Insuring a leased car

[Humpy D]

What is the correct (legal) way to insure a leased car?

In the process of changing my lease and have noted on the small print that when arranging the insurance it must show the finance company as both the registered owner and keeper whereas in the past I have shown the registered keeper as myself as I am responsible for it's upkeep, etc. If this is definitely the case, my insurance has been invalid for years! Thankfully I have never needed to claim.

Secondly we tend to shop around each year as far as insurance is concerned to get the best deal and one year I am the policyholder with my OH as a named driver and then the following year my OH is the policyholder with me as a named driver. We do it this way so each of us retain our NCB. But again looking at the small print in the lease agreement it says that the policyholder of the insurance must be the same person who is taking out the lease. In which case is there any way to do the insurance on a car that is leased for 2 years so each of us keep our NCB?

Thanks

[Ham_and_Jam]

Humpy D said:

What is the correct (legal) way to insure a leased car?

In the process of changing my lease and have noted on the small print that when arranging the insurance it must show the finance company as both the registered owner and keeper whereas in the past I have shown the registered keeper as myself as I am responsible for it's upkeep, etc. If this is definitely the case, my insurance has been invalid for years! Thankfully I have never needed to claim.

Secondly we tend to shop around each year as far as insurance is concerned to get the best deal and one year I am the policyholder with my OH as a named driver and then the following year my OH is the policyholder with me as a named driver. We do it this way so each of us retain our NCB. But again looking at the small print in the lease agreement it says that the policyholder of the insurance must be the same person who is taking out the lease. In which case is there any way to do the insurance on a car that is leased for 2 years so each of us keep our NCB?

Thanks

Owner and registered keeper is Lease company.

Have done this for last 10 years after making many enquiries at the start.

[Scrump]

Who is named as registered keeper on the V5C, that is the correct answer.

[Ham_and_Jam]

With regard to the policy holder being the same as the the lesser, that is more likely down to the T&Cs in your contract.

I have enquired with both VWFS and Leaseplan in the past and both were happy that it didn’t matter who the policy holder was as long as it was fully comprehensive.

[Ham_and_Jam]

Scrump said:

Who is named as registered keeper on the V5C, that is the correct answer.

It will be the lease company as they purchase the VED.

[BertBert]

Depends what the arrangements are with the lease co (what type it is).

For example with my business PCP car, I am the RK on the V5.

Provided you tell the ins co what's what, it doesn't really matter (assuming they are ok with it, which ime most are)

[Ham_and_Jam]

BertBert said:

Depends what the arrangements are with the lease co (what type it is).

For example with my business PCP car, I am the RK on the V5.

Provided you tell the ins co what's what, it doesn't really matter (assuming they are ok with it, which ime most are)

PCP is totally different.

Short answer is, if you don’t have the V5 and the VED is included in the lease contract it is registered with the lease company

Edited by Ham_and_Jam on Friday 2nd February 11:17

[Humpy D]

Thanks for the replies.

I think that when I come to renewing my insurance next year I will contact the lease/finance company to ask if they have any objections to my OH being the policyholder for NCB purposes. At the end of the day the car will still be insured fully comp with me as a named driver.

[Ham_and_Jam]

Humpy D said:

Thanks for the replies.

I think that when I come to renewing my insurance next year I will contact the lease/finance company to ask if they have any objections to my OH being the policyholder for NCB purposes. At the end of the day the car will still be insured fully comp with me as a named driver.

That’s exactly what I did. They didn’t object / didn’t care.

Just make sure the RK is correct though as it quite often has an impact on the number of insurers available and the price.

[Sargeant Orange]

Resurrecting this thread after a bizarre conversation with Tesco insurance today, and trying to the change the vehicle on my policy from one I had owned to one that is now leased (PCH).

They are adamant that they will not cover my vehicle if I state the lease company is the registered keeper of the vehicle.

The CS agent said "in our experience 9 times out of 10 the policyholder will be the RK on a leased vehicle". That's not my experience over the 5 or 6 PCH leases I've had, having never had a V5 or had to pay the tax. Rang my lease company who confirmed they remain the owner and RK.

So it seems I'll have to go elsewhere for insurance, which is frustrating as they are £80 less than anyone else.

It got me thinking I can't be the only one in this situation. Anyone else come across it?

[Ham_and_Jam]

Sargeant Orange said:

Resurrecting this thread after a bizarre conversation with Tesco insurance today, and trying to the change the vehicle on my policy from one I had owned to one that is now leased (PCH).

They are adamant that they will not cover my vehicle if I state the lease company is the registered keeper of the vehicle.

The CS agent said "in our experience 9 times out of 10 the policyholder will be the RK on a leased vehicle". That's not my experience over the 5 or 6 PCH leases I've had, having never had a V5 or had to pay the tax. Rang my lease company who confirmed they remain the owner and RK.

So it seems I'll have to go elsewhere for insurance, which is frustrating as they are £80 less than anyone else.

It got me thinking I can't be the only one in this situation. Anyone else come across it?

As frustrating as it is, they will not insure you if you are not the RK. That’s there prerogative. Some won’t insure PCH but will PCP.

