insurance on more than one car

basil · Post by **basil** » 25 Oct 2005, 21:09

Advice needed on the cheapest way to insure a second car to be used as a backup for the days when Xantia is ill

BernieLugg · Post by **BernieLugg** » 26 Oct 2005, 09:05

Umm... If you are lucky you might find a company willing to add a second car to one policy - but its very very rare these days.

Could the car be registered in somone elses name (spouse?) & driven under "cars owned by another driver" section of you r policy - would give you 3rd party only cover if your policy offers this (again, being phased out by insurers) - plus this raises the ugly head of how do you tax the car with no specific insurance?

Buy a moped, 50cc - ride on a car licence, about £50 TPO insurance and £15 tax per year. Or bite the bullit and insure both cars.

Some insurers will swap policy details over for an admin fee of about £10 - so ring them when you want to drive car No 2 - they charge you a tenner - but its on your own policy.
All depends on age, how long you have been driving, and how long you have been with the company....

Post by **Peter.N.** » 26 Oct 2005, 09:05

If the car was not registered in your name you used to be able to drive it with 3rd party cover from your insurance, providing yours said 'you can drive a motor vehicle not belonging to you' etc, but many insurance companys are withdrawing this facility due to abuse. If your insurance certificate says you can, well you can, for the present.

Post by **Peter.N.** » 26 Oct 2005, 09:08

You just beat me to it Bernie!

Post by **RichardW** » 26 Oct 2005, 09:13

Buy a classic (2CV?) and insure it on a limited mileage policy - should be pretty cheap!

fastandfurryous · Post by **fastandfurryous** » 26 Oct 2005, 10:10

many insurance companys are withdrawing this facility due to abuse.

Yes, exactly this kind of abuse!

I use the 3rd party extension a fair bit, mainly to drive friends cars, and often to drive my parent's cars. This is what the 3rd party extension is designed for.

If you need a second car, then insure it properly. Most insurers will accept and recognise that it is a second car, and give a healthy discount anyway. My landrover (modified) is on a second vehicle policy and costs under £100 for the year. Considering this is similar to the price of ONE new tyre for it, I can't really complain.

Please don't abuse the system, as the only people to loose out are those who use the system legitimately.

yangreen · Post by **yangreen** » 26 Oct 2005, 10:29

If it is just a few days, companies like Direct Line or Tesco will cover you for a second car - this helps when you've bought a new car and need to sell the old one so you can have two cars covered.

I've also used it to cover courtesy cars in the past as one garage insisted on you insuring the car. It didn't cost anything then either!

Ian

bernie · Post by **bernie** » 26 Oct 2005, 12:42

My insurance company. More Than, cover me for my Xantia and Bx and have NCD on the second car

alexp-j · Post by **alexp-j** » 26 Oct 2005, 13:01

you get 14 days cooling off period anyway. so if you cancel before then you get the whole premium back minus the few days cover.

lighteninguk · Post by **lighteninguk** » 26 Oct 2005, 13:20

often you get discount if you say (make sure your not telling porkies tho as they can ask for evidence) that the 2nd car is not your primary car, they often then note that you will be doing lower mileage etc and cut premiums slightly

JohnD · Post by **JohnD** » 26 Oct 2005, 18:33

I've got two cars insured but each is on its own policy without the one affecting the other premium wise. I had them both with Churchill at one time, but when a guy ran into the back of me at a T-junction, although the third party paid for the repairs, when the renewal came in, I was marked down as having had a claim. But when they marked me as having had a claim on BOTH my policies, I took exception and moved one car to another company.

micitroen · Post by **micitroen** » 26 Oct 2005, 18:47

I am with Elephant.co.uk, they will give you the same NCB on your second car as they allow on your primary car..........their reasoning that you can only drive one car at a time. Worth a try when you come up for renewal or just run it through and see what it comes up with.

Ian Fearn · Post by **Ian Fearn** » 26 Oct 2005, 19:01

For people with lots of cars a motor trader policy might make sense.

fastandfurryous · Post by **fastandfurryous** » 26 Oct 2005, 19:09

I've looked at this before (a motor trader type policy) and it's almost to the point it would make sense for me. If I should ever want to insure 3 cars, then it certainly would. The main benefit too is that you can drive pretty much anything all on the same policy.

bxbodger · Post by **bxbodger** » 26 Oct 2005, 19:09

Buy an old car and go with a classic car type policy- I have my Vitesse insured on one. Its restricted mileage but I get to drive an uncomfortable and very noisy car thats loads faster, more dangeous and evil handling than my BX for just over £100.00 folly comp!!! Yet the BX costs me £140.00 TPFT including business use........and its very slow.......

A second car should be fun and impractical anyway, and as you don't need to drive it every day it will be a lot cheaper to properly insure than a daily driver if its an old un

Buy a moped, 50cc - ride on a car licence, about £50 TPO insurance and £15 tax per year.

Nooooooo!!! Fun when you are 16 and not old enough for a real bike, but for a grown adult.....................

I think a motor trader policy would be quite hard to get- a friend has one who's not in the trade ( he works for the government, like me...), but its only because his dad has a car lot and he's down as a part time employee that he can get it- he has it because he hasn't got his own car and just uses motors off the lot, but I think to get one you have to demonstrate that you or your employer is regularly trading in cars.