Lending car to son - insurance problem

j-josie

I want to lend my car to my son (26) who is between cars at the moment.
He is a nurse and needs to drive back from Suffolk to Bristol on Christmas Day for recommencement of work shifts and there will be no public transport.
My current insurance company have refused to add him to my policy as he is under 30 (!?!)
Temporary insurance policies are through the roof!
Is there anything to stop him taking out a separate, stand alone policy on the car in his own name, clearly stating that I am the registered owner, not him; choosing the pay monthly option and then cancelling the policy once he has got his own new car ( approx a few weeks later)?
Comparison website suggests that would cost less that £110 ( 1 monthly fee plus cancellation charge) for several weeks use compared to approx £200 for hire car costs from 24-26 Dec...

It seems to be the most cost effective option. I searched the internet for ‘can you have 2 separate policies on 1 car?’ and it seems ok, but my husband is worried that it’s not.

We’re not trying to pull any tricks; I just want my son to be able to drive my car with reasonably costed insurance...

I’d value any opinions!

Browntoa

I've done day insurance in the past that was not too steep

SandraX

find out, give them a ring and the honest facts as you are and all sorted soon

ATB

j-josie

Browntoa wrote: »

I've done day insurance in the past that was not too steep

We’ve looked into that and it was several hundred pounds for a very short period...that’s why we are considering other options. Also, as we are not sure how long he wants to borrow the car for, the costs would quickly escalate...

j-josie

SandraX wrote: »

find out, give them a ring and the honest facts as you are and all sorted soon

ATB

D’oh, that’s probably the best idea... i’ve got too used to internetting everything and forgot about the good old telephone. I’ll try the best quote company tomorrow - just wondered if any MSErs had been in a similar position before. Thanks

trailingspouse

Sounds like you drive a fairly fancy car, hence the 'over 30' rule.


Would it be more cost effective for your son to hire a car? Means you're not without yours for an indefinite period as well. Or just hurry up and buy one?

SandraX

trailingspouse wrote: »

Sounds like you drive a fairly fancy car, hence the 'over 30' rule.


Would it be more cost effective for your son to hire a car? Means you're not without yours for an indefinite period as well. Or just hurry up and buy one?

I was going to mention the fancy car as my hubby does and he had a massive madatory excess on it.

Like you said, possibly of hire car if quotes still steep and larger car rentals you can hire at A and drop car off at point B - may work out cheaper

ATB

Aretnap

It's absolutely fine to have two insurance policies on one car. Things get a little bit complicated if there's a claim which is covered by both policies (eg a theft, or the car being hit while parked) but basically what ends up happening is that each insurer pays half the claim - you don't get to claim twice the value of the car (or repairs). Assuming you can find an insurer willing to insure your son despite him not being the owner/RK of the car what you suggest is fine.

A pitfall to be aware of is that if he does end up making a claim he will not subsequently be able to cancel the policy without paying the full year's premium. This applies whether or not he's paying monthly.

(Insurance is an annual contract, and paying monthly does not make it a monthly one. Rather, it means that you take out a loan to allow you to pay the annual fee upfront, then pay off the loan in monthly installments. If you cancel the policy you still have to repay the loan - you can use any refund you get from the policy to repay it. So paying monthly doesn't give you any improved cancellation rights over paying annually)

Another possibility to consider is that you could cancel your own policy, and find an alternative insurer who will accept your son as a named driver. There would be a cancellation fee to pay on your own policy, but it might still work out cheaper than taking out a whole new policy, and paying a cancellation fee on that.

j-josie

trailingspouse wrote: »

Sounds like you drive a fairly fancy car, hence the 'over 30' rule.


Would it be more cost effective for your son to hire a car? Means you're not without yours for an indefinite period as well. Or just hurry up and buy one?

I wish! A 2007 Nissan Note. Hire car would be £200 from Xmas Eve to Boxing Day. As he does shift work, I’d be happy to lend my car for a few weeks so after shift he doesn’t have to have a 40 min walk just to the bus stop! As you have said, he really needs to get on and buy another car but shift working does play havoc with the work/life balance ☺️.

j-josie

SandraX wrote: »

I was going to mention the fancy car as my hubby does and he had a massive madatory excess on it.

Like you said, possibly of hire car if quotes still steep and larger car rentals you can hire at A and drop car off at point B - may work out cheaper

ATB

Thanks, the car hire I quoted was pick up at A and drop off at B.

j-josie

Aretnap wrote: »

It's absolutely fine to have two insurance policies on one car. Things get a little bit complicated if there's a claim which is covered by both policies (eg a theft, or the car being hit while parked) but basically what ends up happening is that each insurer pays half the claim - you don't get to claim twice the value of the car (or repairs). Assuming you can find an insurer willing to insure your son despite him not being the owner/RK of the car what you suggest is fine.
I filled in the comparisonwebsite on that basis - ie he the user, and me the owner/RKn and received quotes so I think that bit is ok
A pitfall to be aware of is that if he does end up making a claim he will not subsequently be able to cancel the policy without paying the full year's premium. This applies whether or not he's paying monthly. Ok,that sounds a bit scary but I think that is a risk we would have to accept .

(Insurance is an annual contract, and paying monthly does not make it a monthly one. Rather, it means that you take out a loan to allow you to pay the annual fee upfront, then pay off the loan in monthly installments. If you cancel the policy you still have to repay the loan - you can use any refund you get from the policy to repay it. So paying monthly doesn't give you any improved cancellation rights over paying annually). But, assuming that he did not have to make a claim, he could cancel the policy after 1 month, and not have anything else to pay bar the cancellation fee ( on the basis of cancel, ‘refunded’ the other unused 11 months and that ‘refund’ paying off the loan.?.

Another possibility to consider is that you could cancel your own policy, and find an alternative insurer who will accept your son as a named driver. There would be a cancellation fee to pay on your own policy, but it might still work out cheaper than taking out a whole new policy, and paying a cancellation fee on that.

I did consider that but my insurer seems to have given me a ridiculously cheap premium this year which i’d rather like to hang on to ☺️. Thank you for taking time to reply - you seem very knowledgeable on this kind of thing!