Quick car insurance question

Travelmravel

Hello, can someone please tell me can I insure my car with a new provider before I cancel my current policy? That's so I'm sure my car is insured and road legal before i cancel the policy I have now and in case some problems pop up with the new insurer and I'm not insured I can just stay with the one I'm with now. If everything is successful I will be insured by two companies untill I cancel the current policy, hopefully that takes one hour or something and not days.
Thank you, regards.

Car_54

There's nothing to stop you having two (or more) policies on a car.


However, wouldn't it be easier just to arrange the new policy to start at HHMM on DDMMYY, and then have the old one cancelled at the same time?

jimbo6977

There is actually quite a lot wrong with having 2 policies on a car at the same time!

What you need to do is get a quote for the "new" policy to start at 12:01 on some future date (most insurers will quote for a start date/time up to 30 days in the future), then once the new policy is confirmed, but before it actually starts, cancel the "old" policy as of 12:00 on the same future date.

And then park your as far away from anything and anyone else between 11:55 and 12:05 on changeover day!!

(Last sentence was in jest)

Ebe_Scrooge

Every time I've renewed (and nearly always switch to a different provider), the default seems for policies to begin at 12:01 am and finish at 12:00, so you end up with a seamless transition.

OP, why are you wanting to cancel your existing policy - have you checked to see if there are any admin fees ? You may well have found a cheaper policy, but quite often the admin fees mean it's cheaper to just let the current policy run, and switch to a different provider when it's time to renew.

Car_54

jimbo6977 wrote: »

There is actually quite a lot wrong with having 2 policies on a car at the same time!

Specifically?


It may not be the brightest idea, but ....

jimbo6977

Specifically?


It may not be the brightest idea, but ....

If you have to claim, you will be caught between 2 insurers rowing over who pays what due to Contribution Clauses written into the policies.

Brynsam

Car_54 wrote: »

Specifically?


It may not be the brightest idea, but ....

See https://www.admiral.com/magazine/guides/car-insurance/why-you-shouldnt-double-insurance-cover

AdrianC

Travelmravel wrote: »

Hello, can someone please tell me can I insure my car with a new provider before I cancel my current policy?
...
If everything is successful I will be insured by two companies untill I cancel the current policy, hopefully that takes one hour or something and not days.

CANCEL your current policy? Or just let it expire?

Daft question - why are you cancelling it part-way through the term?