SORN and insurance

hhamida

Hi, I have one year no claim discount from last year but the gap between old insurance and new insurance is 6 months. The insurance company is asking for SORN certificate while the vehicle has not been sorned during this months and only kept in my driveway. what should I do in this circumstances while I am quiet unfamiliar with this. Thanks

tripled

The law changed recently. Now, if a vehicle is uninsured, it is a requirement that a SORN declaration is made. If not, you may receive a penalty from the DVLA.

https://www.gov.uk/vehicle-insurance/uninsured-vehicles

I'm not sure what to suggest other that trying another insurer and hoping they do not ask for a SORN certificate. There's no legal requirement for an insurer to ask for one that I'm aware of (although I stand to be corrected). It sounds like a business decision of your insurer.

mattk_180

Vehicles now have to be declared SORN if they are not insured. Your insurer has asked for the certificate on this presumption to confirm what the gap in cover was for.


Just tell them the truth and see what they say.

Aretnap

Insurers don't all share data about no claims discounts, so if you had an accident one year and lost your NCD it would in theory be possible to take out a new insurance policy, claim that you haven't been driving for a while and that you still have some NCD, and present an old renewal notice from last year as proof of it.

In order to guard against this, if there's a significant gap between the end of the policy you're claiming your NCD from and the start of the new policy, insurers will often ask for an explanation of the gap, and evidence to support your explanation where possible. Hence the fact that they're asking for proof that the car was SORNed.

As above if the car isn't insured it has to be SORNed these days, so you should have SORNed it when the old policy stopped, not just parked it on your driveway. It's a little surprising that you didn't get a reminder from the DVLA (and then a fixed penalty if you still didn't insure or SORN it) but I suppose that's water under the bridge now.

Tell your insurer the truth - it was parked on your driveway and you didn't SORN it because you didn't realise you had to. See what they say and take it from there.