Car insurance

tsinc

Hi,

I'll try to keep this short and simple!

• My car insurance is up for renewal in May 2013.
• I had 3 points on my license for a PC30 in June 2008.

If I renew my car insurance in May I still have to mention the PC30, as it is 5 weeks before the 5 year limit which insurers ask for, even though I removed the points from my license last year. This conviction increases my premium by nearly £300.

Can I take out an insurance policy, cancel once the 5 years have passed from my PC30 conviction, then take out a new policy omitting the PC30 conviction as it will have been more than 5 years since the conviction?

Would I be able to cancel then retake a policy from the same insurer on the same day or would I need to take out the initial insurance with another insurer for 5 weeks?

I know I would have to pay a cancellation fee but as that is going to be well under the £300 increase the PC30 causes I thought this might be the best approach?

Thanks

Buzby

If you take out then cancel, you will pay punitive fees for early termination. You would be far better waiting until you can honestly fill out the form and not disclose your historical transgression.

forgotmyname

Declare it. It should make zero difference to the quote.

Probably zero difference after 3 years if not sooner. I had 3 points and it made zero difference to my quotes.

If you dont declare them then you risk the insurers not paying out.

tsinc

If I declare the 3 points the premium is ~£300 more. The past 4 years it has been between £200-300 more each year so declaring it does definitely make a difference.

I'm not saying I won't disclose it. I will disclose it as I have done for the previous 4 years. What I am saying is could I take out a policy with the points on it; as the policy requests "any convictions within the past 5 years", then cancel it once the 5 year date has passed, take the small cancellation fee on the chin and take out a new policy which starts after the 5 year from conviction date, therefore I don't have to declare them on the new policy?

Just seems bit silly paying the additional £300 on the insurance premium when 5 weeks into the policy insurers don't care about the conviction as it was more than 5 years ago.

Quentin

Yes you can do this.

Your idea of a "small" cancellation fee may not be the same as others!

tsinc

Paying £50 to save £300 should make sense to anyone!

Should I be able to take out a policy on the same day as cancelling another from the same insurer or do they have some sort of cooling off period?

thenudeone

You can take about a new policy the minute the previous one expires or is cancelled.
Whether your existing insurer will allow you to do so is a commercial decision for them. I can't see any good reason why not, but they might have a block on selling new policies to anyone who has cancelled a policy with them in the past.

Quentin

tsinc wrote: »

Paying £50 to save £300 should make sense to anyone!

Should I be able to take out a policy on the same day as cancelling another from the same insurer or do they have some sort of cooling off period?

Presumably the £50 you mention is the insurers fee for cancelling. The actual total cost to cancel a 5 week old policy will be much more than that.

Buzby

Already answered in message #2.

Incidentally, nothing prevents you from having concurrent policies either - simply that in the event of a claim, each company pays a proportion of the claim. Short term policies are expensive, and only by switching to a new one where you do not need to disclose will result in a clean sheet calculation. You existing company will use your existing profile to calculate - with no guarantee that the timed out points are not used in a different way to hike the price. Always get a fresh quote from a new company.

tsinc

Quentin wrote: »

Presumably the £50 you mention is the insurers fee for cancelling. The actual total cost to cancel a 5 week old policy will be much more than that.

Their online documents state a policy cancellation fee of £47.50 will be incurred if cancelling after 14 days. Looks like I'll have to contact the insurance company to check if they have a cooling off period between cancelling and retaking a policy.

Thanks for all your help everyone

forgotmyname

But they charge the short term rates not 365 days divided by the days used.

Never seen a quote vary by £300 for a 4 year old SP30. try a different insurer. Direct line didnt charge me any extra for a year old SP30.

Say your insurance is £365 a year £1 a day. Have 28 days insurance you assume £28 + charges.

But this maybe wrong. For policies under 30 days they may charge £20 a day. + charges to cancel.

Ask 1st.