Looking for the best way to temporarily insure a car that I may keep? 21 January at 2:08PM in Motoring 11 replies 131 views

Alocin86

Hi
My Dad has stage4 lung cancer and is no longer able to drive.  He has said I can have his car, however the car still has outstanding finance which he is expecting to settle within the next couple of months (He's just waiting for the Critical illness cover insurance he has to pay out).  However, I'm in 2 minds about whether I want to have it or not.  

His car is a 3 year old 3 door Vauxhall Corsa SRi, whereas my car is an 8 year old 5 door Suzuki Swift Z2 (so really, really basic).  Both have very low mileage for their age.  My car is absolutely fine mechanically and I am quite sentimental about it.

My Dad's car is also really pleasant to drive, and all the little extras are luxuries I'm not used to having (bluetooth, heated windscreen, Air Con) are also a nice bonus.

So we decided it would be best for me to use it for a couple of weeks and see how I get on with using it. I do have fully comp insurance which allows me to drive other vehicles (I’ve checked) but I’m also aware this is supposed to be used for emergency use.  Not casual use and is also not permitted for commuting.

We can’t decide whether it would be best (and also cheaper) for me to be added as a named driver on my Dad’s fully comp insurance or simply bite the bullet and move my insurance over to Dad's car and leave my car parked off road at my mum’s uninsured.  Temporary insurance for 2 weeks is more expensive than my annual policy for my swift so that isn't an option.

Also, would the fact that the car is registered to another address affect my premiums?

What would be the best (and legal) thing to do?

williamgriffin

You don't mention ages, it may well be that adding you to your dads policy will incur no increase in his premium.

AdrianC

Ring them each. Ask them how much. Decide from that.

Remember that if your dad does cancel his policy, he'll need to cancel the VED and SORN it, too.

But why pay the finance off? Why not just sell it or find out what the settlement would cost to send it back?

williamgriffin

AdrianC said:

Ring them each. Ask them how much. Decide from that.

Remember that if your dad does cancel his policy, he'll need to cancel the VED and SORN it, too.

But why pay the finance off? Why not just sell it or find out what the settlement would cost to send it back?

Does the registered keeper have to sorn it if someone else insures it?

Car_54

OP, never get sentimental about a car!

Alocin86

williamgriffin said:

You don't mention ages, it may well be that adding you to your dads policy will incur no increase in his premium.

Sorry I forgot about that part.  I'm 33 and I've been driving since 2007

theoretica

I needed to be insured temporarily to drive my parents car and the cheapest in that case was to ring my own insurer and get it added on that policy - fire and theft etc still covered by my parents' insurance.

Alocin86

AdrianC said:

Ring them each. Ask them how much. Decide from that.

Remember that if your dad does cancel his policy, he'll need to cancel the VED and SORN it, too.

But why pay the finance off? Why not just sell it or find out what the settlement would cost to send it back?

He's got it into his head that he wont get what he believes it to be worth (it had all it's wheels stolen last year so it had all the wheels replaced and all the bodywork repaired and resprayed so externally it's like new) and I also think he just wants to give me something because he hasn't got long left to live.  It's hard to rationalise some of his way of thinking at times 

Alocin86

Car_54 said:

OP, never get sentimental about a car!

Aw I can't help it. It's been bloody good to me. Never once given me any hassle, cheap to run, insure and tax and has always sailed through it's MOTs.

Car_54

Alocin86 said:

Car_54 said:

OP, never get sentimental about a car!

Aw I can't help it. It's been bloody good to me. Never once given me any hassle, cheap to run, insure and tax and has always sailed through it's MOTs.

Fair enough. Better than most wives and girlfriends.

Grumpy_chap

Car_54 said:

wives and girlfriends.

Just never let your various wives and girlfriends meet up.