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Uninsured car for 1 week, illegal?


Pnthrblkzs

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I just wanted a bit of advice from anyone in the know on Insurance.

 

My car runs out of insurance today, i've been looking today for quotes and could insure my car for £450, my dilema however is that if i insure the car from Friday this week it will cost £364..... almost £100 less??

 

obviously i want to wait and save the cash but it is illegal to own an uninsured car.

 

Will i be ok for 1 week without the car insured, it will be on my driveway day and night and unused until i insure it again.

 

I've read online that i may receive a letter advising if i don't insure my car immediately i face a £100 fine, but i imagine if this is the case the car will be insured before i even receieve the letter.

 

I tried some of the forums insurers earlier in the month but they could not compete with "high street" insurers unfortunately as i've only owned the car since October.

 

Thanks in advance for your insights.......

 

Jon

Edited by Pnthrblkzs
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If it's taxed, it must be insured. If you SORN it and take it off the road you're fine.

 

As it stands, you can be fined. I believe your car can also be taken away, how likely that is in a week though I don't.

 

For the sake of 1.5 tanks of fuel, I'd insure it. What happens if someone comes round and nicks it, or smashes it up?

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Dead simple, just go online and declare it SORN until it's insured again. Legal requirement and you've covered yourself. Takes two minutes.

But he'll likely lose at least a months tax, maybe two depending on how they charge it when back on the road, so depending on the car, it might be completely pointless.

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You've answered your own question;

 

obviously i want to wait and save the cash but it is illegal to own an uninsured car.

 

However, seeing as it's currently illegal anyway...

 

My car ran out of insurance on Saturday and is currently uninsured

 

...it's entirely up to you whether you want to extend the risk of getting caught.

 

 

 

Provided its off the public highway - its at your own risk

 

Only if it's also declared SORN. If it's taxed, it must be insured regardless of where it's kept.

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Thanks for the suggestions, i guess what i'm asking is if there was a grace period.

 

I'm just being a tight a*se, just shocked really that for 6 days the quotes can vary by 20%

 

I'll get a policy bought and go for a drive tonight to put a smile back on my face, fitted my Nismo knob yesterday so i'm itching to go for a drive anyway.

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Provided its off the public highway - its at your own risk

 

not true, you have to have insurance even if its just left in your garage. I wanted to leave my s2000 over the winter and not have it insured but everyone i spoke to said it was illegal unless it was sorned.

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Dead simple, just go online and declare it SORN until it's insured again. Legal requirement and you've covered yourself. Takes two minutes.

 

I am sure that when I SORN'd my last car that you have to leave it that way for a period of time....cannot remember if it was weeks or months though

Edited by 350Chris
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can't think why - but I stand corrected :dry::blush:

 

Law change this year i think it was that any taxed car has to have insurance whether on the road or not, supposedly to help reduce the number of uninsured cars on the road

Thats what I heard. Also any car that is SORN and on a public road will be clamped/towed. Happened to a chap on the VW Camper forum I'm on. He has a project van which is SORN and on his drive. Pushed it off to do some work on his driveway (laying a new one) and left it over night. Woke up to his van clamped and a fine :(

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I doubt it's the sex discrimation changes, if anything men's premiums will stay the same and females will be increased.

 

IMO it seems they are praying on people who's insurance is about to expire as they have less time to shop around so feel they can get away with charging more, the longer notice I gave over the next 2 weeks the cheaper my quote got.

 

I didn't like the worry of having no insurance so bought a policy with our friends at Prestige.

 

£450 for a car like the Z is a cracking price so I really can't grumble.

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Personally I would just sit tight if you can park it off the road (ideally out of sight). As you say you will get a first warning if you haven't broken the rules previously.

 

Considering it's all monitored by databases, I doubt hiding the car away will prevent you from being fined (first offence or otherwise). At best it'll prevent the car being clamped/towed/crushed (if left uninsured long-term), but instead increase the likelihood of a court prosecution with a four figure fine rather than the three figure fixed penalty.

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When continual insurance became law there was initially a degree of leniancy which started with a warning letter. This advice was posted last year on a .gov site. The site I found no longer displays this message so presumably this period has now ended.

 

 

 

What will happen if your vehicle doesn't have insurance

 

From the end of June 2011 Insurance Advisory Letters (IAL) will be issued by the Motor Insurers' Bureau to the registered keepers of uninsured vehicles. This will be following a check of the Motor Insurance Database (MID) - the UK's central record of vehicle insurance. The IAL will advise the registered keeper that their vehicle appears to have no insurance and what actions to take to avoid receiving a fixed penalty from DVLA.

 

If a vehicle does not have insurance, the registered keeper could:

 

receive a fixed penalty of £100

have their vehicle wheel-clamped, impounded, or destroyed

face a court prosecution, with a possible maximum fine of £1000

 

Payment of a penalty does not replace the need for motor insurance.

 

 

Pete

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When I had my FTO I had it sat on the drive wasn't being used as I had my zed, so I didn't bother renewing the insurance as I was selling it, after a. Week I got a letter through from DVLA. Warning me if I didn't get it insured I'd then get fined, so u get a warning first failing that can't u get temp insurance for a week?

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why not get a weeks insurance from seperate company for like 20quid? that way ur still saving 80?

 

A weeks insurance will always end up being a totally disproportionate figure (I.e way more than 20 quid) because all the admin work is factored into the premium.

 

Usual insurance shite

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