How do travellers get car insurance?

Honest John Back Room » Motoring discussion
What is life like with your car? Let us know and win £500 in John Lewis vouchers | No thanks
View Threaded
Tue 23 Jul 2024 12:57
How do travellers get car insurance? - Warning

Obtaining car insurance can be a hassle, and sometimes, companies won't even provide a quote or a quote which is astronomic.

Recently, travellers have been setting up their caravans in public open spaces (park). It's quite frustrating, as it no longer feels safe to go for a jog or walk. Fewer people are using the parks. There are several low-height barriers, yet it's unclear how they managed to get in.

This makes me wonder how they managed to get car insurance. Don’t you need to provide an address? What address would they use? And how would they go about paying for the insurance? Even to open a bank account to get a payment card, people need a residential address.

Reply | Report as offensive | Link
Tue 23 Jul 2024 13:21
How do travellers get car insurance? - mcb100
I’d suspect that the assumption that vehicles are insured is maybe not built on solid foundations…
Reply | Report as offensive | Link
Tue 23 Jul 2024 14:00
How do travellers get car insurance? - movilogo

You can check insurance of any car here

enquiry.navigate.mib.org.uk/checkyourvehicle

Reply | Report as offensive | Link
Tue 23 Jul 2024 14:50
How do travellers get car insurance? - bathtub tom

Because they do in fact have a residential address (perhaps in Ireland)?

Reply | Report as offensive | Link
Tue 23 Jul 2024 14:54
How do travellers get car insurance? - Engineer Andy

You can check insurance of any car here

enquiry.navigate.mib.org.uk/checkyourvehicle

Though only the 'Third party lookup' service (link on the page), which is of use only after an accident, and not the one on the page itself, unless you fit the criteria (unlikely in the OP's circumstance, and may well be illegal otherwise).

The third party one just shows whether a vehicle is on their database, not who has insured it, which presumably doesn't tell you whether the car matches the plate (cloned or not) or if the person driving it is legally allowed to on their or the vehicle owner's insurance policy.

Reply | Report as offensive | Link
Tue 23 Jul 2024 17:41
How do travellers get car insurance? - Adampr

The short answer is that you don't need a fixed address to get car insurance.

If you want to take the prejudice out of the conversation, just think about how people who live on narrow boats with no permanent mooring get car insurance, pay bills etc. There are ways if you look for them.

Reply | Report as offensive | Link
Tue 23 Jul 2024 18:55
How do travellers get car insurance? - edlithgow

IIRC when I was doing it I just gave the address of a friend in London, having asked them first.

They worked for the bank where I managed the Treasury and Capital Markets trading floor and Commercial Banking networks, so it was easy for them to sometimes drop some accumulated mail off for me.

Mght be an offence though, as was living in a vehicle on the Queens Highway, though I doubt she, unlike Mrs Thatcher, really minded very much.

Reply | Report as offensive | Link
Tue 23 Jul 2024 22:16
How do travellers get car insurance? - Ethan Edwards

That's quite naughty. Companies rate the premium on your home postcode. On the assumption the vehicles will be spending most of its time at that location. If on the other hand it's actually residing in less salubrious areas , that's tantamount to fraud. Could result in any claim being declined.

Reply | Report as offensive | Link
Wed 24 Jul 2024 00:09
How do travellers get car insurance? - edlithgow

Well, IIRC the address was on Liverpool Street, and there wasn't any on-street parking there anyway, certainly not for a huge Ex-BT workshop truck.

So if the law thought that, sir, then the law was an ass.

I am a bit surprised I got away with it, though, and I'm pretty sure I wouldn't in these high surveillance times.

The thing was eventually vandalised and then apparently stolen, and I was completely astonished to get a cheque for almost what I paid for it, though not, of course, for the tools and a generator that were inside.

Edited by edlithgow on 24/07/2024 at 00:19

Reply | Report as offensive | Link
Wed 24 Jul 2024 06:58
How do travellers get car insurance? - Robert J.

Don’t insurance applications request where the vehicle will usually be parked overnight and during the day? This is not necessarily the home address.

Reply | Report as offensive | Link
Sun 28 Jul 2024 02:57
How do travellers get car insurance? - edlithgow

Don’t insurance applications request where the vehicle will usually be parked overnight and during the day? This is not necessarily the home address.

Cant remember. I think the company specialised in insuring Australian globetrotters who probably didn't have a permanent UK address either.

It was vandalised and then stolen from the Kings Cross area, well dodgy at that time but without parking restrictions, unusual even then for an area that central but probably due to the area being scheduled for extensive development.

They paid out 1600 for the truck for which I paid 1800 without asking very many questions. I was quite surprised, and can only hope this practice didn't cause them to go bust.

Reply | Report as offensive | Link
Sun 28 Jul 2024 02:59
How do travellers get car insurance? - edlithgow

Don’t insurance applications request where the vehicle will usually be parked overnight and during the day? This is not necessarily the home address.

Cant remember. I think the company specialised in insuring Australian globetrotters who probably didn't have a permanent UK address either.

It was vandalised and then stolen from the Kings Cross area, well dodgy at that time but without parking restrictions, unusual even then for an area that central but probably due to the area being scheduled for extensive development.

They paid out 1600 for the truck for which I paid 1800 without asking very many questions. I was quite surprised, and can only hope this practice didn't cause them to go bust.

Reply | Report as offensive | Link

We give you the low down on how to save on insurance, little-known tricks and tips, what insurance groups mean and how to use insurance aggregators to beat insurers.

Insurance group finder and how to save on insurance

Choosing a child seat can be a quite baffling experience – there are so many sizes, types, brands and price points available that you might not know where to start.

How to choose the right child seat