Insurance for 6 months query

scottiescott

I have just bought a summer fun roadster which I would only use May to October. It'll be parked up in the garage over winter and SORN'd.
How should I deal with the insurance? Pay annual amount and ask for refund after October? Would they indeed refund me? Pay monthly and advise Insurance Company end of October that it's now off road?
Advise or experiences appreciated.
Many thanks.

TadleyBaggie

So if the car is stolen/damaged when it is off the road, you would have no claim. Might be best to keep it insured.

user1977

"Paying monthly" doesn't mean you're buying the insurance from month to month - it (generally) just means you're paying off the annual premium on a credit arrangement, so it won't make a difference to the costs of cancellation.

I would buy an annual policy but pay attention to the admin fees for cancelling. And as above, bear in mind there'll still be some benefit from insurance while it's off the road.

Car_54

I believe (though I've no direct experience) there are specialist policies for this sort of thing. A good starting point would be owners' clubs or forums for your model.

facade

Do what most motorcyclists do, take out a 12 month policy and just declare SORN on Sept 30th.

Now Global Warming has really taken off there is every chance of sunny weather (and more importantly, no corrosive salt on the roads) in December, then all you have to do is  buy the tax on line and immediately roar away into the sunshine.

It keeps the no-claims bonus, 6 month policies are disproportionately expensive (and we'd need a "laid up" policy), and cancelling a 12 month policy after 6 months has massive admin fees, as well as way less than a 50% refund.

Aretnap

TadleyBaggie said:

So if the car is stolen/damaged when it is off the road, you would have no claim. Might be best to keep it insured.

In principle you can get a laid up (aka fire and theft only) policy to cover that risk, though apparently they're not always as much cheaper as regular insurance policies as you might expect so there might not be a huge saving once you factor everything in.

scottiescott

Thank you everyone that replied. Will just keep it insured for the full year. I take on board your advice.
Interesting point when completing the Insurance questionnaire; you can't claim to have X years NCD if you're already applying it to another vehicle. Hey ho, will just have to bite the bullet with that one.

Dave_5150

scottiescott said:

Thank you everyone that replied. Will just keep it insured for the full year. I take on board your advice.
Interesting point when completing the Insurance questionnaire; you can't claim to have X years NCD if you're already applying it to another vehicle. Hey ho, will just have to bite the bullet with that one.

You may find a low mileage classic car policy cheaper depedending on what you have bought. Usually needs to be at least 10 years old to be considered a classic.

facade

Dave_5150 said:

You may find a low mileage classic car policy cheaper depedending on what you have bought. Usually needs to be at least 10 years old to be considered a classic.

Classic policies don't accrue no-claims bonus though, which is another factor to consider.

If you already have a large NCD, quite a few companies will mirror it onto a second policy, try your current insurer, they also usually give an initial discount on taking out a second policy with them. (Only for the first year, but you can move companies with the renewal letter offering the large NCD)

This is a second separate policy, not the legendary multi-car on one policy, I don't think each car gets its own NCD with those.

I have read some nonsense about insurers not liking it when you SORN a vehicle, you'd think they would be overjoyed as it is off the road, and their maximum liability will be limited to the replacement cost, no chance of a multi-million pound 3rd party injury claim.

DullGreyGuy

facade said:
I have read some nonsense about insurers not liking it when you SORN a vehicle, you'd think they would be overjoyed as it is off the road, and their maximum liability will be limited to the replacement cost, no chance of a multi-million pound 3rd party injury claim.

Any link to said nonsense? Would need to know the context really.

There is still a chance, wasn't a multi-million pound claim but was a notable one where the policyholders son "stole" the SORN'ed two seater convertible from the garage and ran over a cyclist. 

facade

DullGreyGuy said:

facade said:
I have read some nonsense about insurers not liking it when you SORN a vehicle, you'd think they would be overjoyed as it is off the road, and their maximum liability will be limited to the replacement cost, no chance of a multi-million pound 3rd party injury claim.

Any link to said nonsense? Would need to know the context really.

There is still a chance, wasn't a multi-million pound claim but was a notable one where the policyholders son "stole" the SORN'ed two seater convertible from the garage and ran over a cyclist. 

Sorry, no.

It was something I read, could even have been on here, I just dismissed it as nonesense, alongside "You are not insured if the tax/MOT run out"