Insurance Gap

Atreyu107

Hi all,

I'm a young driver faced with my first motor insurance renewal quote... of £3.5k! :eek:

Fortunately this is my current insurer hoping I'll be a gullible fool, as the best quote I've found is about a 1/3rd of this.

Due to me purchasing the car before I passed my test, I have to currently state that I have less than a year's full licence. However, there's only a week between the insurance expiring and me reaching my license anniversary. From the comparison sites, it seems the difference between holding a license for less than a year and less than 2 years is about £100.

Am I better off letting the insurance lapse and waiting a week to buy a new policy? Appreciate I'll be uncovered for theft etc.

On a slightly related note, I had to make a claim as my house was burgled and my spare key was stolen meaning I had to get the locks and barrels changed. This doesn't seem to come under any of the standard claim categories. Any ides?

Cheers all,
A

neilmcl

You can't let insurance lapse and keep the car on the road. If you want to do this you will have to SORN it, take it off the road then re-tax and insure it later.

You car insurance claims history is only concerned with motoring insurance claims afaik.

Atreyu107

neilmcl wrote: »

You can't let insurance lapse and keep the car on the road. If you want to do this you will have to SORN it, take it off the road then re-tax and insure it later.

You car insurance claims history is only concerned with motoring insurance claims afaik.

Ah, fair enough. Thanks. Does it cost anything to SORN? Might just have to bite the bullet if it's too much hassle.

With regards to the claim, it was made through my motor insurer, not on house insurance. Even so, doesn't naturally fall under the 'Theft from vehicle' or 'Theft of accessories' categories. Closest I could think of was 'Malicious damage/vandalism' but still not ideal...

SouthLondonUser

Just to be clear: your current insurance policy started before you obtained your licence?

If that’s the case, another possibility is to insure the car for a week, then cancel the insurance and get a new one benefiting from having held a licence for a full year.

Of course you have to check the fine print and choose an insurer that refunds you pro-rata (many do during the first 2 weeks or so) and doesn’t charge extertionate admin/whatever fees, otherwise it won’t save you any money.

SouthLondonUser

Atreyu107 wrote: »

Ah, fair enough. Thanks. Does it cost anything to SORN? Might just have to bite the bullet if it's too much hassle.

AFAIK no. Check the official website: https://www.gov.uk/make-a-sorn

To be clear, if you declare it off-the road, it must be off the road, This means not parked on a public road. Where would you keep it? Unless you have your own garage, I'd double check all the details; eg I have no clue if you can keep it on a public road. The taxman should be fine with you keeping it in a private garage, but parking an insured vehicle might be against the terms of the garage/car park. There is also the (admittedly very low) risk that your car might damage others (eg a faulty battery catches fire), in which case you wouldn't be covered.

Atreyu107 wrote: »

With regards to the claim, it was made through my motor insurer, not on house insurance. Even so, doesn't naturally fall under the 'Theft from vehicle' or 'Theft of accessories' categories. Closest I could think of was 'Malicious damage/vandalism' but still not ideal...

Do you mean that the insurer was the same for both your home policy and your motor policy (eg Aviva)? Surely your home was not covered by your motor insurance policy?

Atreyu107

SouthLondonUser wrote: »

Just to be clear: your current insurance policy started before you obtained your licence?

If that’s the case, another possibility is to insure the car for a week, then cancel the insurance and get a new one benefiting from having held a licence for a full year.

Of course you have to check the fine print and choose an insurer that refunds you pro-rata (many do during the first 2 weeks or so) and doesn’t charge extertionate admin/whatever fees, otherwise it won’t save you any money.

Correct, I was insured as a learner for a week and then the policy rolled into full license cover. Bad timing, I know...

SouthLondonUser wrote: »

AFAIK no. Check the official website: https://www.gov.uk/make-a-sorn

To be clear, if you declare it off-the road, it must be off the road, This means not parked on a public road. Where would you keep it? Unless you have your own garage, I'd double check all the details; eg I have no clue if you can keep it on a public road. The taxman should be fine with you keeping it in a private garage, but parking an insured vehicle might be against the terms of the garage/car park. There is also the (admittedly very low) risk that your car might damage others (eg a faulty battery catches fire), in which case you wouldn't be covered.


Do you mean that the insurer was the same for both your home policy and your motor policy (eg Aviva)? Surely your home was not covered by your motor insurance policy?

Yes, I have a friend with a driveway that I can park it on for a week.

And no, I didn't have a contents policy for my house at the time. I informed my insurer as I assumed that if I hadn't declared the key stolen and my car had been nicked, it would invalidate my policy. Therefore my motor insurer covered the replacement of the key and the locks and barrels of the car.