which is probably easier all round.

Ahh, not something I've ever done, when I've test driven cars I've relied on DOC cover and accepted that if I crashed it I would have bought it

huckster

GlynD wrote: »

I can't understand this. It's just a second car so what's the issue? Can someone enlighten me please?

The issue is one of cost to Insure the car for a temporary period. The Insurers of their main car won't cover as a temp additional, so the OP is faced with having choice between a separate temp policy or another annual policy. If an annual policy is arranged and then cancelled, because of the cancellation costs it could be quite expensive. The OP will have to weigh up the costs.

If your question is why AXA won't cover the car, as a second or temp car, it is probably their underwriting criteria for the car. Hence why I suggest that the OP approaches AXA again to see if the underwriters will reconsider at increases rates/terms.

GlynD

huckster wrote: »

The issue is one of cost to Insure the car for a temporary period. The Insurers of their main car won't cover as a temp additional, so the OP is faced with having choice between a separate temp policy or another annual policy. If an annual policy is arranged and then cancelled, because of the cancellation costs it could be quite expensive. The OP will have to weigh up the costs.

If your question is why AXA won't cover the car, as a second or temp car, it is probably their underwriting criteria for the car. Hence why I suggest that the OP approaches AXA again to see if the underwriters will reconsider at increases rates/terms.

What I can't understand is why the car can't be added to the policy as a second vehicle. That way when it's sold it can be removed without cancelling the policy - just an amendment charge at worst. Forget about the "temporary" status.