Vauxhall Zafira - 15 years NCB, 2-month gap before renewal

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Thu 19 Sep 2019 15:27
Vauxhall Zafira - 15 years NCB, 2-month gap before renewal - zxcv1234

Hi,

I've got 15+ years of no claims bonus. My insurance runs out on 15-Oct. However, as it happens, I go out of the country for 2 months around then and return on 15-Dec.

Is it possible for me to have my renewal starting from 15-Dec (as opposed to 15-Oct) and still keep my NCB?

Meanwhile the car will be parked in my drive. I realise it will be un-insured for those 2 months, but it is low value (£1,000) and there will be people living in the house while I am gone, so it's unlikely to get stolen.

Many thanks.

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Thu 19 Sep 2019 16:31
Vauxhall Zafira - 15 years NCB, 2-month gap before renewal - gordonbennet

Believe its generally accepted that NCB lasts for 2 years if not used, but worth a phone call to your insurer to check this is how they work.

Remember to declare the vehicle SORN whilst its uninsured, if the MOT runs out whilst you are away it might be prudent to renew the MOT before you go, so its a case of new insurance and new VED when you get back and no hassle about driving to the MOT station with no road tax, even if that is legal it will be a pita with Christmas approaching.

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Thu 19 Sep 2019 16:43
Vauxhall Zafira - 15 years NCB, 2-month gap before renewal - Bromptonaut

At end of day it's up to insurer but I think most companies will let you keep NCB for two years if there is a gap between policies.

If there is any prospect of people living in house while you're gone needing to move the car off your driveway think very carefully about whether the saving by pausing your insurance. You will also need to make a SORN declaration for the off road period.

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Thu 19 Sep 2019 17:12
Vauxhall Zafira - 15 years NCB, 2-month gap before renewal - Falkirk Bairn

What does 2 months insurance cost?

Downsides it could go on fire be a total loss, it could be stolen.............

No Insurance - You have to Sorn it, then re- tax it b4 you can use it again

say £20 a month and no hassle tryt & save a few ££s and end up with hassle.

It's the quiet life that's important - not hassle & saving a few ££s

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Fri 20 Sep 2019 09:51
Vauxhall Zafira - 15 years NCB, 2-month gap before renewal - Bromptonaut

Downsides it could go on fire be a total loss, it could be stolen.............

What if it goes on fire and fire spreads leading to claim against owner?

Unless you're a high risk driver in a high risk area the 'saving' is going to be under £100.

Is it really worth it?

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Fri 20 Sep 2019 14:41
Vauxhall Zafira - 15 years NCB, 2-month gap before renewal - zxcv1234

Thanks everyone for the useful responses. I forgot about the SORN aspect. That's a pain, cos I just assumed that as long as the car was MOT'ed (till Apr '20) and taxed (till Jan '20) and off the road, then I can just not renew the insurance for 2 months and restart it when I return to the UK. But it appears that SORN is required even if there is no insurance on the vehicle. Frankly, I don't even want a refund on the road tax (hassle factor) - I just thought not renewing insurance would be an easy option to save from dosh.

I'll take the advise and just renew it.

Out of curiosity, how would the DVLA know if someone didn't have insurance on the car?

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Fri 20 Sep 2019 14:56
Vauxhall Zafira - 15 years NCB, 2-month gap before renewal - gordonbennet

There you go, a fine example of a proper poster, asks the question, gets some replies, comes back says thankyou and then says what they are going to do, makes a nice change from the dozens of queries that sometimes result in quite in depth answers to, only never to be heard from again.

Thank you OP.

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Fri 20 Sep 2019 15:47
Vauxhall Zafira - 15 years NCB, 2-month gap before renewal - RT

Out of curiosity, how would the DVLA know if someone didn't have insurance on the car?

They use the MID database and introduced the requirement for continuous insurance a few years back - declaring SORN, or scrapping/exporting, is the only way to avoid the requirement for insurance.

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Mon 14 Oct 2019 00:54
Vauxhall Zafira - 15 years NCB, 2-month gap before renewal - HGV ~ P Valentine

You can actually check on the state of a cars insurance yourself, but yes they all have access to the same database to make sure that people do not insure the same car with more then 1 insurer and then claim of all of them if the car gets wrecked.

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