Annual insurance game...

[Conan_the_Librarian]

Having had a wee 'bump' in the last year my second in a 5 year period my premium shot up from £325 to £765! I cancelled the policy as the S8 is SORN ATM. Just out of curiosity, as I'm probably only going to do a few outings this year I looked at short term cover. 4 day weekend £156. Given I'm only going to use it a few times, that would be cheaper so I think I'll do that.

[ainarssems]

Originally Posted by Conan_the_Librarian

Having had a wee 'bump' in the last year my second in a 5 year period my premium shot up from £325 to £765! I cancelled the policy as the S8 is SORN ATM. Just out of curiosity, as I'm probably only going to do a few outings this year I looked at short term cover. 4 day weekend £156. Given I'm only going to use it a few times, that would be cheaper so I think I'll do that.

Where did you look for short term cover and how would it work regarding road tax?

I briefly checked it couple of years ago and most short term covers were meant for additional cover for the car that is already insured, for example if I would borrow car from friend from a weekend or if I wanted to do test drive car I was looking to buy but would not cover car owned by me that is not insured by anybody else.

And if you don't have insurance then you have to declare car SORN. To get tax the car needs to be insured first but in my experience databases does not update instantly so if you want to tax the same day you get insurance it does not work online, you need to go to Post Office. Then you need to declare SORN when insurance runs out after 4 days but they take full months cost for road tax.

My biggest problem is that there are not many 3rd party only insurance offers so no competition on 3rd party only insurance and very high prices, often 3rd party only is more expensive than comprehensive. I am not really interested in insuring my car, I just want 3rd party cover. For example when I was last living in Latvia in 2003-2004 the 3rd party insurance for 9 year old A6 2.8 was around £50 and the insurance for car would have bee separate policy and would have cost around £200-250 but I never had it.

[HPsauce]

I've not done it recently, but when I bought my current S8 it overlapped with the old one for a while and my insurers were happy to do IIRC up to 30 days at "reasonable" rates.
I think I did something similar when I acquired the current Volvo.

As you say, you need to tax it as well and pay for a month of that (about £35?), but that's probably a lot less than the short-term insurance.

[Conan_the_Librarian]

I've always overlapped insurance and MOT so they are 6 months apart. So this time I will MOT and tax and when the insurance runs out leave it on my driveway. When I need it I'll do short term insurance. When the MOT and tax run out I'll insure it on monthly payments and once taxed and mot'd cancel the insurance. You don't have to SORN for no insurance, you just can't use it on the road.

[HPsauce]

The interactions get ever more complex, you do get chased for "no insurance" these days, though it's not required if you're off a public road.
I always keep my MOT and tax renewals well apart! If it needs a 6-month payment or a "cheeky SORN" so be it!
I'm getting very good at playing the "SORN game" when i know it's going to be idle for a few weeks.

[ainarssems]

Originally Posted by Conan_the_Librarian

I've always overlapped insurance and MOT so they are 6 months apart. So this time I will MOT and tax and when the insurance runs out leave it on my driveway. When I need it I'll do short term insurance. When the MOT and tax run out I'll insure it on monthly payments and once taxed and mot'd cancel the insurance. You don't have to SORN for no insurance, you just can't use it on the road.

You must make a SORN if your vehicle is not insured (even for a short time, for example because there’s a delay renewing your policy). This was brought in quite long time ago, maybe 10 years ago. I know couple of people who have got fine in post because it was not SORN and not insured.

Source:
https://www.gov.uk/sorn-statutory-off-road-notification
https://www.mib.org.uk/reducing-unin...e-enforcement/

[Conan_the_Librarian]

Originally Posted by ainarssems

You must make a SORN if your vehicle is not insured (even for a short time, for example because there’s a delay renewing your policy). This was brought in quite long time ago, maybe 10 years ago. I know couple of people who have got fine in post because it was not SORN and not insured.

Source:
https://www.gov.uk/sorn-statutory-off-road-notification
https://www.mib.org.uk/reducing-unin...e-enforcement/

Thanks Ainars,
I did not know that. I'll have to coordinate SORN and insurance. So many ways the government stiffs you!