Should I renew my car insurance while travelling

Aemily03

I’m currently travelling in Asia and my car insurance is up for renewal. Ideally I’d like to not renew as I will save a good few months of insurance and my car is parked off the road. However I’ve read that having a gap in insurance can cause prices to increase when it is taken out again, and prices are already high enough. 

I’ve also tried to look at ‘laid up’ insurance however you only seem to be able to get a quote by phoning up which I can’t do (without a lot of charges) as I’m not in the UK. 

Has anyone else been in this position and know if having a gap in insurance causes repercussions? It would only be for 2-3 months. 

prettyandfluffy

What happens if your car is stolen or catches fire whilst uninsured? 

prowla

You could try asking your current insurer, saying you're not driving and/or reduce your estimated mileage accordingly.

If the car's in a garage that should be a plus.

I think an NCB lasts for 6 years, so that would still b avaiable if there were a gap.

ontheroad1970

Unless it has been SORN'd, it will need to be insured or else you will get a fine from DVLA

400ixl

prowla said:

I think an NCB lasts for 6 years, so that would still b avaiable if there were a gap.

Most insurers recognise NCD for 2 years not 6 (so still not an issue for 2-3 months), many use 6 years as the maximum the apply to be at full discount. A short break of a few months will not push up prices, in fact insurers do not ask when your last policy expired and as long as the NCD is valid it will be fine.

OP, is the car on private property? If so you could SORN it which would mean that it is not required to be insured. That would though mean that most normal policies would not cover it, but laid up insurance would for fire and theft.

As for cost of calling, you could use a voip service over the internet like Skype to avid any large charges, although many laid up policies can be bought fully on line these days.

Aemily03

prettyandfluffy said:

What happens if your car is stolen or catches fire whilst uninsured? 

That’s why I was looking at laid up / SORN insurance, otherwise I know it’s risky. 

Aemily03

400ixl said:

prowla said:

I think an NCB lasts for 6 years, so that would still b avaiable if there were a gap.

Most insurers recognise NCD for 2 years not 6 (so still not an issue for 2-3 months), many use 6 years as the maximum the apply to be at full discount. A short break of a few months will not push up prices, in fact insurers do not ask when your last policy expired and as long as the NCD is valid it will be fine.

OP, is the car on private property? If so you could SORN it which would mean that it is not required to be insured. That would though mean that most normal policies would not cover it, but laid up insurance would for fire and theft.

As for cost of calling, you could use a voip service over the internet like Skype to avid any large charges, although many laid up policies can be bought fully on line these days.

I know insurers don’t ask when the last policy expired but wasn’t sure if it was something they checked in the background - but good to know about NCD. 

Yes the car is on private property so I would declare SORN if I wasn’t going to insure it. But as it’s still under policy and tax is £20 there was no real benefit to doing it already.

thank you maybe I’ll keep looking for companies which will give online quotes.