What is life like with your car? Let us know and win £500 in John Lewis vouchers | No thanks
Vauxhall Zafira Tourer - Do i need insurance if i am not driving a car - Brettsza

Hi

i have bought another car and my old car is just waiting to be sold. do i need insurance on that car even if i am not driving it? It is parked outside my house, it is taxed and mot'd and is on a public road, I called my insurer and they said as long as you are not driving it is ok but i wanted a second opinion of if this correct.

Vauxhall Zafira Tourer - Do i need insurance if i am not driving a car - skidpan

I called my insurer and they said as long as you are not driving it is ok but i wanted a second opinion of if this correct.

Your insurers are idiots and liars and if you follow their advice you will get a large fine and points etc.

Any car on a public road even if its only parked requires insurance.

Under the current rules any car that is taxed requires insurance.

That is 2 offences you would have comitted if you followed their advice..

To avoid insurance your car must be SORN'd and parked on private land.

But if the car has value it should be insurred, what happens if its stolen or torched?

Vauxhall Zafira Tourer - Do i need insurance if i am not driving a car - SLO76
You've been misinformed. If you let the insurance lapse then you must sorn the vehicle and store it off the road. Failure to do so will result in an automatic fine.

This is an issue many fail to factor in when they choose to sell their old car on rather than trade it in or sell to a trader or car buying firm.

If you want to keep your old car in order to sell it on for a higher price then you must either sorn it (then you cannot offer test drives to prospective buyers) or pay to insure it on another policy. I've bought several cars in the past from people who've been caught out by this.

Edited by SLO76 on 27/09/2017 at 14:35

Vauxhall Zafira Tourer - Do i need insurance if i am not driving a car - Brettsza

Hi Thanks for the advise

i have just called the insurer and insured the car but since i was not informed of t previously my car was uninsured for 3 or 4 days, Could i get fined for it?

Vauxhall Zafira Tourer - Do i need insurance if i am not driving a car - SLO76

Hi Thanks for the advise

i have just called the insurer and insured the car but since i was not informed of t previously my car was uninsured for 3 or 4 days, Could i get fined for it?

No. There's a little leeway in the system. You'll be fine.
Vauxhall Zafira Tourer - Do i need insurance if i am not driving a car - Middleman

That is 2 offences you would have comitted if you followed their advice..

Only the one.

Under the Continuous Insurance Enforcement (CIE) scheme the DVLA work in partnership with the Motor Insurers' Bureau to identify vehicles which have not been declared off the road and are uninsured. Keepers of such vehicles face a fixed penalty of £100 or a maximum fine of £1,000 if the matter goes to court. They also face having their vehicle clamped and/or seized and possibly disposed of. No endorsement or penalty points are available for the offence. The vehicle does not have to be driven for thekeeper to face this penalty. You should contact your insurers to let them know they are providing blatently incorrect information to their customers which, if followed, can lead to court action.

Vauxhall Zafira Tourer - Do i need insurance if i am not driving a car - Middleman

"....previously my car was uninsured for 3 or 4 days, Could i get fined for it?"

Very unlikely. The usual process is for the keeper to be sent a warning letter giving them the opportunity to insure their vehicle before enforcement action is taken.

Edited by Middleman on 27/09/2017 at 15:03

Vauxhall Zafira Tourer - Do i need insurance if i am not driving a car - Ethan Edwards

Also off the road. A public car park isn't off the road. It has to be an area that joe public cannot access. Your drive is ok as its private but just outside your house in a layby for example is still on the road.

Vauxhall Zafira Tourer - Do i need insurance if i am not driving a car - Brettsza

thanks a lot for help

Vauxhall Zafira Tourer - Do i need insurance if i am not driving a car - argybargy

I'd be inclined to email your insurer and ask them what the Hell they're doing giving you such bad advice. It might be a misunderstanding, insofar as they thought your car was SORN'd, but if, as you say, they were aware its on the road and still told you there's no need to insure then they really do need to polish up their act. It may be that you were unlucky, and happened to speak to the one person in their organisation who is regularly giving such bad advice and who needs retraining and/or a good stiff talking to.

Never heard such nonsense in me entire life.

Edited by argybargy on 27/09/2017 at 17:40

Vauxhall Zafira Tourer - Do i need insurance if i am not driving a car - Middleman

Also off the road. A public car park isn't off the road. It has to be an area that joe public cannot access. Your drive is ok as its private but just outside your house in a layby for example is still on the road.

Indeed:

It is parked outside my house, it is taxed and mot'd and is on a public road,

But now it doesn't matter:

i have just called the insurer and insured the car

Edited by Middleman on 27/09/2017 at 18:41

Vauxhall Zafira Tourer - Do i need insurance if i am not driving a car - Engineer Andy

I'd be inclined to email your insurer and ask them what the Hell they're doing giving you such bad advice. It might be a misunderstanding, insofar as they thought your car was SORN'd, but if, as you say, they were aware its on the road and still told you there's no need to insure then they really do need to polish up their act. It may be that you were unlucky, and happened to speak to the one person in their organisation who is regularly giving such bad advice and who needs retraining and/or a good stiff talking to.

Never heard such nonsense in me entire life.

As my Dad (who worked in general insurance for 35 years [retire for 20 years now]) most people who work for insurance companies in their customer service depts are just glorified phone operators and follow instructions on their computer screen, so most have very little actual knowledge of insurance underwriting or law.

His advice is that if you have a query that relates to rules, Ts & Cs, law and not price, then always ask to speak to their supervisor, who, for the most part, should have such experience - in his opinion (and, it seems to me, borne out in my experiences), the computer info the phone jockeys use is poor and in legalese, not in plain English. Sadly another sign of our dumbing-down, race-to-the-bottom in terms of quality and service society.

Vauxhall Zafira Tourer - Do i need insurance if i am not driving a car - argybargy

When you're starting out on the motoring life, a bit of prior knowledge goes a long way. Handy to have a parent, for example, who can furnish you with the basic principles about insurance, tax etc etc. Some folks might not have that advice on tap, and need to be spoonfed the most basic information. My Dad told me nothing before I passed my test, and nor did anyone else, to the extent that not only did I think it was OK to go to the pub in my car, have two pints and drive home, but that when my car started the manual choke could be pushed straight back in again. I kangarooed down the road and conked out more than once before someone put me right.

Insurance is a basic matter but I can't blame anyone for taking the non-mandatory status of home insurance as a comparison, unless someone tells them different. Throw in the possibility that you might catch a call centre operative on a bad day and yes, the consequences can be disastrous.

Three cheers, therefore, for this forum and the clever folks who use it and put other folks right.

Edited by argybargy on 27/09/2017 at 22:03