Car insurance for one month

Lucy

Senior member
 Rotherham/Sheffield, South Yorkshire
Right well my sister is moving to Los Angeles at the end of March, but the car insurance on her Audi TT runs out at the end of this month. So essentially, she needs to find someone who will insure her just for one month until she leaves. Diamond who she is currently with said they don't do that, but she could take out a 10 month policy and then cancel it after one month as long as she paid an adminstration charge etc. but I was just wondering if there was anything else she could do without messing about like that? Anyone know of any companies that will insure her just for a month?

Please bear in mind though that my sister is only 21 and only had her driving licence for about 3 years. So it was long winded enough to get insured on her TT anyway due to age etc. (It's a 2008 2.0T convertible auto)

Any help would be appreciated.

Thanks
 
I often insure things temporarily with Direct Line.

Usually about £20 to insure someone for a weekend, as long there's nothing wrong with them & it's not a Group 20.
 
I'm confused :?

Surely it's possible to just let her current policy run? If she pays annually then when she cancels the remaining 11 months will be refunded to her, else if she pays monthly she can just cancel when she needs to. I think I've done this in the past before
 
Trut01 said:
I'm confused :?

Surely it's possible to just let her current policy run? If she pays annually then when she cancels the remaining 11 months will be refunded to her, else if she pays monthly she can just cancel when she needs to. I think I've done this in the past before
If you renew for a year and cancel after one month, then you can lose 20-50% of your premium due to admin fees and initial commissions (depending on premium in the first place) - you will never get 11/12ths back.

Be careful about the terms on certain monthly payment plans, as they may be a 12 month finance agreement, so if you cancel after 1 month, the insurer has already been paid for the year's premium and you're still responsible for the interest on the 12 month loan - assuming they're amenable to you cancelling the finance agreement anyway.

If it's a monthly deal done directly with the insurer, then you're in a slightly better position as they'll have factored in the interest into the monthly payment anyway, and might have asked for an initial 3 months payments up front - which you won't be refunded.
 
Tell her to don a burbery cap and tracksuit bottoms and sport an "Essex facelift" hairstyle and she will get away without insurance or road tax, especially if she puts a baby seat or 2 in the car! :P
 
If she's going to sell the car, then how about hiring one for a month. If it doesn't have to be anything flash you can get something for £100 a week - which may be cheaper than the insurance.
 
Local Corsa here is £9 all in a day ... I use that if I have to drive / park in London. Nothing ever happens to a rental :D
 
Trut01 wrote:
I'm confused

Surely it's possible to just let her current policy run? If she pays annually then when she cancels the remaining 11 months will be refunded to her, else if she pays monthly she can just cancel when she needs to. I think I've done this in the past before
If you renew for a year and cancel after one month, then you can lose 20-50% of your premium due to admin fees and initial commissions (depending on premium in the first place) - you will never get 11/12ths back.

Be careful about the terms on certain monthly payment plans, as they may be a 12 month finance agreement, so if you cancel after 1 month, the insurer has already been paid for the year's premium and you're still responsible for the interest on the 12 month loan - assuming they're amenable to you cancelling the finance agreement anyway.
If it's a monthly deal done directly with the insurer, then you're in a slightly better position as they'll have factored in the interest into the monthly payment anyway, and might have asked for an initial 3 months payments up front - which you won't be refunded.


Well, they do say you learn something new every day... :D

Do you become less liable for the remainder of the year as the year progresses? I only ask cos I'm sure I've cancelled a policy mid-year in my distant past without incurring charges. Maybe any charges were included in the refund I recieved?

Anyway, back to the post. Lucy, sounds like your sister might be better off selling and hiring the month given her age and choice of car etc...
 
Trut01 said:
Do you become less liable for the remainder of the year as the year progresses? I only ask cos I'm sure I've cancelled a policy mid-year in my distant past without incurring charges. Maybe any charges were included in the refund I recieved?.
It depends on the terms & conditions you've agreed when you took out the policy. Some are very good and give you almost exactly what you expect back, others screw you so much that after 6 months there is nothing to refund you.

Without knowing the exact terms of any policy, it's impossible to state what those returns would be.
 
Thanks for all the help and suggestions. I'll pass on the information and will check out TempCover and Direct Line. I think your Burberry cap one might be the best though, Breaker :lol:

Regarding renewing the policy, it's expensive enough anyway at her age, so when she came to cancel it would cost her quite a bit. So would prefer another option where she isn't going to lose out so much. (she's on an annual policy btw, not paying monthly) and if she were to pay a monthly policy, it would be as mmm-five has said. Regarded as a finance agreement so she's gonna lose out a lot there too.

I doubt very much that she'd cope without the car for a month. What with work, gym, going out with as many friends as she can before emigrating... and all the other running about that she does. She couldn't rely on lifts for how many she'd need. It's like losing your independance really! And she wouldn't use public transport. The only option around here would be the bus, and lets face it, who wants to get on a bus full of smackheads with 3 kids, and the great unwashed (95% of passengers in Rotherham are these sort) She loves her TT!

The car is going to be sold after she has gone to America, my parents will be taking care of that for her when she's gone. (so if anybody knows anyone who wants a black 2008 2.0T auto Audi TT convertible there will be one for sale in April...) She can do without the added hassle of trying to sell a car, hiring one etc. etc. when she has so much other stuff to sort out for the big move, whilst also working up until the week before she goes.

Thanks again, you lot are always pretty knowledgeable!
 
Lucy I don't think Direct Line do temporary insurance for a new customer. What they definitely do, if you are an existing policyholder, is let you add a car temporarily to your policy for up to a month...you can do this three times a year, so three months in all.

So your sister would need to be insured with them already, or be a named driver with someone who is (and they then add the car).

Given what you say about the hooha getting her covered in the first place, for the sake of losing a few quid, its far easier just to renew her insurance then cancel it when ready and get a (virtually) pro rata rebate.

And remember, once she's gone, for someone else to drive it, it either has to be insured on that persons policy, or insured in its own right and driven only by someone who still has the "and any other car not owned etc.." clause on their policy, so she'd need to keep her policy in place until it was sold.
 
As said by lacroupade, when I've had two cars on a Direct Line policy for a short term - so would be fine once she's gone for you to have it as a second car on your own policy temporarily. Not much use to your sister before she goes though. I'd just insure it, pay by DD then cancel after a month and accept the unfortunate admin fee. In my experience the companies who offer short-term insurance do it at such ridiculously high rates that it'd be cheaper just paying the admin fee on normal insurance.
 
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