Insuring a car which won't be driven on that policy?
Discussion
My mother has stopped driving.
It's been decided to keep her car though so that people visiting her can use it.
The assumption is that they will be insured themselves.
We didn't re-insure the car (it's a 14 year old Polo).
It's taxed and MOTd.
I now discover that this is an offence (and we've incurred a £50 fine).
The car is kept in a garage all the time.
Seems daft that we have to insure it but the law is the law.
Does anyone know if there's any kind of policy that would suit this? (e.g. a zero miles policy)
It's been decided to keep her car though so that people visiting her can use it.
The assumption is that they will be insured themselves.
We didn't re-insure the car (it's a 14 year old Polo).
It's taxed and MOTd.
I now discover that this is an offence (and we've incurred a £50 fine).
The car is kept in a garage all the time.
Seems daft that we have to insure it but the law is the law.
Does anyone know if there's any kind of policy that would suit this? (e.g. a zero miles policy)
Lordbenny said:
Shirley you can insure it for fire and theft only? What do people do if they have an expensive classic they are restoring over a few years and not driving for example?
I suppose they'd put the car on a SORN though.I don't want to do this as I want to be able to use the car.
Ace-T said:
Laid up zero mileage policies are available. Getting Mot is tricky as you will have to day insure and then tell the laid up policy insurance the mileage has changed. It is a bit of a minefield and I am not sure the insurers would be keen. Probably best you keep and use or get rid.
I though that would be ok though as the policy wouldn't actually cover the car being driven.If I was taking it for an MOT, it would be insured via my own policy.
Most policies that allow you to drive another car third party, usually stipulate that the car must be insured.
AFAIK, visitors won't be able to hop in the car and drive it, unless the car is insured to be driven on the road. Happy to be corrected, but has always been the case when I've had the "drive other car" entitlement on my policies.
Not to mention the trouble it may attract with ANPR.
AFAIK, visitors won't be able to hop in the car and drive it, unless the car is insured to be driven on the road. Happy to be corrected, but has always been the case when I've had the "drive other car" entitlement on my policies.
Not to mention the trouble it may attract with ANPR.
Rickyy said:
Most policies that allow you to drive another car third party, usually stipulate that the car must be insured.
AFAIK, visitors won't be able to hop in the car and drive it, unless the car is insured to be driven on the road. Happy to be corrected, but has always been the case when I've had the "drive other car" entitlement on my policies.
Not to mention the trouble it may attract with ANPR.
Aha, this makes sense ... and I'm thinking I've perhaps been mistaken. Thanks.AFAIK, visitors won't be able to hop in the car and drive it, unless the car is insured to be driven on the road. Happy to be corrected, but has always been the case when I've had the "drive other car" entitlement on my policies.
Not to mention the trouble it may attract with ANPR.
Rickyy said:
Most policies that allow you to drive another car third party, usually stipulate that the car must be insured.
AFAIK, visitors won't be able to hop in the car and drive it, unless the car is insured to be driven on the road. Happy to be corrected, but has always been the case when I've had the "drive other car" entitlement on my policies.
Not to mention the trouble it may attract with ANPR.
My Aviva policy allows me to drive vehicles on which there's no other insurance in force. I had them check this out with the underwriters when I had to return to Ireland an Eire registered car that an American friend left on my drive. However, since the introduction of continuous insurance, the only benefit other than in that previous scenario would be that I could take someone else's SORNed car for an MOT. AFAIK, visitors won't be able to hop in the car and drive it, unless the car is insured to be driven on the road. Happy to be corrected, but has always been the case when I've had the "drive other car" entitlement on my policies.
Not to mention the trouble it may attract with ANPR.
Some Insurers make it a condition that the vehicle to be driven is insured. Other Insurers don't.
The key point is that if you drive a vehicle from your private driveway to another private place then you are fine. If you pop down the shops and leave the vehicle on the public road/Council car park/car park or place accessible to the public then as soon as you leave the vehicle it is uninsured.
The key point is that if you drive a vehicle from your private driveway to another private place then you are fine. If you pop down the shops and leave the vehicle on the public road/Council car park/car park or place accessible to the public then as soon as you leave the vehicle it is uninsured.
If it's going to be used on the road it must be taxed (apart from to pre-booked MOT yadda yadda).
If it's taxed (or driven to a pre-booked MOT) it must be insured for third party risks.
Laid up, fire and theft policies are no use in this situation, unless you plan to add third party cover every time you want to use the car and then remove that cover when you've finished.
If it's taxed (or driven to a pre-booked MOT) it must be insured for third party risks.
Laid up, fire and theft policies are no use in this situation, unless you plan to add third party cover every time you want to use the car and then remove that cover when you've finished.
vikingaero said:
The key point is that if you drive a vehicle from your private driveway to another private place then you are fine. If you pop down the shops and leave the vehicle on the public road/Council car park/car park or place accessible to the public then as soon as you leave the vehicle it is uninsured.
Whilst what you say is technically correct in isolation this isn't the part the OP is having the problem with - the law changed a few years ago so the only place you are likely to be legally using an uninsured car under your own 'other car' policy is likely to be to the MOT and back (because you can do this whilst the vehicle is still SORNd). As soon as you unSORN the vehicle to legally use it to drive between the private driveways you mentioned it needs to have its own insurance policy in place, otherwise you get fined, as the OP discovered.Therefore what he wants to know is can you get a dirt cheap policy for the car (perhaps on the basis that it only needs a token minimum mileage allowance) that will get the car onto the MIB database so the fine is not generated. It's going to need this in place at the point you buy the car tax as well. I'm personally not aware of such a policy - when insuring my own cars that are infrequently used the insurance quotes went UP once I reduced the mileage beyond a certain point!
OP, if you just need a car there to use at minimal cost you could look into a different car such that the 'full' policy you put in place is still dirt cheap. For example, the insurance on my Daimler is only £60 a year for up to 3000 miles, which doesn't sound too bad even if I were to only visit somewhere it was stored where I would use it a few times in the year.
Edited by 2stis on Sunday 21st December 09:22
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