Insurance Question

[Fiesta5692]

I've had a quick look on google and couldn't find a definitive answer to my question so i thought i'd ask it here

Basically i was planning on buying a car in the next few weeks but not insuring it until my 20th birthday in september as being 20 brings my insurance down around 25%.

However last week i got a job interview which went well meaning i start on monday. So i'm sticking with my plan of buying a car in a couple of weeks to drive to and from work in but i'm now not sure what to do with insurance.

Obviously i'd need insurance as soon as i bought a car so i could use it straight away but being the age i am now i'm getting quotes around £1000 for the sort of car i'm looking at whereas in 3 months time it'll be around £750.

So how do i go about paying the higher rate for the next 3 months but then on my 20th birthday go to paying the lower rate?

Is it a simple case of cancelling the policy on my birthday and taking out a new one, or is it more complex/simple than that?

The company would be Admiral/Elephant/Bell since they are coming out far cheaper than anyone else.

Thanks in advance

[SirSamuelOfBuca]

Check how much it is to cancel with them

[FisiP1]

Not all insurers allow pro-rata cancellation, and many that do are stepped i.e. 90% back after 15 days, 75% back after 30 days, 40% back after 3 months, 10% back 6-8 months. Make sure to check the policy documents yourself because I have personally been sold a policy that a broker told me was on a pro-rata cancellation basis when it in fact was not.

[4keymonsta]

Honestly, and I hardly have a lot of spare cash floating about, I wouldnt bother with it for a couple hundred quid. If you want the car on the road now, that is the price that you pay unfortunately.

[RWD cossie wil]

Temp insurance or catch the bus for a few weeks?

[Fiesta5692]

I've found a few websites that say the cancellation fee for the Admiral group is £45 ish. So if i was to cancel a 12 month policy after 3 months would i get a refund of the 9 months minus the £45, or is that not how it works?

I'd be paying annually rather than monthly if that helps.

The only people that will do temporary car insurance for my age group want a fortune to insure it each month so that would work out being more expensive and i live around 20 miles from where i work with no direct bus route so although it'd be possible i'd rather avoid it long term.

[FisiP1]

Fiesta5692 said:

I've found a few websites that say the cancellation fee for the Admiral group is £45 ish. So if i was to cancel a 12 month policy after 3 months would i get a refund of the 9 months minus the £45, or is that not how it works?

I'd be paying annually rather than monthly if that helps.

The only people that will do temporary car insurance for my age group want a fortune to insure it each month so that would work out being more expensive and i live around 20 miles from where i work with no direct bus route so although it'd be possible i'd rather avoid it long term.

As I said in my above post, its pro-rata for some, but not all insurers.

You'd probably have a 45 pound cancellation fee + a 20-60 pound admin fee to cancel, and you'd get back a certain proportion of the total you paid up front, but the proportion isn't skewed very fairly in the customers favor(see rough proportions in my post above).

Again, not all insurers will allow you any refund at all should you cancel(except for your statutory cooling off period, 14 days iirc?), so read through their policy documents before you pay up, there is no one-size fits all answer for this I'm afraid.

[elvismiggell]

Quick question, why buy now with no intention of not using it until later? Why not just wait until later?

[Fiesta5692]

My original plan was to get a car that needed abit of work doing and do the work before my birthday, but now i've got a job starting tomorrow i'd need it ASAP really

[barker22]

Insure it straight away. £1000 split into 12 months is £83. 3months at £83 is £250. So you will lose the £250 on 3months insurance plus the cancellation fee. And then you want to spend £750 on a new policy.
It works out cheaper to insure it for a year now plus you get your no claims sooner.

[Lanxx]

I'm with Admiral and pay anually. They give you back however many months you haven't used (I haven't tested this, just what they say) plus you pay a cancellation fee. I took out insurance when I was 18, one month before turning 19. Might have cost more but I didn't care, got me to work quicker :-)

[calibrax]

barker22 said:

Insure it straight away. £1000 split into 12 months is £83. 3months at £83 is £250. So you will lose the £250 on 3months insurance plus the cancellation fee. And then you want to spend £750 on a new policy.
It works out cheaper to insure it for a year now plus you get your no claims sooner.

Except it doesn't work like that. The insurer gets the full yearly amount right away from a finance company, then your £83 (plus interest) goes to the finance company. If you stop paying, you're in breach of the credit agreement.

eCar do a pay as you go monthly policy, which would probably be suitable...

http://www.ecarinsurance.co.uk/payasyougo.php

[cwrocco]

calibrax said:

Except it doesn't work like that. The insurer gets the full yearly amount right away from a finance company, then your £83 (plus interest) goes to the finance company. If you stop paying, you're in breach of the credit agreement.

eCar do a pay as you go monthly policy, which would probably be suitable...

http://www.ecarinsurance.co.uk/payasyougo.php

not if your paying anually, which the op is.