Car Sold - do I have to cancel insurance?

[LayZ]

Wondering about the legal status of this.

If an insurance policy just has a couple of months to run and the NCB is more valuable than any refund due (if any at all), is it an offence to keep insurance on a car you no longer own?

[Iain328]

LayZ said:

Wondering about the legal status of this.

If an insurance policy just has a couple of months to run and the NCB is more valuable than any refund due (if any at all), is it an offence to keep insurance on a car you no longer own?

Not AFAIK - you can take out an insurance policy on the Queen's Roller if you want ('course she probably won't lend it to you!).

You should find that your NCB will live on for a while without the policy & that you may be entitled to some kind of refund. Ask your insurer.

[catso]

I bought a motorcycle for my son but insured it in my name initially as he was not old enough/licenced to ride it.

When I came to insure it for him I was told by the insurance company that I needed to cancel my insurance before taking a new policy in my sons name as it was illegal to have two different policies on the same vehicle, presumably because (for example) in the event of it being stolen it could be claimed for twice etc?

thieving ins co didn't refund me anything either as they said there was a minimum amount/admin charge that meant I was due nothing despite only using 3 months out of the 12...

[J500ANT]

If the new owner has a bump and the police/someone checks the database, they may come straight to you. I'd cancel, just incase.

(This advice comes from experience as the agreived 3rd party insurance3
jointly claimed against us AND the new owner/policy holder - just incase we hadn't sold it)

Edited by J500ANT on Tuesday 29th September 22:57

[touching cloth]

It is not officially allowed no, you should have an insurable interest in something to hold an insurance policy against it. In reality though, I am sure you can let it run and get the no claims and nothing will come of it.

[MonkeyHanger]

AFAIK most insurers will let NCB lie "dormant" for up to 2 years, unless of course you're part of the way through a year and are trying to get another full year, which sounds a bit naughty to me...

[JONSCZ]

Hi Phil. If you are considering looking for a new car, then take a tip from me and DON'T CANCEL IT. I recently sold my car and, thinking I would get some refund on my old policy, I cancelled. Turns out that no refund is due (as it only had 2 months to run) and now I am looking at other cars, I find that I have obviously lost the insurance to drive other vehicles status that I had with the policy I cancelled, so cannot take private sellers' cars out on test drives and drive them myself on my (only 3rd party, I know) insurance. Won't make this mistake again.....

Jon

[Don]

touching cloth said:

It is not officially allowed no, you should have an insurable interest in something to hold an insurance policy against it. In reality though, I am sure you can let it run and get the no claims and nothing will come of it.

I did this. Bought a years insurance on my old Vectra. It died of catastrophic engine failure and I sold it to the scraptard for a few quid. Took me a few months to get around to obtaining a new Vectra. I just transferred the insurance at the appropriate time.

I wasn't going to try and make a claim and the paperwork was easier. I'm sure you aren't supposed to do it like that but it was a lot less st.

[Dwight VanDriver]

The car has gone?

No longer does it insure?

Then does Section 143 (4) Road Traffic Act 1988 apply:

4) Where a certificate has been delivered under this section and the policy or security to which it relates is cancelled by mutual consent or by virtue of any provision in the policy or security, the person to whom the certificate was delivered must, within seven days from the taking effect of the cancellation—

(a) surrender the certificate to the person by whom the policy was issued or the security was given.

(5) A person who fails to comply with subsection (4) above is guilty of an offence.

Small print in the policy will have to be read.

dvd
(Don't forget to retune after 1200 today)

[uuf361]

You don't have to cancel the insurance but you must tell your insurance company you no longer have the car and make them note it on your policy.

I did this earlier in the year as cancelling was only going to get me back signifcantly less than the premium (as the policy was only a month old) and I knew I would be getting a new car.

The policy lay dormant for about 2 months and then when the new car arrived just called them with all the new details.

[Dan@AdrianFlux]

LayZ said:

Wondering about the legal status of this.

If an insurance policy just has a couple of months to run and the NCB is more valuable than any refund due (if any at all), is it an offence to keep insurance on a car you no longer own?

Hi,

Are you looking to replace the car you sold? If so there is a chance then your Insurance Company may be able to keep the policy open for a week.
If not then you will have to look into cancelling it as you no longer own the vehicle the insurance is for and the person who brought that car will be insuring it.

Regards,
Dan.

[LayZ]

So saying we no longer have the car but continuing the policy is possible? Seems a little nonsensical you can build up NCB on a policy without having anything insured.

