Insurance

[Unlucky23]

Hi all, I have been banned for 12 months. My car is parked onstreet as don't have a driveway. Can I keep my current insurance policy to keep it insured or will the DVLA inform my insurer?

Thanks.

 

[Xeronema]

The DVLA won't inform the insurance company, however it also won't be insured (voided insurance) and you'll be breaking the law.

You could do one of the following:

1. SORN the vehicle and move it to private land
2. Sell the vehicle
3. Get someone to take out a non-owner insurance policy on the vehicle
4. Transfer the V5 over to someone you trust will sign it back over to you and get them to take out their own policy on the vehicle

Downsides to the following:

1. There may be cost involved with storing the vehicle on private land
2. This obviously speaks for itself
3. If you're paying for their policy, it will likely be more expensive than if they owned the vehicle
4. You may not get your vehicle back (the vehicle will also lose some of it's value, should you wish to sell it at some point)

Upside's to the following:

1. You won't have the stress of having to buy another vehicle (as long as it being sat for 12 months hasn't caused issues)
2. You get to buy a new vehicle (if you like that sort of thing), and you've got the extra cash you didn't have before.
3. Your car will have been kept 'alive' throughout the 12 months and will be ready for you to take it back
4. If you get the vehicle back, you've saved having to look for a new vehicle

I'd only choose option 4 if the positives outweigh the negatives by a large margin - this would be my last option.

Just a few thoughts/ideas. I've probably missed some.

 

[Xeronema]

Ever since I learnt about non-owner insurance I have been thinking about what I would do if I were in a similar position to yourself.

Before deciding anything I'd ask myself the following: In 12 months time (minimum) will my car still be worth keeping? By this I mean, will it's age be such that it wouldn't be worth keeping on the road. I'd consider how much money I'd already spent on the upkeep of the car and how many more years I would keep the car before deciding to get a new one. The answer to this question would make things easier for me to then decide what I would do with my car.

If I decided that I didn't want to get rid of the car, because it would still be roadworthy in many years time, I'd do one of the following;

• Pay to store it on private land (SORN) - as long as the cost of this didn't outweigh the cost of buying a new vehicle (realistically it shouldn't, however if my car needed a lot of work because it had been sat for 12 months, it could be very costly).
• Get someone I trusted to take out a policy for non-owner insurance - I would ask for them to contribute to the cost of this, as they'd be getting a vehicle for 12 months without the stress of having to buy their own. I'd probably offer to pay the difference for what it would cost for a policy on a car they owned and how much non-owner car insurance would cost. For example, if the insurance were £400 a year for a policy on a vehicle they owned, and a non-owner insurance policy were £600, I'd offer to pay £200 towards the cost of the insurance (possibly an extra £100 to sweeten the deal).

I wouldn't risk signing the V5 over to a friend. I'd have to be 100% sure that I trusted that person, and to be honest it's difficult to be 100% sure of that. All that being said, if I were to go down the route of non-owner insurance, I'd draw up a contract (signed by both parties, with a witness), stating that if the car is damaged, it must be repaired, or replaced for a car worth the same value, at no cost to myself.

That's probably what I would do, using those sets of circumstances.

 

[Bad_karma]

I wouldn't risk signing the V5 over to a friend. I'd have to be 100% sure that I trusted that person, and to be honest it's difficult to be 100% sure of that.

This as well as the fact that they may be, unbeknown to you, going through their own financial legal struggles and you unknowingly throw your car into a legal process of which the person has no control. Or god forbid they suffer a medical emergency or become ill and end up incapacitated or worse… I would never transfer ownership regardless of the scenario

 

[Xeronema]

This as well as the fact that they may be, unbeknown to you, going through their own financial legal struggles and you unknowingly throw your car into a legal process of which the person has no control. Or god forbid they suffer a medical emergency or become ill and end up incapacitated or worse… I would never transfer ownership regardless of the scenario

You're right. All good points to make, I hadn't considered that.