Returning motability car

Britannia12345

I'm a bit puzzled at the moment and wonder if anyone knows the answer. I've decided to return my motability car next month when the lease runs out as the upfront payments are so expensive now. 
I've had a motability car for a good few years now so will have to look for my own vehicle. Question is - will I have to wait until the motability car has gone back to buy one or can I get a car around the same time and have two cars insured at the same time? Is that even possible? I really need to start looking for a car now and if I find a suitable one I won't want to risk losing it while I'm waiting to return the leased car, but I also cannot store a car off road as we only have on street parking. I also can't do without a car once the leased one has been returned. It's been so long since I've had to deal with insurance I can't remember what the rules are. 

Spoonie_Turtle

I am no expert but 99.99% certain you can have two cars insured simultaneously.  I think the only restriction is that you can't apply any No Claims Discount to multiple policies at once.

RobinHill

Yes of course you can insure more than one motor vehicle. Motability / RSA (switching to Direct Line) do not implement a NCD policy for Motability leases, the insurance is included in the lease. Should motor insurance be required for another vehicle then RSA can provide "proof of claim free years" which I understand can be used elsewhere as proof of NCD, disappointingly not all insurers will accept this however. Note you cannot use the VED exemption on a further vehicle until the Motability lease has ceased.

JamesMotaClarity

Just checking....if your current car is still suitable have you considered simply extending your current lease and waiting until the Motability Advance Payments (hopefully) become more affordable and the choice of vehicles increases? 

moneysaver

If your current car suits you, ask for a price from Motability & buy it from them. You also have the advantage of knowing the history of the car.

Moneysaver

poppy12345

There is very likely to be some relaxation in the rules for extending the lease because the wait for new cars is extremely long for a lot of dealers. There's also help available through motability grants for advance payments and the help has been increased because of the huge increase in the advance payments, which have increased ridiculously in the past 6 months. Give motability a ring to speak to them, they are always extremely helpful.

If you still want to return the car any buy your own, there's no law against insuring 2 cars at the same time. There's lot of people that are insured on multiple vehicles, my daughter is one of them.

Britannia12345

We're not too chuffed with the car we've got. It's not really suitable for our needs so we'll need a bigger car. 

born_again

You have to be aware that many cars can have a delivery timescale of 12 months or more at the moment. 

So if you are looking for a brand new car then you may have missed the boat so to speak if you are wanting a brand new car. So you may have to extend your current lease or hope you can find a 2nd hand one that suits your needs. To pick up at the same time as your car goes back

Friend across the road has a Ford Kuga motability car which is now 6 years old due to extensions. Is changing, but the qashqai replacement she has ordered has a 6 to 8 month lead time. If she is lucky.

While the upfront payment maybe expensive. When you compare the benefits (tax, ins, servicing etc) compared to having your own car. It may work out cheaper.

Good luck. 

Westie983

I got an email saying due to the long lead times that you can extend your lease so this could be an option, the prices are reviewed I think three times a year, so possible the advance payments will drop.

This is the route I am going down for now, speak to Motability they are quick to answer any questions.

Westie983

Albermarle

Although general inflation is affecting the price of many things, the price of cars has been badly affected by severe supply chain issues relating to obtaining certain parts. So in theory at least the price of cars should come down again, (relative to other goods anyway) when the supply chain issues are eventually resolved. Inevitably this and the new car delivery delays have pushed second hand car prices up even more. So all in all it is probably not a good time to be in the market for a new/used car, and an extension of the current lease seems the best bet.

While the upfront payment maybe expensive. When you compare the benefits (tax, ins, servicing etc) compared to having your own car. It may work out cheaper. 
Putting the current situation aside, when I have made the calculation for a relative in the past, the costs of doing it either way are similar ( which makes sense) 

Should motor insurance be required for another vehicle then RSA can provide "proof of claim free years" which I understand can be used elsewhere as proof of NCD, disappointingly not all insurers will accept this however

I had a similar situation after driving a company car for some years and then wanting to insure a private car. Although I had proof that I had not an accident for many years , some mainstream insurers would not offer a NCD discount, or would only offer one year.
I found LV= very flexible in this regard though.