Car Insurance

A question about : Car Insurance

Hey Everyone

I have over 5 years no claims which is unusued since June 2013 when I moved to London and sold my car

Anyway, come this June it will be 2 full years since I had car insurance, and thus lots of places will no longer accept the no claims after June. I do plan on having a car again within the next 2 years...

So my question is how to handle this - Do I let it expire and take the payment hit when I do want insurance again, or is there some way of extending it?

I'm 27 thus still at an age where a lack of no claims could be very costly! Advice is appreciated

Thanks!

Best answers:

• It's a "use it or lose it" thing. Only way to keep it is to insure a car in your name.
• Are there any type of policies I can get which insures me on any car and I could just pay for that for one month and then cancel? I don't have a physical car to insure!
• Some insurers will allow upto 3 years dormant no-claims discount to be used, but I can't recall which ones. Otherwise it is a case of snooze - you lose.
  You need to really have an insurable interest in a car you are insuring, so you can't just take out third party only cover on your neighbour's vehicle.
• WOW - Just checked online and seems to make a difference of about Ј600 a year on a few different types of cars I've checked.
  I really need to find a way of using it without buying a new car... :/
• Coop will accept it for up to three years from the time it was last used. I'm not aware of any other insurers who do the same, but there might be one or two obscure ones if you look hard enough.
  Some people suggest insuring a car that you're "planning to buy", then when you "decide not to buy it after all" cancelling the policy and asking for a new proof of NCD. There'll be a cancellation fee to pay, obviously, but that's no great hardship if it saves you Ј600 in a couple of years time. I'm also not sure if it works with all insurers - if you cancel a policy very soon after taking it out some might just return your old proof of no claims bonus rather than issuing you with a new one which is valid for 2 more years.
• Any answer to that point would be amazing.
  The question being:
  "Can you buy a policy for a car you plan to buy, cancel it, pay the cancellation fee & get a new proof of no claims bonus?" - Anyone with a definitive answer?
  I guess if not, I'll have to risk waiting a year and finding someone that will accept it 3 years old :/
• The Coop accept 3 years but whoo knows. They may stop doing that before your renewal or they maybe dearer with the no claims that another insurer without.
  Insuring a car that you dont own is a risk. Small but still a risk.
  My sisters good at swapping her insurance to another car and then finding that car to be in a worse state than the one she was driving and cancelling it again to recover the old car.
  Must spend a fortune in admin fees.
• It sounds like no one knows if getting a policy for a car I will buy, and then cancelling it, can lead to getting a renewed no claims certificate?
  I could ring an insurance company and ask but worried I may not get the truth necessarily ha!
• Worst case is that they fail to send a new proof of no claims.