Keeping insurance after selling car in order to use DOC?

[Granadier]

A colleague of mine has sold her car and not yet bought another, but she says she has put off cancelling the insurance as she plans to use the Driver Other Cars cover to borrow her sister's car for a long journey. I gather this is a one-off occasion rather than intending to use it repeatedly/regularly.

This is a situation that had never occurred to me before, but I wonder about the legalities of using DOC cover based on insurance for a car you don't own any more. Not being the owner or registered keeper of the vehicle changes the whole basis of the insurance policy, surely?

Any thoughts or experience of anything similar?

[Jakg]

The wording of the policy is all important, no-one can give an answer without it.

Most of the ones I've had require you to still have the car, or that it's roadworthy or something. But you'd need to check the actual policy.

[alscar]

Granadier said:

A colleague of mine has sold her car and not yet bought another, but she says she has put off cancelling the insurance as she plans to use the Driver Other Cars cover to borrow her sister's car for a long journey. I gather this is a one-off occasion rather than intending to use it repeatedly/regularly.

This is a situation that had never occurred to me before, but I wonder about the legalities of using DOC cover based on insurance for a car you don't own any more. Not being the owner or registered keeper of the vehicle changes the whole basis of the insurance policy, surely?

Any thoughts or experience of anything similar?

As your colleague no longer has any Financial interest in the car sold as per the other reply what does the policy say ?
Not sure you can insure a vehicle when it’s not yours but happy to be corrected.
I also seem to recall that DOC may not automatically apply to her sisters car being a family member.
Might it not be easier for the sister to just temporarily add her to her policy ?

[Plymo]

Or use one of the many temporary insurance companies... I can vouch for Cuvva at least as I've used them twice, a fairly painless process.

[Actual]

Not cancelling insurance when a vehicle is sold can be risky if a new claim associated with the sold vehicle should arise. For example the new owner uses the vehicle without insurance or even has insurance and the old policy is connected in some way.

[leef44]

The insurance would not be valid because she has not informed the insurance company of a significant change i.e. she no longer owns the car. At which point her policy would most likely be cancelled and any refund due.

If in the event she was to make a claim while driving another person's car then her insurance would not pay out because they would say her insurance is not valid. Worse still, this may count as refused/cancelled insurance which is a marker against her history and her future premiums go up considerably.

[Granadier]

I think I'll advise the lady to check with her insurance provider about all this, definitely seems murky!
Thanks for the advice/suggestions.

Edited by Granadier on Monday 20th March 17:48

[BlackLS400]

I’ve always cancelled the insurance as soon as the money is handed over and the logbook is signed,

If I was her I’d rather do that and then pay a little extra to temp cover the other car for the journey

[sixor8]

Hypothetically, if she had an accident, she wouldn't be making any claim and couldn't, since the cover would be third party only. If a claim were made AGAINST her, I'm unsure the insurance company would refuse payment since they are not aware she doesn't own the car any more. I'm not advising this of course. IANAL.

If she were added to the existing policy for that car, the same cover would apply, assuming it would be fully comp. Probably the best move. I've used cuvva too, it's quite cheap but has a big excess.

[Limpet]

Just had a look in the policy doc of my insurance (via Aviva) and if it's anything like that, the cover would be worthless.

Two issues include:

"Please tell us immediately if there are any changes to the information set out in the ‘Information Provided By You’ document, certificate of motor insurance or on your schedule. You must also tell us immediately about the following changes:

blah blah blah
Any change affecting ownership of the vehicle"

If the information provided by you is not complete and accurate:

– we may cancel your policy and refuse to pay any claim, or
– we may not pay any claim in full."

Then...

"We will insure the vehicle policyholder whilst driving any other car within Great Britain, Northern Ireland, the Channel Islands and the Isle of Man providing:
Blah blah
The vehicle policyholder still has your car...."

YMMV of course but if I were to do what you colleague is planning to do, I would be clearly violating the terms of my insurance policy.

Why does she not just ask to be added to her sister's policy and pay the additional premium? It's normally peanuts unless the driver is young or otherwise high risk.

[Sebring440]

Granadier said:

I think I'll advise the lady to check with her insurance provider about all this,

Don't worry! You don't need to advise the lady. It's got nothing to do with you!

[Granadier]

Sebring440 said:

Granadier said:

I think I'll advise the lady to check with her insurance provider about all this,

Don't worry! You don't need to advise the lady. It's got nothing to do with you!

Oh true, I'm just being a busybody, might just mention it. I'd be more concerned if it was my car she wanted to borrow!

[Mr Tidy]

I'd cancel to get any refund!

And if the buyer didn't insure the car she may be helping them avoid issues from ANPR cameras.

Wouldn't it be cheaper just to get added to her sister's policy for the relevant time period anyway?

[Jujuuk68]

Dodson v Dodson covered this, and I seem to recall Duffy V Bryson also made the headlines, but I'm a bit out of the loop since the deregulation of insurers act occurred, which may amend this.

However, as you'd be effectively breeching your insurance terms and conditions by failing to declare the sale promptly, you'd not get the benefit of any insurance anyway in the event of a collision, except as the insurer acting as RTA Insurer and recovering the claim costs from you for the breech.

Best get it cancelled.

[vikingaero]

Actual said:

Not cancelling insurance when a vehicle is sold can be risky if a new claim associated with the sold vehicle should arise. For example the new owner uses the vehicle without insurance or even has insurance and the old policy is connected in some way.

This in a nutshell.

The new owner could drive around uninsured, have a big accident, and your colleagues policy will still be insuring the car and could be liable under the RTA. Or there is a claim and the Insurer find the car is dual insured and will claim 50% from the policy (I've had One Call and Admiral ask why there was another policy in force when we were cancelling/winding down our family fleet policy).

It would probably be better for your colleague to be added to his sisters policy. Might bring the premium down and there might not be any cost to change. If there is an admin fee, then get him to stump up.