Have you already bought the car?

ThorOdinson

Why do insurers/comparison sites ask if you have already bought the car? 

Is it better to get quotes before buying or after?

bluelad1927

Why would you want the affordability of a car to come as a surprise after you've purchased it. It makes perfect sense to get a quote for insurance before buying a vehicle

lisyloo

Most people would want to check insurance cost before buying a particular model.
If you've bought the car you can supply reg number, if you haven't the questions are different e.g. make and model, hence the question.

If you don't care about insurance cost then you are not the norm.

DullGreyGuy

ThorOdinson said:

Why do insurers/comparison sites ask if you have already bought the car? 

Is it better to get quotes before buying or after?

Insurers use how long you have owned the car as a rating factor. If you say you bought the car a week ago and you want the policy to start next month that'll mean you've 1 month experience with it at the date of inception (which is what insurers rate things at, not the date of quote). If you tick the "dont own it yet" they will assume you've no experience with the vehicle at inception.

Secondly by ticking you dont own it yet normally allows you to bypass having to have the registration plate, some insurers won't quote for a car you own if you cannot give the registration. 

In principle were they to search CUE by registration plate to look for any claims you've "forgotten" to declare knowing when you became the owner could be the difference between them thinking you've an undeclared claim and them accepting the claim from last week wasn't you because you didnt own the car at that time. Back in my Motor days people only searched CUE post acquisition but as computers become more powerful etc it could be some are doing it at quote stage. 

ThorOdinson

Thanks DGG, that's what I was wondering. It's not just to tailor the questions, they actually look at how much experience you have.

I guess it's going to be expensive. New car, little experience, probably a week before you need the insurance to start once the delivery date is confirmed.

Probably best to do dummy quotes with fake details if just checking out prices before purchase. I've noticed that if you use your real details it locks in the higher prices.