Can you only insure AFTER buying a car?

kuepper

My old car is being sold tomorrow and to save £60 cancellation fee it seemed best to let existing policy expire (only 2 weeks left) having already cancelled the automatic renewal. My next car (deposit paid) can't be paid in full for and collected until Thursday. The best quote I got was from Direct Line and I was ready to buy but at the end of the quote it said I can't purchase the insurance until I'm the owner even though earlier I'd given Thursday's date as when I wanted the cover to start. That's a bit inconvenient as I'd have to pay for the car but not take it then go home and buy the policy then go back for the car. I wondered would my expiring policy on my existing car cover me to drive the 'new' car to my home and insure it then?

user1977

kuepper said:

I'd have to pay for the car but not take it then go home and buy the policy then go back for the car.

Why would you have to go home to buy the policy?

Sandtree

kuepper said:

My old car is being sold tomorrow and to save £60 cancellation fee it seemed best to let existing policy expire (only 2 weeks left) having already cancelled the automatic renewal. My next car (deposit paid) can't be paid in full for and collected until Thursday. The best quote I got was from Direct Line and I was ready to buy but at the end of the quote it said I can't purchase the insurance until I'm the owner even though earlier I'd given Thursday's date as when I wanted the cover to start. That's a bit inconvenient as I'd have to pay for the car but not take it then go home and buy the policy then go back for the car. I wondered would my expiring policy on my existing car cover me to drive the 'new' car to my home and insure it then?

Remember if the new owner has a fault accident the third party can claim off your policy and your insurers recover their outlay from you for having allowed an uninsured person to use your car then void the policy which you'll have to declare for life..

You also cannot use the NCD on the new car as its still in use on the old policy.

You should be able to insure the car before buying it as long as you enter the appropriate date of when you became the owner and the day on which you are collecting the car as the start date... you just won't be able to buy it whilst the "I've not bought the car yet" option is ticked rather than giving a date for when you became the owner.

theoretica

I changed car shortly before my insurance end date - rang insurance and asked them and they arranged to change which car was covered (at exactly 2pm!) and charged me, I think £1.12 total for the alteration.  Worth asking, unless you know you have to pay the cancellation fee to change vehicle.

kuepper

theoretica said:

I changed car shortly before my insurance end date - rang insurance and asked them and they arranged to change which car was covered (at exactly 2pm!) and charged me, I think £1.12 total for the alteration.  Worth asking, unless you know you have to pay the cancellation fee to change vehicle.

yes that's an option, they quoted me £29 for doing that and I could do it beforehand, just pro rata £29 =  £700+ pa

kuepper

user1977 said:

kuepper said:

I'd have to pay for the car but not take it then go home and buy the policy then go back for the car.

Why would you have to go home to buy the policy?

to do it online and so get the cheapest quote plus possible cashback

kuepper

Sandtree said:

You should be able to insure the car before buying it as long as you enter the appropriate date of when you became the owner and the day on which you are collecting the car as the start date... you just won't be able to buy it whilst the "I've not bought the car yet" option is ticked rather than giving a date for when you became the owner.

but as I haven't bought the car yet I can't say in past tense when I 'became' the owner, and I can't say I am the owner in the present tense because that's untrue

Sandtree

kuepper said:

Sandtree said:

You should be able to insure the car before buying it as long as you enter the appropriate date of when you became the owner and the day on which you are collecting the car as the start date... you just won't be able to buy it whilst the "I've not bought the car yet" option is ticked rather than giving a date for when you became the owner.

but as I haven't bought the car yet I can't say in past tense when I 'became' the owner, and I can't say I am the owner in the present tense because that's untrue

I am surprised that that is the bit you are concerned about rather than being personally liable for any accident your old car has.

The questions are answered effectively as at the date of inception of the policy by which point you will have bought the car. If that were not the case you could not answer a host of the questions like where is the car kept overnight because before you buy it the answer isnt your driveway/garage etc

user1977

kuepper said:

user1977 said:

kuepper said:

I'd have to pay for the car but not take it then go home and buy the policy then go back for the car.

Why would you have to go home to buy the policy?

to do it online and so get the cheapest quote plus possible cashback

Why can't you do it online at the dealership? Last time I bought a car (which was years ago) I sorted out insurance and tax while I was there.

kuepper

Sandtree said:

kuepper said:

Sandtree said:

You should be able to insure the car before buying it as long as you enter the appropriate date of when you became the owner and the day on which you are collecting the car as the start date... you just won't be able to buy it whilst the "I've not bought the car yet" option is ticked rather than giving a date for when you became the owner.

but as I haven't bought the car yet I can't say in past tense when I 'became' the owner, and I can't say I am the owner in the present tense because that's untrue

I am surprised that that is the bit you are concerned about rather than being personally liable for any accident your old car has.

The questions are answered effectively as at the date of inception of the policy by which point you will have bought the car. If that were not the case you could not answer a host of the questions like where is the car kept overnight because before you buy it the answer isnt your driveway/garage etc

My old car is being scrapped hence my not referring to it. As for rest you'd have to go through the form to understand the contradictions it raises

TELLIT01

When I purchased my new car, I knew the registration number and when I was going to collect it.  I simply gave those details to my insurer and they transferred the policy when I called them to confirm it had been collected.