All have there reasons and why not all insurance companies show up when you do a comparison website search for insurance.

[martinbiz]

Humpy D said:

What is the correct (legal) way to insure a leased car?

In the process of changing my lease and have noted on the small print that when arranging the insurance it must show the finance company as both the registered owner and keeper whereas in the past I have shown the registered keeper as myself as I am responsible for it's upkeep, etc. If this is definitely the case, my insurance has been invalid for years! Thankfully I have never needed to claim.

Secondly we tend to shop around each year as far as insurance is concerned to get the best deal and one year I am the policyholder with my OH as a named driver and then the following year my OH is the policyholder with me as a named driver. We do it this way so each of us retain our NCB. But again looking at the small print in the lease agreement it says that the policyholder of the insurance must be the same person who is taking out the lease. In which case is there any way to do the insurance on a car that is leased for 2 years so each of us keep our NCB?

Thanks

Not sure on the NCB, but seems a bit iffy, there are a couple of ins experts on here who know more than me, they may chime in with an answer. One thing I would say is make sure you tell them truthfully who the main driver is or you could be in hot water

[IanWrightsHaircut]

Not sure if this is any help but I was in the same position just recently
In our previous car scheme we were vehicle owner and RK
Fast forward, site gets sold new company have their own car scheme. For insurance purposes the new leasing company are the RK and we are the owners
Having had a car stolen off our drive a few years back and the nightmare it caused I did not want to be in any position with the insurance company where any details were incorrect
On hearing hearing of horror stories from colleagues regarding the insurance going up and in one case doubling I finally got in touch with my insurance company fearing the worst
But if fairness when my insurance company came back to me the cost was the same. No change at all
This was just before my renewal was due, sent out my new policy with RK private lease company and myself as the owner

[Sebring440]

Humpy D said:

in the past I have shown the registered keeper as myself as I am responsible for it's upkeep, etc. If this is definitely the case, my insurance has been invalid for years!

Are you seriously telling us that you were not previously aware of what the term "registered keeper" means?

[BertBert]

FFS how hard can it be to work out whether you are the RK or not? If you have v5 with you're name on it you are the RK. If you don't then you're not!

[Sheepshanks]

Sargeant Orange said:

Resurrecting this thread after a bizarre conversation with Tesco insurance today, and trying to the change the vehicle on my policy from one I had owned to one that is now leased (PCH).

They are adamant that they will not cover my vehicle if I state the lease company is the registered keeper of the vehicle.

The CS agent said "in our experience 9 times out of 10 the policyholder will be the RK on a leased vehicle". That's not my experience over the 5 or 6 PCH leases I've had, having never had a V5 or had to pay the tax. Rang my lease company who confirmed they remain the owner and RK.

So it seems I'll have to go elsewhere for insurance, which is frustrating as they are £80 less than anyone else.

It got me thinking I can't be the only one in this situation. Anyone else come across it?

I think that’s been the case for years with Tesco - seen it mentioned a few times.

[Sheepshanks]

IanWrightsHaircut said:

Not sure if this is any help but I was in the same position just recently
In our previous car scheme we were vehicle owner and RK
Fast forward, site gets sold new company have their own car scheme. For insurance purposes the new leasing company are the RK and we are the owners
Having had a car stolen off our drive a few years back and the nightmare it caused I did not want to be in any position with the insurance company where any details were incorrect
On hearing hearing of horror stories from colleagues regarding the insurance going up and in one case doubling I finally got in touch with my insurance company fearing the worst
But if fairness when my insurance company came back to me the cost was the same. No change at all
This was just before my renewal was due, sent out my new policy with RK private lease company and myself as the owner

On the face of it, that doesn’t make sense - how can a leasing company be RK of a car that you own?

[IanWrightsHaircut]

Absolutely, but it is made quite clears in their T&Cs this is what is required. They normally insist on an email copy of your policy to confirm everything is correct.
When I went on comparison sites to check prices a lot of the big players were missing. Only smaller companies offering cover with eye watering premiums

[V8 Bob]

Don’t forget to buy GAP insurance….lease companies valuation and the insurance company’s valuation can be vastly different in the event of a write off

[MustangGT]

Sheepshanks said:

IanWrightsHaircut said:

Not sure if this is any help but I was in the same position just recently
In our previous car scheme we were vehicle owner and RK
Fast forward, site gets sold new company have their own car scheme. For insurance purposes the new leasing company are the RK and we are the owners
Having had a car stolen off our drive a few years back and the nightmare it caused I did not want to be in any position with the insurance company where any details were incorrect
On hearing hearing of horror stories from colleagues regarding the insurance going up and in one case doubling I finally got in touch with my insurance company fearing the worst
But if fairness when my insurance company came back to me the cost was the same. No change at all
This was just before my renewal was due, sent out my new policy with RK private lease company and myself as the owner

On the face of it, that doesn’t make sense - how can a leasing company be RK of a car that you own?

Makes no sense at all. The leasing company is clearly the owner of the car, you can never own a leased car during the period of the lease. You may well be the registered keeper if you are responsible for the RFL.