Son's Car Insurance

Pleasereleaseme

A little advice please...

My son is in Australia playing cricket for the winter (hopefully returning April 2026 ish)...
His car insurance here runs out in a couple of weeks and I am on the policy as a named driver.
The renewal is a decent price (compared to last year !) but I'm torn between declaring a SORN and not renewing until next year or just renewing and leave the car sitting there until April 2026.
Suppose what I could do with knowing from people in the know, if I let it lapse, would it be a big increase when he insures it next year ?? Hastings would not / could not tell me.....

Any thoughts or experience with this situation anyone ?

Thanks

Paul J

Isthisforreal99

That's a crystal ball question tbh, it may go up it may go down.

Will say it's not good for the car to leave it sitting for 5 months without being driven. However, is your son the main driver if he is away for possibly half the policy year.

Pleasereleaseme

Isthisforreal99 said:

That's a crystal ball question tbh, it may go up it may go down.

Will say it's not good for the car to leave it sitting for 5 months without being driven. However, is your son the main driver if he is away for possibly half the policy year.

Hi... yes, it's his policy... so not really needed until next April time.... just didn't then want him to come back to a larger insurance quote !

singhini

I'm not sure if this will be of any help, but I have a classic car and am a member of a classic car club. It’s quite common for people to call their insurer and switch their policy to “laid-up insurance” rather than simply declaring a SORN with no insurance.

Options:

1) Insured but SORN

2) SORN with no insurance

3) Insured (Laid-Up Insurance) and SORN

If you SORN the car but have no insurance, it must be kept completely off the road — for example, on private land or in a garage.

Also (and this is just my own observation), having a gap in insurance history might slightly increase premiums, especially for younger drivers or those with limited driving experience. Insurers often see continuous insurance as a sign of lower risk.

MyRealNameToo

singhini said:

I'm not sure if this will be of any help, but I have a classic car and am a member of a classic car club. It’s quite common for people to call their insurer and switch their policy to “laid-up insurance” rather than simply declaring a SORN with no insurance.

Options:

1) Insured but SORN

2) SORN with no insurance

3) Insured (Laid-Up Insurance) and SORN

If you SORN the car but have no insurance, it must be kept completely off the road — for example, on private land or in a garage.

Also (and this is just my own observation), having a gap in insurance history might slightly increase premiums, especially for younger drivers or those with limited driving experience. Insurers often see continuous insurance as a sign of lower risk.

Your IF statement is for 2 and 3, how you wrote it would suggest 3 doesnt need to be totally off the road as there would be laid up insurance on it 

Insurers dont ask on Motor about continuous insurance and therefore any observations you've seen are likely to just be the function of time as some insurers change their prices intraday. The issues comes if you have more than a 2 year gap at which point the NCD can no longer be used. 

As to the OP's question, that would be crystal ball time on how premiums will move over the next 4-5 months. 

Car_54

singhini said:

If you SORN the car but have no insurance, it must be kept completely off the road — for example, on private land or in a garage.

If you SORN the car, it must be kept completely off the road - whether it is insured or not.

singhini

Ah ok (i've never SORN a car, i keep all my cars insured and road taxed all the time (and in a heated garage)  My Insurance is with "Agreed Value").  

GrubbyGirl_2

It's taking a big risk having no insurance at all even if it's SORN.  What would happen if there was a fire or it was stolen?  Have you thought about just insuring it for third party fire and theft?  At least then you can take it for a run occasionally to make sure it doesn't seize up

Car_54

GrubbyGirl_2 said:

It's taking a big risk having no insurance at all even if it's SORN.  What would happen if there was a fire or it was stolen?  Have you thought about just insuring it for third party fire and theft?  At least then you can take it for a run occasionally to make sure it doesn't seize up

These days, TPF & T may cost as much - or even more - than comprehensive. Apparently the insurers don't want the business. 

MyRealNameToo

Car_54 said:

GrubbyGirl_2 said:

It's taking a big risk having no insurance at all even if it's SORN.  What would happen if there was a fire or it was stolen?  Have you thought about just insuring it for third party fire and theft?  At least then you can take it for a run occasionally to make sure it doesn't seize up

These days, TPF & T may cost as much - or even more - than comprehensive. Apparently the insurers don't want the business. 

Its more that claims experience is often worse despite the fact there is less cover... a notably higher rate of thefts and AD claims thats sufficient to offset the fact that own vehicle damage isnt covered in an accident.