Car insurance gap

Thoie

My car insurance will expire while I'm away on holidays next month. Let's say the insurance expires on Wednesday, and I'll be back on Saturday. While I'm gone the car will be at home in its normal, relatively (but not 100%) secure parking spot.

My initial thought when renewing the insurance is that I'd only insure it from the Saturday as no-one will be driving it while I'm gone. However if it mysteriously burst into flames in the two day gap, I wouldn't be covered.

The advantage of moving it to the Saturday is that in future it would always be guaranteed* to renew just after pay day.

What would you do? I'm still leaning towards the Saturday renewal.


*Guaranteed, as long as I have a job, obviously.

djimi

Renew it from Wednesday. Youd be crazy to leave a car sitting uninsured for 4 days while youre away. Its not like those 4 days are going to make any difference to the price.

bonzodog2

Its hardly worth leaving it uninsured for 3/4 days. If you pay by direct debit, many companies automatically repeat the policy. But maybe you want to shop around.

catiny

Some companies have temporary cover insurance, so that should you're policy runout before you have renewed you will have the minimal cover that's required by law from your insurer.

I know quinn do this, but check with your insurer! Or have a read of your renewal papers/ letters!

yllw.ldbttr

Thoie wrote: »

The advantage of moving it to the Saturday is that in future it would always be guaranteed* to renew just after pay day.

How, you'd have 12 months insurance, not 52 weeks insurance?

Thoie

yllw.ldbttr wrote: »

How, you'd have 12 months insurance, not 52 weeks insurance?

Because of the date that Saturday falls on, not the fact that it's Saturday.

I'll look into the temporary "renewal period" cover, thanks Catiny.

And yes, those days don't affect the actual cost, because I'd still be renewing for a year - it just struck me when I saw the dates that it could be handy to have it just after pay day. If I come back whining in a month or two that my car spontaneously combusted while not insured, you'll know it's my own fault

yllw.ldbttr

Thoie wrote: »

Because of the date that Saturday falls on, not the fact that it's Saturday.

I'll look into the temporary "renewal period" cover, thanks Catiny.

And yes, those days don't affect the actual cost, because I'd still be renewing for a year - it just struck me when I saw the dates that it could be handy to have it just after pay day. If I come back whining in a month or two that my car spontaneously combusted while not insured, you'll know it's my own fault

But that date next year won't be a Saturday...???

Henry Ford III

Thoie wrote: »

...The advantage of moving it to the Saturday is that in future it would always be guaranteed* to renew just after pay day.....

If things are that tight money wise, pray that you don't have anything big fail on your car.

p.s. Renew it on time.

djimi

Thoie wrote: »

Because of the date that Saturday falls on, not the fact that it's Saturday.

I'll look into the temporary "renewal period" cover, thanks Catiny.

And yes, those days don't affect the actual cost, because I'd still be renewing for a year - it just struck me when I saw the dates that it could be handy to have it just after pay day. If I come back whining in a month or two that my car spontaneously combusted while not insured, you'll know it's my own fault

I still say renew when its up, not several days later. Discuss the payment date with them; I know in my case my broker was happy to allow me to pay a few days after when I got paid; so long as you dont take the piss and ask to pay weeks after the renewal date Im sure youll be fine.

But dont go making a lot of effort or a big issue over something thats not really one. Its only a couple of days; Im sure theyll understand! Whatever you do, do not leave yourself in a situation where your car is not covered while youre away, because you know yourself, sods law and all that...

thenightrider

Be careful not renewing your insurance on the day it is due a few years ago i did not renew as my car was broken and was not sure if it could be fixed about a week later got the car fixed and went to renew my insurance and my renew price had gone up i was told as i let it lapse that i was considered a new customer. :mad:

Henry Ford III

Henry Ford III wrote: »

If things are that tight money wise, pray that you don't have anything big fail on your car.

p.s. Renew it on time.

In fairness I always request that direct debits for things like insurance come out early in the month just after getting paid, it just means you know how much money you have to spare later in the month rather than saying well I need to keep x amount for this and y amount for that.

Back on topic, OP just renew your insurance and pay it by direct debit if you don't want to pay it all in one go, I'm not charged any extra for paying it off monthly although I know this is not the case with all insurers.

djimi

Most insurers (at least all the ones Ive dealt with) will charge a little extra to pay monthly; I think its effectively a finance agreement so with that there is an interest rate. Its not that much tho, and barely noticeable, at least in my opinion anyway.

yllw.ldbttr

djimi wrote: »

Most insurers (at least all the ones Ive dealt with) will charge a little extra to pay monthly; I think its effectively a finance agreement so with that there is an interest rate. Its not that much tho, and barely noticeable, at least in my opinion anyway.

Be careful of that, most of them charge up to 20% APR for it.

gears

Come on, 4 days is slightly over 1% of a year so even if your insurance is over €1k your only taking about a tenner to be insured for that time....

Del2005

Pay with a credit card and you can then pay any time in the next month. Unless the car isn't worth much is it really worth the risk for 4 days?

djimi

yllw.ldbttr wrote: »

Be careful of that, most of them charge up to 20% APR for it.

20%...? I think I pay an extra €50 on top of €930 to pay it monthly. 20% would be very high and I cant see too many people going for that tbh...

yllw.ldbttr

djimi wrote: »

20%...? I think I pay an extra €50 on top of €930 to pay it monthly. 20% would be very high and I cant see too many people going for that tbh...

some just charge a fixed fee, some charge a finance rate of 20%, i've seen up to 24% APR.

yllw.ldbttr

yllw.ldbttr wrote: »

some just charge a fixed fee, some charge a finance rate of 20%, i've seen up to 24% APR.

I can say for sure that Axa charge nothing extra for paying it back over 12 months.