Car Insurance - Which Occupations to Use?

Gizasmum

My car insurance is due for renewal in mid-September. I am the main driver. I need some advice regarding using the correct occupations.

I am 54 (55 next month) and took voluntary early retirement in March 2010 when I was 51. As I am not of state pension age and my income is from my occupational pension, My occupation on the policy is household duties. I occasionally see a job I fancy and apply or think about applying for it, but I don't need to work and have not claimed Job Seekers Allowance. Nor am I entitled to any other benefits.

One day per week I volunteer in the office of a local charity for 5-6 hours. I do not get any form of renumeration and it does not include any driving duties, but I do drive to get there, which is about 3 minutes away by car. It is on the way to the shops and the council tip, and I usually go to one or both of those places immediately before or afterwards. I have never disclosed my volunteering to my insurers as I don't think it's relevant.

My husband, who is a named driver on the policy, has had a provisional licence for 13 years when he took about 20 lessons. I got him put on the policy then, but he has never taken any lessons since then and has no intention of taking any in the future. He has never driven any of my cars. Strangely enough, him being on the policy reduces the cost of the policy by about £10. His occupation is currently listed as a maintenance fitter (or it might be maintenance engineer). He is 59 (60 in mid-October) and has just taken early retirement. He hasn't ruled out getting a part-time job, but I think he'll be happy to be a house husband/ retired. He won't be claiming Job Seekers Allowance or be entitled to any other benefits.

Can anyone advise, for when I renew the policy, should I refer to his occupation as retired or household duties? Also should I disclose my volunteering? I am conscious that my premium will probably increase this year due the recent changes re gender discrimination, so I don't want to increase my premium any more than necessary.

FreddieFrugal

I'd say retired but you could check this:

http://www.moneysavingexpert.com/insurance/car-insurance-job-picker/

Or do a search on a comparison website to get a general idea of which occupation title gives the best premium - use that as a guide in making your choice.

Also don't just automatically renew with current insurer, check you're getting the best deal by searching around

Aretnap

You shouldn't expect to see much rise, if any, because of the gender ruling. It mainly affects young people, as young men have far more accidents, and more serious ones, than young women. In middle age there's not much difference in accident rates between the sexes, and by the time you get to retirement age men are, if anything, slightly safer than women (linky). So you're premium is already likely to be similar to that of a man with the same car, postcode, driving history etc... there should be little or no change needed to make it equal.

System

You could try asking the insurance company exactly what they mean by retired, and main occupation. Even state retirement age pensioners still have household duties, so do unemployed, so do most people in fact, so the occupations are bound to overlap.

It's about time insurance companies woke up to the changing face of employment. More and more people are having multiple jobs, and more people have multiple pensions from different sources, and "retire" from some jobs while still working in others.

rudekid48

Your 'main' occupation is Retired and your 'part-time' occupation is Voluntary Worker....

Gizasmum

Rudekid48, I'm 54 so I don't intend to classify myself as retired until I reach at least 60. Therefore my occupation until then is household duties. My main query was really regarding my husband, who is a very young 59. He hasn't decided what he wants to do yet as he's still in his honeymoon period. But as you suggest I think he will decide he's retired, once his vanity eventually accepts that, lol.

IanRi, the job picker link ws very useful, thanks. I put in my last renewal cost and occupation as housewife. It would cost me an extra £5 to state I was retired, so not a huge difference.

mills705

You receive a pension so therefore you are retired! And voluntary work is your part time occupation.
Your husband should put down his occupation at the start of renewal however if he retires you should inform them of this.
Failure to declare occupations correctly could mean that a claim you have is invalid and you may find the insurer would not pay out! Some insurers won't cover retired people for example so it is best to tell them!

longtimelurkersam

“You receive a pension so therefore you are retired!” Never read so much tosh in my life.

My old man received an Army pension after 20 something years service and worked full time in the Nuclear power industry. He then took voluntary redundancy/retirement from this industry and received a pension from that, but took up work elsewhere to keep him occupied and active and out of the house J Not once would he have thought of himself as “retired”.

sithemadmonkey

longtimelurkersam, the OP's situation is slightly different as they do not currently work. It would be hard to convince an insurer that someone who does not work (apart form occasional voluntary work) and receives a pension is anything other than 'retired'.

mills705

longtimelurkersam wrote: »

“You receive a pension so therefore you are retired!” Never read so much tosh in my life.

My old man received an Army pension after 20 something years service and worked full time in the Nuclear power industry. He then took voluntary redundancy/retirement from this industry and received a pension from that, but took up work elsewhere to keep him occupied and active and out of the house J Not once would he have thought of himself as “retired”.

Completely different.... His full time work would then be in a power station employee!

The op stated she doesn't work an survives off of her pension so she is therefore retired!

It's like saying I'm on job seekers allowance but I'm a housewife/ househusband! The fact you receive benefits to yourself means you are unemployed. House... Means that you live off the income you receive from the spouse.

As I've re iterated this needs to be correct as insurers base a premium off an occupation and if incorrect they can invalidate insurance.

Aretnap

mills705 wrote: »

It's like saying I'm on job seekers allowance but I'm a housewife/ househusband! The fact you receive benefits to yourself means you are unemployed.

That's rather different. You have to be actively seeking work to claim jobseekers. The OP will get her occupational pension whether she actively looks for work, takes a full time job, does voluntary work, makes home for her husband, or goes out and plays golf all day.

Insurers now have a duty to ask clear questions - they can't rely on utmost good faith anymore and expect you to second guess everything they might want to know. If there's more than one reasonable answer to a a question and the distinction is important to them then they need to ask clearer questions. My own opinion (no more than that) is she could quite reasonably describe herself as either retired or a housewife.