Aviva hilarious re temporary car cover.

lesley2020

A precis conversation I had today - with a very pleasant South African Aviva operative who was clearly embarrassed:

Me: I already have a policy with you for my usual car but I have an old car which is SORN'd and without an MOT or Tax. I want to drive it to a local garage for an MOT and I believe I do not need tax but do need insurance. Can I get a 1 or 2 day insurance cover for it?

Operative: Let me check. .... OK I need to tell you that we cannot cancel the cover if I arrange it but I can change the date?

Me: Fine - just let me know the cost and then I can decide

Operative: I can only give you the cost if I book it

Me: Sorry - you mean to say that if I agree then you could tell me the cost is £1000 - but that at that point I could not cancel the charge, only move the date?

Operative: Yes.

Me: (I don't believe in going ballistic at front line staff - they aren't paid enough for that) - am I right in thinking that - as is usually the case - no managers are available for me to query this with?

Operative: Er - yes they are all 'in training'.

( I went with my existing Aviva as I have tried a couple of day cover insurance places and they seem to avoid SORN'd cars - if you know of any who will cover I would be grateful).

EssexExile

Many garages will collect and return the car, we did this with my late father-in-law's car to get it legal for selling.

lesley2020

Thanks EssexExile - yes, I'd forgotten that some decent garages will do that.

In my other post I've mentioned that I finally found a place which appears to do temp cover for SORN'd cars - tempcover.com (Though I haven't read the fine print yet - they just agreed a quote of £40 for a day on the basis of my reg number - so they must know it is SORNd).

Sandtree

Just sounds like an advisor that hasn't had appropriate training...

The other option, rather than a stand alone policy, would be to add the vehicle to your existing policy as a Temporary Additional Vehicle which may be cheaper depending on the admin fees your insurers charge for mid term amendments (not all insurers allow TAVs though) 

400ixl

Don't think Tempcover will work as they have this on their page:

To get daily car insurance cover, you must	To get daily car insurance cover, your car must
Be aged 17-78 years old	Be valued between £1,500 and £65,000
Hold a UK or EU driving licence	be in a roadworthy condition with a current and valid MOT (unless you are using the insurance policy to take the vehicle to a pre-booked MOT)
Have been a permanent UK resident for the last 12 months or a British expatriate	The vehicle must be taxed (unless you are using the insurance policy to obtain tax for the vehicle immediately after purchase)
Have no more than 7 licence points in the last 3 years	Not be modified in any way except for those designed to aid disabled drivers
Have not been disqualified from driving for the last 2 years	Be a right-hand drive car
Have no more than 2 fault claims in the last 3 years	Have no more than 8 seats
Have no criminal convictions	Not be declared SORN

lesley2020

Got this reply from Tempcover which suggests that it would be fine:

"

Thank you for getting in touch.

 

If you have a pre-booked MOT you can use our insurance to drive to the MOT station, providing your vehicle is safe to drive and you must tax the vehicle as soon as you are able, if you haven't already.

 

I hope that helps!

 

Thank you,

 

Kind Regards,

(Redacted)

 

Customer Experience Rep

Vulnerable Customer Champion

"

lesley2020

And this was my initial enquiry:

"

Hi

 

I have a (car) which pased its previous MOT no problem in 2019. It has been driven 100 miles since then, then SORN’d when the MOT ran out (so is without tax but I assume will pass its next MOT).

 

I obviously need to drive it to the MOT centre in order to get a new MOT, and it appears I do not need the car to be taxed for this.

 

However it appears I do need insurance for the car, even if only for one day.

 

Your site says it does not cover SORN’d vehicles. If this is correct do you know of another company or solution?

 

 

Thanks

"