Insurance "Date you purchased the vehicle?"

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I have cheap online only insurance, with a useless chatbot.

So I'm changing my car.

Is the date of purchase

a) the date I paid the deposit and signed the contract- I don't think so as I haven't paid the balance, only contracted to purchase.

b) the date I pay the balance- the dealer needs it before I collect as their admin department need to clear it (no- I don't really trust them, but yes this is how it works with dealers.The last two cars I bought were this way, and you don't half sweat worrying that the dealer will go into receivership or something between BACSing the balance and collecting the car) - technically I purchase the car the instant cleared funds show in their account, but how would the insurer check?

c) the date I collect the car and do the V5 transfer- this is the one I'd just put normally, as it is the one that they can check with DLVA. It will be in the future though, as I don't trust the online insurance documents to appear the same day.

I don't want to risk putting the wrong date, and give my insurer the chance to charge me £££££££ to "correct my error" or even cancel the policy.

born_again

Usually the day you drive the car away.

northwalesd

I'd use option c).

DullGreyGuy

C normally... its when the vehicle becomes your liability, if the dealership burnt down before you collected it they'd still be liable for fulfilling the contract so the other dates are when you committed to purchase it but not when ownership transferred. 

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DullGreyGuy said:

C normally... its when the vehicle becomes your liability, if the dealership burnt down before you collected it they'd still be liable for fulfilling the contract so the other dates are when you committed to purchase it but not when ownership transferred. 

That confirms what I thought, I just wanted re-assurance as I've seen the horror stories on here about cheap insurers charging money to not void policies for minor admin discrepancies.

HillStreetBlues

I'll go against the grain and say B
If I go into a shop and pay for an item and tell them I will collect next week, the date of purchase is when I paid for it not when collecting.
In a car term I would become the keeper of the item when I collected it.

400ixl

The date your sales invoice says you paid the final balance AND taken ownership. V5 isn't really relevant as that is the registered keeper of the numberplate attached to the vehicle. Owner and registered owner are not necessarily the same person. So not C in its entirety.

The example above is not really relevant for a car purchase, so it isn't B either.

Your Invoice is usually dated for when you collect the car. This it the ownership date and if you had to prove ownership would be the document you would use. Some somewhere between B & C.

user1977

If it were a house then the date you become the owner is the completion date i.e. the day you hand over the money and pick up the keys. Not any prior date when you might have entered into a contractual obligation to later buy the property. Same with cars.

DullGreyGuy

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DullGreyGuy said:

C normally... its when the vehicle becomes your liability, if the dealership burnt down before you collected it they'd still be liable for fulfilling the contract so the other dates are when you committed to purchase it but not when ownership transferred. 

That confirms what I thought, I just wanted re-assurance as I've seen the horror stories on here about cheap insurers charging money to not void policies for minor admin discrepancies.

They tend to be intermediaries not insurers and they tend to go by the date on the V5c because its the one that they can easily get hold of but are clearly on ropy ground because the V5c is about being a registered keeper not the owner and there are plenty of legitimate reasons why the dates may not align