Insuring an unused car to retain NCB

[Dan99]

Hi. Can someone help with advice?

 

I haven't insured my car for about a year and I know that the longer I am without car insurance I could lose my no claims bonus.

 

I'm seeking suggestions as to how I can go about getting the best rate and names of companies that deal with clients in this type of situation. Should I go for pay as you go insurance (by the miles covered) or should I be upfront that I'm only insuring to keep my NCB current? The car is SORN, off the road, very low value with no MOT and I don't know when I will be returning to motoring. Many thanks. Dan

[unclebulgaria67]

If you are looking to purchase Insurance to maintain no claims discount, this needs to be done, before 2 years has passed since your last Insurance was cancelled.  And as the no claims discount is based on having no claims while driving, you would need to cancel the SORN, look to repair the vehicle to make it roadworthy and  arrange Insurance to cover the vehicle.  Be careful, as many Insurers will not cover the vehicle due to no MOT. So make sure Insurers are aware of there being no MOT.

 

There are laid up Insurance policies for vehicles not being used but parked on private land, but as far as I know, these don't provide a no claims discount.  But it may be worth asking an Insurance Brokers about policy options, as my knowledge on Car Insurance is not up to date.

 

Temporary Car insurances won't provide no claims. Has to be a full annual policy.

 

Have your circumstances changed since last Insurance ? Remember that things like your occupation can have a large impact on premiums.  If you are now unemployed, you may find that the premiums being quoted are much higher than you paid previously.

 

So you could remove the SORN, take out Insurance for a small amount of mileage based on possible usage. People buying Insurance may not know how often they would use a vehicle, as changes happen such as health issues or change of work location requiring public transport to be used.  I suspect that during the Covid pandemic, many people not receiving regular earnings, with no savings to use, will not be using vehicles, but will have Insurance running.

 

 

 

 

[dx100uk]

surely the vast cost of doing all this far outweighs any discount you might get by a better NCB when you do eventually 'need' to return to the road?

[unclebulgaria67]

Agree, cost of Insurance etc may outweigh the loss value of lost NCB.

 

Many Insurers offer a faily decent introductory NCB, when taking out Insurance with no NCB.

[dx100uk]

Suppose the q is:

What is your current ncd?

[Dan99]

Thanks all for your replies.

 

I'm within the 2-yr limitation.

 

Cancelling the SORN would mean purchasing road tax and repairing the car, but the car is uneconomical to repair.

 

I have maximum NCD / NCB.

 

Renewal rates have been relatively low, can't recall right now, about £300.

 

I had assumed I could get a special insurance deal for extra low annual mileage, never ever considered that to retain the policy's no-claims discount/bonus the car would have to be driven. Besides, claims do not always arise through incidents while driving.

[dx100uk]

8 minutes ago, Dan99 said:

I have maximum NCD / NCB.

 

then you don't need to waste money IMHO

 

my neighbour as from 6mts before covid hit and the 18mts since, so over 2yrs, had not driven, sorned car , without ins.

just got a cheaper ins deal than 3yrs ago and her max NCD stood, all you need is proof of NCD from last ins policy provider, 

 

NCD years doesn't go down because you are off the road.