Short term cover for borrowed uninsured car?

JooFox

Good morning. My car has just been deemed uneconomical to repair so I'm on the lookout. However, a friend has offered to lend us their old (Is taxed and MOT'd) car that they have up for sale.
Didn't think it would be a problem insuring it but Swinton have applied some braking to my free flowing idea. They said that I couldn't insure a car that isn't insured by the owner.
I wondered if there was anyway around this by using short term cover companies? We only really need it for a week, but is it impossible? :eek:

InsideInsurance

There is nothing to legally stop you insuring a car that isnt yours, otherwise no one with a lease car could get insurance, but not all insurers are willing to allow you to do it.

Short term insurance may be a possibility but given the legal requirements now for all cars not under a SORN to have insurance you'll need to check that the temp cover is sufficient for this - havent looked at it personally but certainly some short term insurers stipulate their certs cannot be used for proof of insurance for getting vehicles out of police pounds (for example)

JooFox

InsideInsurance wrote: »

There is nothing to legally stop you insuring a car that isnt yours, otherwise no one with a lease car could get insurance, but not all insurers are willing to allow you to do it.

Short term insurance may be a possibility but given the legal requirements now for all cars not under a SORN to have insurance you'll need to check that the temp cover is sufficient for this - havent looked at it personally but certainly some short term insurers stipulate their certs cannot be used for proof of insurance for getting vehicles out of police pounds (for example)

Thanks for the reply. I think the point the insurance company were getting at was the fact that the fact that it isn't insured by the original owners is an issue (and possibly illegal?)

lisyloo

Yes it's certainly possible, but it's illegal for the car not to be insured.
As it's a friend I'd tell them that they need to have it insured or they may be prosecuted.
If they are getting insurance it may be worth seeing if you can be added as a named driver.

InsideInsurance

If they have a SORN declaration then there is no need for it to have insurance. Of cause as soon as you want to use it then they will have to notify the DVLA that it is back on the road and there will need to be insurance on the vehicle. Either your insurance or that which your friend buys must be sufficient to cover this legal requirement. When you give them the car back they will then need to do a new SORN or keep insurance running on the vehicle.

Andy_L

JooFox wrote: »

Didn't think it would be a problem insuring it but Swinton have applied some braking to my free flowing idea. They said that I couldn't insure a car that isn't insured by the owner.

How are you trying to insure it? Add it as an extra car to your current policy or use a "driving other cars" (DOC) extension on your current insurance or take out a short term insurance with Swinton?

If the 1st 2 then they can impose pretty much whatever term you wish.

If its the 3rd then agin Swinton make the rules but you can go elsewhere.

It is difficult to insure online a car you don't own as the sites aren't written to allow for it so you'd have to go to a broker.

TBH your mate will have trouble selling the car if its uninsured, needs to keep it off road and test drives will be tricky

If you only need a few days then these guys don't need the car to be insured by anyone else (other companies are avaliable & I've never used them but other people on this forum have)

http://www.dayinsure.com

Andy_L

InsideInsurance wrote: »

If they have a SORN declaration then there is no need for it to have insurance.

AIUI just being off the road whilst uninsured without SORNing (providing tax hasn't run out) is ok, although there's the risk of it being nicked/vandalised

mikey72

If your car is written off, doc cover normally becomes invalid, as it requires you to still own the car named on the policy. What will swinton charge to swop cover to the friends car, if they will insure a car not owned by you?

InsideInsurance

Andy_L wrote: »

AIUI just being off the road whilst uninsured without SORNing (providing tax hasn't run out) is ok, although there's the risk of it being nicked/vandalised

No, the law was changed recently stating that all vehicles must have TP insurance unless they have a SORN declaration

http://www.direct.gov.uk/en/Motoring/OwningAVehicle/Motorinsurance/DG_186696

lisyloo

If they have a SORN declaration then there is no need for it to have insurance.

I believe you have to send back the task disk though. At least that's the way I read it when I looked into the process very recently.
Even if you take your vehicle off the road for a few days you have to send back the tax disc and get a new one when you want to put it back on the road.
Please correct me if I'm wrong prefereably with links but I was looking at the official site.
This car is taxed which implies it isn't SORNed.

mikey72

lisyloo wrote: »

I believe you have to send back the task disk though. At least that's the way I read it when I looked into the process very recently.
Even if you take your vehicle off the road for a few days you have to send back the tax disc and get a new one when you want to put it back on the road.
Please correct me if I'm wrong prefereably with links but I was looking at the official site.
This car is taxed which implies it isn't SORNed.

You can't claim a refund if you know you're going to re-tax if within 21 days. section 1, paragraph 2 http://www.direct.gov.uk/prod_consum_dg/groups/dg_digitalassets/@dg/@en/@motor/documents/digitalasset/dg_065248.pdf