Car Insurance - between jobs

Winchmore_Hill_Shot

I wonder if anyone can help?

My son (25 years old) was made redundant 4 months ago and chose to go travelling for a bit and live on his savings.  He is now home and looking for work - he is in IT and has a good employment record (since he was 18), so finding a job is unlikely to be a problem.  In fact, it looks like he might have found something which will start in mid-late September.  This will probably involve a house move and may also mean driving to work, although he will only be required in the office a couple of days a week and so might use Air bnbs initially.

His car insurance is due for renewal this week and he is looking to change insurer.  He's wondering whether he can put "independent means" under his employment status as he is claiming no benefits and not registered as "unemployed", although he is now looking for work.

Of course, within a couple of months of taking on a new policy, employment status, address, etc are likely to change as well, with all the attendant costs.

Anyone offer advice on pitfalls to avoid etc, or recommend any insurers who are flexible with details changing?

DullGreyGuy

Insurance companies do not publish official definitions of these terms and so it comes down to plain English meaning. The sensible thing to do is put what you think it is and then speak to the preferred seller BEFORE buying to make sure they agree with the approach.

Alternatively buy without asking and get ready for an argument if a claim happens. It may be defensible that he was certainly independent means whilst travelling and would be independent means again if he secured this role and is just waiting for it to start and so should be considered independent means whilst job hunting but living off savings.

The one thing you dont want to do however is get quotes with lots of different options as that's a red flag for quote manipulation/fraud and will trigger people to look much closer at everything (and quote higher)

user1977

I would interpret being "of independent means" to mean a fairly permanent blissful state of affairs, not merely that you can afford to be jobless for a temporary period. If he's not working and seeking employment, that sounds like "unemployed" to me. I doubt whether he's entitled to benefits is relevant to the insurers.

Alderbank

You say he is looking for work so he is unemployed.
Insurers base premiums on statistics of claims made and unemployed motorists make more claims so unfortunately his premium will go up.
This site https://bobatoo.co.uk/blog/car-insurance-lose-job suggests that if he can choose ‘househusband’ or ‘houseperson’ as an occupation for car insurance, that either are better options than choosing ‘unemployed’.

They say that according to an article by The Guardian, you could end up paying 50% more if you describe yourself as being ‘unemployed’ rather than as a house wife or husband.

I understand that not all 25 year-old lads would be keen to take on the household's washing, cleaning and cooking duties while between jobs but might be worth thinking about?

DullGreyGuy

user1977 said:

I would interpret being "of independent means" to mean a fairly permanent blissful state of affairs, not merely that you can afford to be jobless for a temporary period. If he's not working and seeking employment, that sounds like "unemployed" to me. I doubt whether he's entitled to benefits is relevant to the insurers.

How are you defining fairly permanent? If you get 18 months of salary in a redundancy and decide to go travelling for 12 months would you really describe them as unemployed during that 12 months? How about when you've secured a role whilst not currently working but it doesn't start for 2 months? 

Unemployed by many people's definition generally means you are actively looking for employment whilst not in employment. Even with this you get people in unorthodox situations, a former associate doesn't financially need to work by any means having sold his business for double digit millions but occasionally he applies for temporary work that he things will be interesting to do, probably once or twice a year. He often doesn't get it, he's over qualified and no one wants someone who'd doing it for fun and may drop out when it ceases to be fun. 

user1977

DullGreyGuy said:

user1977 said:

I would interpret being "of independent means" to mean a fairly permanent blissful state of affairs, not merely that you can afford to be jobless for a temporary period. If he's not working and seeking employment, that sounds like "unemployed" to me. I doubt whether he's entitled to benefits is relevant to the insurers.

How are you defining fairly permanent? If you get 18 months of salary in a redundancy and decide to go travelling for 12 months would you really describe them as unemployed during that 12 months? How about when you've secured a role whilst not currently working but it doesn't start for 2 months? 

I would say those are probably both unemployed.

Whenever I've encountered "of independent means" it's referring to people living off trust funds etc and who just generally don't need to work, not people who generally do work but can survive with their buffer of savings for finite periods between jobs.

Norman_Castle

If you expect to change details during the policy check the cost of doing this before choosing the insurer.

DullGreyGuy

Norman_Castle said:

If you expect to change details during the policy check the cost of doing this before choosing the insurer.

Note that they can only give you an estimate, the rate you'll actually pay will be based on pricing at the date of the change. Be particularly careful if you are asking a broker as they may give you a second price based on a different insurer however when buying via a broker you are locking into both broker and insurer so the other insurer quote is totally irrelevant

DullGreyGuy

user1977 said:

DullGreyGuy said:

user1977 said:

I would interpret being "of independent means" to mean a fairly permanent blissful state of affairs, not merely that you can afford to be jobless for a temporary period. If he's not working and seeking employment, that sounds like "unemployed" to me. I doubt whether he's entitled to benefits is relevant to the insurers.

How are you defining fairly permanent? If you get 18 months of salary in a redundancy and decide to go travelling for 12 months would you really describe them as unemployed during that 12 months? How about when you've secured a role whilst not currently working but it doesn't start for 2 months? 

I would say those are probably both unemployed.

Whenever I've encountered "of independent means" it's referring to people living off trust funds etc and who just generally don't need to work, not people who generally do work but can survive with their buffer of savings for finite periods between jobs.

Cannot find a UK government definition but both US and Aus define it as being available for work and seeking work... if you are travelling the world and/or not looking for work then you'd fail to meet their definitions. Houseperson, independent means, medical retirement etc all may apply depending on your source of funds.

Norman_Castle

DullGreyGuy said:

Norman_Castle said:

If you expect to change details during the policy check the cost of doing this before choosing the insurer.

Note that they can only give you an estimate, the rate you'll actually pay will be based on pricing at the date of the change. Be particularly careful if you are asking a broker as they may give you a second price based on a different insurer however when buying via a broker you are locking into both broker and insurer so the other insurer quote is totally irrelevant

I meant the admin charges. Some are cheap or free especially if done online. These should be fixed and available at the start of the policy. If different insurers offer similar quotes at similar prices choosing one with low fees could save money when you change.

Alderbank

DullGreyGuy said:

user1977 said:

DullGreyGuy said:

user1977 said:

I would interpret being "of independent means" to mean a fairly permanent blissful state of affairs, not merely that you can afford to be jobless for a temporary period. If he's not working and seeking employment, that sounds like "unemployed" to me. I doubt whether he's entitled to benefits is relevant to the insurers.

How are you defining fairly permanent? If you get 18 months of salary in a redundancy and decide to go travelling for 12 months would you really describe them as unemployed during that 12 months? How about when you've secured a role whilst not currently working but it doesn't start for 2 months? 

I would say those are probably both unemployed.

Whenever I've encountered "of independent means" it's referring to people living off trust funds etc and who just generally don't need to work, not people who generally do work but can survive with their buffer of savings for finite periods between jobs.

Cannot find a UK government definition but both US and Aus define it as being available for work and seeking work... if you are travelling the world and/or not looking for work then you'd fail to meet their definitions. Houseperson, independent means, medical retirement etc all may apply depending on your source of funds.

In their opening post the OP says 'He is now home and looking for work'