What to do with insurance after selling car?

JustAnotherSaver

My brother had a performance car which he owned for about the last 2 years. His situation changed and due to the overall cost of owning it he sold it - today.


Just wondering what to do regards the insurance policy now as obviously he has no car to insure. He will be replacing it with nothing fancy - a cheap 'sensible' car like a family diesel type car (Mondeo, Passat, A4 diesel - those kind of things. Nothing fancy) so it's likely the insurance will be cheaper. Question is just a case of when he finds one to put on that policy (as he has other transport at the moment with its own separate policy).


Just in case the question isn't clear, say he paid up £1500 for the year & we're 4 months in. If he doesn't get a replacement for another 5-6 months then that's a large chunk he'll have paid on a car that cost a good bit, whereas the replacement will likely be cheaper. Is it best to make a change now and get a partial refund (then change again when the replacement is bought)?


If needs be to keep the policy active and get something of a refund he could insure my mothers 18 year old Focus. Should be cheap enough?

Richard53

The only people who can answer these questions are the insurers - give them a call.


Make sure you let them know the car is sold and either cancel or suspend the policy. If you don't, and the new owner fails to insure it, you could be in a world of pain.


https://www.whitedalton.co.uk/motorbike-blog/2013/10/i-sold-my-bike-but-didnt-cancel-my-insurance/


https://www.dailyrecord.co.uk/news/scottish-news/scots-biker-insurance-hell-after-4141840

foxy-stoat

Buy another car in the next few days or cancel the policy - check first on the refund rates on cancelled policies though.

redux

Cancellation will usually involve a refund that is less than pro rata for the remaining time.

If there definitely will eventually be a new car, it may be possible to suspend the policy until then.

JustAnotherSaver

Turns out that if he doesn't change details within 7 days then they'll cancel the policy. So basically buy another car or throw away the months he'd built up towards another years no claims.


Either that or insure my car/mothers car/sisters car & keep it rolling

MEM62

You cancel the policy the SECOND the car leaves your ownership. Failure to do so can have some nasty consequences.

https://www.whitedalton.co.uk/motorbike-blog/2013/10/i-sold-my-bike-but-didnt-cancel-my-insurance/

Quentin

MEM62 wrote: »

You cancel the policy the SECOND the car leaves your ownership. Failure to do so can have some nasty consequences........

No!!!


You don't need to "cancel" a policy immediately when the vehicle is sold


You need to inform the insurer the vehicle has been disposed of so that it's taken off "cover"


As advised above, some insurers allow you to suspend the policy for some time (some until it ends) to allow you time to put a replacement vehicle on cover