Car Insurance For New Car - Delayed Substitution Not Available

TCA

I'm having a new car delivered next week by Cinch and will have 2 weeks to decide whether to keep or return. I still have my existing car - I'm paying the final PCP instalment on Monday and have already told them I'll be handing it back, but no collection date given yet.

My insurer won't do a delayed substitution of vehicle which would have given me some leeway with both cars covered for a short period. In fact they won't even add a second vehicle to the policy (Co-op Essentials). They can switch car on the policy but that's immediate and under my PCP agreement the car needs fully comp insurance while it's still with me, so both need insured.

I'm assuming temporary insurance would be pretty expensive, so it seems my only option is a brand-new policy for the new car, which is annoying because insurance at short notice is more expensive and it'll probably cost more than it would if I only owned one car.

Is the best plan to seek out a new policy with no cancellation fees in the 14-day cooling-off period in the hope (assuming I'm keeping the new car) that the old car can be collected in those two weeks and I just cancel the new policy then substitute cars on my existing policy? Obviously if the old car collection runs beyond 14 days then I'll be charged cancellation fees.

Or would it be better just to keep the new policy and cancel the old policy when the old car is collected? There's under 3 months left of the current policy and they charge a £50 cancellation fee, so I'd maybe get £15 back if I'm lucky.

I suppose I could substitute the new car for the old car on the existing policy when it's delivered and buy a new policy for the old car. Possible advantage in that lack of cancellation might help with no-claims bonus retention? Although I've got 12 years NCB (I think 9 years is the maximum they consider) and I think a gap is permitted, so losing this year might not matter.

Any pointers would be appreciated before my head explodes.

Thanks.

Frozen_up_north

I would be inclined to phone one or two reputable insurance companies and see what solution they can offer. It's often a case of "computer says no" and the call taker doesn't know any different.

A fairly recent example I faced was part exchanging my old car for a new unregistered one and changing my personal plate over. A few years ago the new car would have had a standard plate and then you (or the dealer) would arrange for the personal plate to be swapped, now it appears that the DVLA can directly assign your personal plate without having to use a standard number plate first…

All seemed to make sense, except my then insurance company couldn't offer insurance on the car as the number plate was not showing on the insurance database, yet it was showing correctly on the DVLA site, and I could see it on my phone while talking to the insurance company. The dealer was able to arrange temporary insurance for free with the VW Group insurance, who mysteriously could insure the car yet my own insurance company could not as it was not showing on their computer as a valid car registration.

paul_c123

Just transfer the insurance, keep the old PCP car off the road and "self insure" it by keeping it safe.

QrizB

When I did something similar a couple of years ago, I took a new policy for the new car then (once the old car was sold) cancelled that policy and transferred my NCB over to the new car policy.

This cost me less overall (pro-rata) than it would have done to change the vehicle details on my existing policy.

Have you got a quote yet for a standalone policy for your new car?

TCA

https://forums.moneysavingexpert.com/discussion/comment/82073599#Comment_82073599

Thanks. I hadn't considered being able to transfer the NCB.

I've done a few comparison site quotes for the new car this afternoon and it doesn't seem to make a difference having a second vehicle.

It's a bigger premium than for the previous car last year (despite being a lower insurance group) but no idea if premiums are up generally. Plus I'm arranging very close to the start date. But ok in the grand scheme of things.

I should've checked the costs for switching in the new car when on the phone to my insurer this morning, but was dumbfounded there was no delayed substitution or ability to add another car and forgot to ask.

Frozen_up_north

https://forums.moneysavingexpert.com/discussion/comment/82073574#Comment_82073574

They would need to "SORN" it, not a big deal.

Continuous insurance enforcement (CIE) makes it an offence to be the
registered keeper of an uninsured vehicle. DVLA is responsible for
enforcement action against the registered keepers in England, Scotland
and Wales who do not have a motor insurance policy in place

paul_c123

https://forums.moneysavingexpert.com/discussion/comment/82073652#Comment_82073652

I don't know if you've copied and pasted something, or written that out, but its so badly written to be misleading, or some elements omitted so it changes the meaning.

CIE ONLY applies for a "taxed" car, not a registered car - it is possible to have a car registered to you, it be SORNed, and it doesn't need insurance (obviously it can only be stored/used off road, cannot be on the road, where you obviously need insurance cover).

For example Google search puts it like this:

Continuous Insurance Enforcement (CIE) makes it a legal offense in England, Scotland, and Wales to keep an uninsured vehicle. The registered keeper must continuously insure their vehicle unless it is declared off the road with a Statutory Off Road Notification (SORN). [1, 2, 3]

TCA

https://forums.moneysavingexpert.com/discussion/comment/82073652#Comment_82073652

The terms of my PCP agreement require that the car is kept taxed and insured by me until they take it back. I'm guessing they won't be asking to see insurance documents when they collect the car, but something might flag up if it was SORNed.

Anyhow, that's now a moot point.

I called the Co-op back and got to speak to someone a lot more knowledgeable. They definitely can't help in the way I wanted.

I asked what it would cost just to switch the cars on the policy and they can't do that either. The policy underwriter (Phoenix) was unable to for some reason. So Co-op Essentials isn't really able to do the essentials.

So looks like a new policy for the new car and just keep the old policy going until the car is gone.

What I had forgotten when getting my earlier quotes is that you can't use NCB on more than one car, so that's just added about £100 to my annual premium for the new car. I was advised to check whether a new insurer would accept transfer of NCB after a policy has started (apparently not all do, which seemed odd).

If accepted I don't know if NCB transfer would result in a refund of some premium or whether it justs amends the NCB record?

I've learned that some insurers will mirror NCB on your first car, so I'll check that out.

Frozen_up_north

https://forums.moneysavingexpert.com/discussion/comment/82073660#Comment_82073660

Paul, that is a direct copy and paste from the DVLA, not AI, Google, or anything else.

It is the current law that a vehicle must be continuously insured, unless it is SORN

QrizB

If accepted I don't know if NCB transfer would result in a refund of some premium or whether it justs amends the NCB record?

When I did it, I received a small refund. Like a lot of things it might depend on the insurer.

TCA

https://forums.moneysavingexpert.com/discussion/comment/82073686#Comment_82073686

Thanks. That's good to know.