To sort or not to sort?

Silw

Wonder if someone can advise me. Due to somewhat of a family emergency I was an idiot and totally forgot to reinsure my vehicle only remembering early this am. My insurance ran out at midnight yesterday. I telephoned my insurance company this am at 8am ( Direct Line) to see if they would just renew the policy. Totally unhelpful and the new quote was hideous despite 9 years no claim and no convictions. I politely told them what they could do with their quote! I now have an uninsured vehicle luckily it is in my driveway and well away from anywhere it might get damaged and not being that desirable extremely unlikely to get stolen.
I am fortunate and have the use of my partner’s car. I am an OAP and not working so it is not a necessity to reinsure my vehicle right away.
I was wondering if I should SORN for say about 3 weeks and today go on the hunt for new insurance in the hope a new quote will not be quite so ghastly than if I looked for new insurance starting right away? Any advice would be greatly appreciated. Just cross with myself for forgetting BUT I was “slaughtered” by an insurance company some years ago when I had auto renew so did not do that again! Many thanks.

Silw

Sorry that should be a heading of to SORN or not to SORN!

facade

If it is uninsured it must be SORN'd (and kept off the road) it is The Law.

Big Brother knows when a vehicle is not insured and isn't SORN'd and a huge fine is automatically put in the post after a few days.

Car_54

Yes, you will certainly get better prices if you look for a policy to start in a few weeks time.

But ... when you do, you may find that The DL quote wasn't so bad after all. Premiums have rocketed across the board.

Penguin_

Also just to check when you say you have usage of your partners car, that you're actually named on the policy. I have usage of my fiancé's car but only as I have my own insurance on my own vehicle. 

Wonka_2

Silw said:

Totally unhelpful and the new quote was hideous despite 9 years no claim and no convictions. I politely told them what they could do with their quote! 

How different was their quote from the renewal notice you got from them ? And had you cancelled any auto-renewal ?

As others have said insurance has risen significantly and your view of 'hideous' might not be far away from current reality

caprikid1

Direct Line are an exceptionally poor insurer so you are better off looking elsewhere to be honest, an hour on the comparrison websites should find you with good insurance again,

Barkin

You appear to have something of an axe to grind as far as Direct Line are concerned. 

My only experience with them was when my wife was shunted from behind whilst stationary, which was all sorted out in a very straightforward manner. 

No complaints here. 

Silw

Thanks for your help. I will SORN my vehicle now and give myself some time to get new insurance. Yes I am a named driver on 2 other vehicles so not stuck for wheels. The new quote was almost double the one I was all of 8 hours late attempting to renew and the Direct Line employee I spoke to was completely and utterly unhelpful. He obviously thought he was in for a good commission presuming I was desperate. Whether Directline are a good vehicle insurer or not I have no idea as luckily in over 50 years of driving I have never had to make a claim. I am lead to believe part of the reason that vehicle insurance has soared is because of electric cars. I was told ( no idea if it is true tho), that insurance companies just write them off if they have been involved in an accident as too expensive to repair.  

born_again

Did you not get a renewal notice.

I would also take ML time frame for best prices with a large dose of salt.. Cynical side thinks that if Ins know this & they will. That that will be the dearest timeframe.

TheMilkmansDad

Silw said:

Thanks for your help. I will SORN my vehicle now and give myself some time to get new insurance. Yes I am a named driver on 2 other vehicles so not stuck for wheels. The new quote was almost double the one I was all of 8 hours late attempting to renew and the Direct Line employee I spoke to was completely and utterly unhelpful. He obviously thought he was in for a good commission presuming I was desperate. Whether Directline are a good vehicle insurer or not I have no idea as luckily in over 50 years of driving I have never had to make a claim. I am lead to believe part of the reason that vehicle insurance has soared is because of electric cars. I was told ( no idea if it is true tho), that insurance companies just write them off if they have been involved in an accident as too expensive to repair.  

My insurance is due end of December and I'm budgeting for a 50-60% increase. Depending on your age, type of car and other factors - double might not be too far of the mark. Have you checked out price comparison websites to compare and get a ballpark idea of that you should be expecting?