Thanks for the opinions guys, I'll probably just do nothing about it unless something compels me to.

[LayZ]

Dan@AdrianFlux said:

Hi,

Are you looking to replace the car you sold? If so there is a chance then your Insurance Company may be able to keep the policy open for a week.
If not then you will have to look into cancelling it as you no longer own the vehicle the insurance is for and the person who brought that car will be insuring it.

Regards,
Dan.

As I hinted at, I *may* have already inquired with the insurance company and it *may* actually cost me money to cancel, and I *may* not get a years NCB, with only a couple of months to run on the policy. We plan on replacing the car, (it was my wife's) but not in a hurry as she is giving birth in November.

[trix-a-belle]

interesting to read some of the responses here as i'm in a similar but topsey turvy situation.

I am waiting for my new car to arrive (due end of oct/beginning of nov), current car being used on the scrappage scheme. Current car's insurance runs out at the beginning of january but from investigations earlier this year my current insurer won't cover me on the new car. Being in the young driver age bracket (almost 25) my NCB is valuable.
Does anyone think that with such a short timescale to run they will still give me this years no claims so that the new policy benefits or will I lose it?
If I'm in the situation that I will probably lose it is it worth; keeping the scrapped car's policy running & paying for temporary cover in the mean time then benefitting from the extra no claims come new year, or writing it off to sods law?

Thanks
S

[oldsoak]

FWIW I've never cancelled a policy. After discarding one vehicle I've gotten another either on the same day or a short while afterwards (no more than a day or so).
A phone call to the insurers with the new vehicles details (including date of purchase)is all that's required to continue the policy. Any difference in premiums of course needs to be paid.
The policy is valid for the remainder of the original period and the insurers send you an insurance certificate with your new vehicles details thereon which is valid from the date of purchase (your old vehicle becomes uninsured from that same date).

[John MacK]

trix-a-belle said:

If I'm in the situation that I will probably lose it is it worth; keeping the scrapped car's policy running & paying for temporary cover in the mean time then benefitting from the extra no claims come new year, or writing it off to sods law?

Thanks
S

Have you fully paid for the years insurance on your current vehicle, or are you paying it up in installments.

If you pay for the year, and don't make a claim in the year then you should be eligible for another years NCD. (even if you 'technically' don't own the car for the full 12 months)

Speak to you current insurers and see what they say.

[CDP]

In the past I've asked the insurance company to suspend a policy and they've done so for a small fee. They can't normally suspend beyond the renewal date but it would give you a month or two to get another car.

Worth a try as you're not throwing the policy away with a cancellation.

[srob]

I didn't think that the same vehicle could be insured by more than one policy at a time? If you still have the vehicle insured and the new owner does too, how would they decide who to pay out in the event of damage/theft?

Not that I'm saying you would claim, just that you could which is why I thought it was one policy per vehicle?

[saaby93]

srob said:

I didn't think that the same vehicle could be insured by more than one policy at a time? If you still have the vehicle insured and the new owner does too, how would they decide who to pay out in the event of damage/theft?

Not that I'm saying you would claim, just that you could which is why I thought it was one policy per vehicle?

I used to think it was the driver who took out a policy to insure a car he wanted to drive.

So if 2 people had two policies to drive one car, whoever is driving determines which policy pays out. If its a third party fault they pay out.

Ive always wonderd why they ask 'is this vehicle covered by another policy' and if you say 'dunno' they say 'if it is we cant insure it'.

So if youve bought a car and you dont know the previous owners insurance is still running and you say 'no' to above question thinking they mean 'do you have another policy covering it' I guess that means technically your insurance is invalid.

marvellous

Another one for the picky fine print deskocrats

[trix-a-belle]

John MacK said:

trix-a-belle said:

If I'm in the situation that I will probably lose it is it worth; keeping the scrapped car's policy running & paying for temporary cover in the mean time then benefitting from the extra no claims come new year, or writing it off to sods law?

Thanks
S

Have you fully paid for the years insurance on your current vehicle, or are you paying it up in installments.

If you pay for the year, and don't make a claim in the year then you should be eligible for another years NCD. (even if you 'technically' don't own the car for the full 12 months)

Speak to you current insurers and see what they say.

Thanks John

I paid for the year but had to make a claim in feb as someone at work (who did own up) reversed into my car (without me in it) & so had to have the bumper replaced. NCB currently protected & that was my first claim apart from a windscreen chip fix last year.