Driving 2 years UK, now to attend course in EU. Insure for NCD or SORN?

Sam_Jnr_3

Hello All, tried searching but nothing so far, I hope that this makes sense. Situation is that just as my third year's insurance starts, within 5 days of, I am going on an unpaid practical study type course in the EU. 5 months in one country a month back in UK and then 3 months in another.  I do not need my car in EU and can leave it at home for my dad to use albeit infrequently.  He's already a named driver, retired mechanic and keeps the car in good order.  Infrequently I will return to the UK and use the car for social visits.  My initial plan is to treat the insurance as if I am in UK and pay the full comprehensive annual insurance premium.  This should give me 3 years NCD when I renew in 2025.  Before I speak to my insurer I would appreciate any guidance from those that have experienced a similar situation, I can see several potential pitfalls.  Thank you for taking the time to read this post.

Mildly_Miffed

If the car's going to be being used occasionally during the period, or even taken onto the public road, it needs to be taxed. And that means it needs to be insured. Whether you insure it or he does is a separate question - but if you have an issue during one of those visits while driving it, you're going to be hard pushed to explain to insurers how you aren't "fronting", given it's registered in your name.

Don't get hung up on the NCD. One extra year's difference in NCD is going to maybe knock 5% off your premium for a few years.

DullGreyGuy

Mildly_Miffed said:

If the car's going to be being used occasionally during the period

Doesn't matter if it's used or not, since the Continuous Insurance Enforcement a car must be insured or SORNed else an offence is committed and DVLA can easily police it with just checking databases. 

If there is any prospect of it being used during the period then it cannot be SORNed and if cannot be SORNed it must be insured. The only other option is to pay for tax and insurance each time you want to use it and then cancel and SORN again which is probably more expensive and certainly more faff -v- keeping the insurance running so you/family can use it as required. 

Iceweasel

Exactly what pitfalls can you see?