Insurance Companies Win Again!

[highlander]

Bastards!

http://www.bbc.co.uk/newsbeat/12614090

Thanks to Her Majesty's Government, it will be illegal to own a car and not insure it, unless you specifically declare it SORN.

If that was in force now, I'd have had to weigh in my old saloon for scrap - it's taxed but not insured; there's no way I'd have been able to afford to insure it over the last 6 months in addition to the insurance on the Coupe.

This means the insurance companies gain yet more money from law-abiding citizens, while still routinely failing to gain any money from the insurance dodgers. How is this going to help catch people (I say "people", I mean "scumbags") who already don't tax their car, don't insure their car, and don't even bother taking a driving test?

This is only going to be acceptable if insurance costs come down overall, and that's simply not going to happen.

[Welly]

I thought it was illegal to keep an uninsured car on the public highway regardless of whether it's being driven or not? I may be wrong

As an aside, this year insurance premiums are set to rise by approx 30% for now apparently valid reason

[greebo]

It's regarding Cars that are parked off the road, ie. if you have a car laid up over winter or you have a car you're breaking. They will need to be Insured. As the OP said another win for the Insurance Companies.

[rwb]

If a car is kept on a public road then it must be taxed and in order to buy tax you must have insurance (valid for at least one month).

If a car is not kept on a public road then you may declare it SORN and if so then you can choose whether or not to insure it (it might still get stolen).

So, I don't understand what the change is, let alone why it will reduce cases of uninsured driving -- which is the main subject of the BBC article.

[Welly]

I don't really understand it either.

[mjb]

It's a royal ballache

Look at my Golf for example. A few days ago it just needed an MOT and taxing before I sold it. So I (legally) drove it to the post office last week to get tax and got told I couldn't have any because I wouldn't be insured when the disc came into effect.

Day insurance isn't good for buying tax either

So I've got a car in my garage now, no tax, no insurance, and no MOT... WTF am I supposed to do with it? The best legal option appears to be that I need to spend £700 insuring it, get it trailered to and from the MOT place, then buy £120 tax, and then sell it In the meantime I've got to SORN it until I can afford the insurance, but with this new law... wtf? They're telling me I NEED insurance on the thing that's sitting in my garage without a battery?!?

Or I could try selling it without tax or MOT, but I think I'd be getting scrap value on the £2500 car then...

[rwb]

mjb: you can drive an un-taxed car to get an MOT so you just need day insurance to get it to and from the MOT station.

[FarmerPug]

it seems this bit of oddness is only happening in england scotland and wales. Sometimes living in this place isnt so bad.