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Sorned Car
- Thread starter ronk
- Start date
I don't know how much insurance you are paying but would it be cost effective to continue with the fully comp insurance, lay up your car for the winter but don't SORN it?
Have you checked your house insurance especially if the car is garaged and the garage is attached to the house. As I have previously suggested, most insurers won't cover risk if it is already covered by another policy. In this case it won't be covered by your motor insurer so may be by you house contents insurer. Worth asking them.
Have you checked your house insurance especially if the car is garaged and the garage is attached to the house. As I have previously suggested, most insurers won't cover risk if it is already covered by another policy. In this case it won't be covered by your motor insurer so may be by you house contents insurer. Worth asking them.
ChrisKnottIns
Active member
ronk said:
Hi,
Apologies for the late reply.
If you would like us to check your policy to ensure that the cover you require is in place, please call us on 0800 9172274 or email us at [email protected].
Thanks
Simon Clark
Chris Knott Insurance
ChrisKnottIns said:
I contacted your office and received a very prompt reply but I was amazed at the negative results from the insurance company as indeed were many on this forum to find my policy with Highway did not cover me while the car was sorned.
The vehicle is of course fully maintained mot’d and otherwise roadworthy.
I was not looking for any cost reductions, merely notifying the insurance company that the VED had been cancelled in accordance with dvla requirements.
My Z4 as many others Is sorned for six months every year and is stored in a warm, locked and alarmed garage during that time yet the insurers don’t cover the greatly reduced risk. It seems they would rather the car be used in the cold, slippery, wet, foggy days of winter.
I am not unique in this situation and I think this is something you should discuss with your underwriters.
I’m sure there are many who look forward to this post being updated !
This must be some unintended consequence of the continuous insurance requirement?
PaddyfromStoke
Member
I have now renewed my insurance with Lancaster, and while checking with them regarding being insured when a vehicle is sorned they stated there is only one underwriter they use that would do this , so I will get a small refund on my premium for the months it is off the road over winter but will stay fully insured.
The customer service advisor stated he had never had anyone ask the question before, and believed the reason most insurance companies won’t consider it was because most insurers class a Sorn vehicle as unroadworthy.
The customer service advisor stated he had never had anyone ask the question before, and believed the reason most insurance companies won’t consider it was because most insurers class a Sorn vehicle as unroadworthy.
If that is the reason, then surely the insurance companies need 'educating' by the thousands of their customers where this is not the case. SORNing a car over Winter for storage reasons is not new, it's been happening for ever.PaddyfromStoke said:
I will bet if I ask my insurers to supply a policy where the comp cover downgrades to fire and theft whenever the car is SORNed, then reverts back to comp when it is re-taxed, they will say 'computer says NO'.
I really don't see the issue from an insurer's POV, their risk is massively lowered but the premium is still paid as if it wasn't.
There is possibly a way around this, though. If you carry on as normal; then if something happens (a fire or theft), you just re-tax the car straight away. RFL runs from first of any month, so in this scenario it would be taxed when the issue occurred! I doubt even insurers are going to check when a car is taxed, even if they did it wouldn't matter.
I've contacted the Association of British Insurers asking if they can explain the UK insurance industry position is on this and provide some sort of rationale for not covering a car on SORN. I've set out my case for example, where the car is MOT'd (roadworthy) and is in the locked garage at my home which is the circumstances declared on the policy. On the face of it they should be rubbing their hands at the prospect of money for nothing.
I'll update if I get any response...
I'll update if I get any response...
It's madness. Why wouldn't they insure a anything which is a lower risk? They should in reality offer a discount while the car is not being used.
Due to a change in employment recently, I contacted my insurers and told them my business mileage and therefore my overall mileage would reduce by 3K per annum. They immediately reduced my premium as a result. Logic should follow that as a SORNED car is doing less mileage and lower risk that the premium should be reduced not cancelled. Just doesn't make any sense.
Perhaps correspondence to a motoring magazine or something like Watchdog to publicise as I suspect the vast majority of motorists are not aware of this. They are better positioned to ask the industry the question, Why?
Due to a change in employment recently, I contacted my insurers and told them my business mileage and therefore my overall mileage would reduce by 3K per annum. They immediately reduced my premium as a result. Logic should follow that as a SORNED car is doing less mileage and lower risk that the premium should be reduced not cancelled. Just doesn't make any sense.
Perhaps correspondence to a motoring magazine or something like Watchdog to publicise as I suspect the vast majority of motorists are not aware of this. They are better positioned to ask the industry the question, Why?
Same rubbish as with the winter tyres and insurance a few years back. No reason then either and it was corrected.
I assume the claim numbers is so low on sorned cars that they don’t actually ever have to test it. There is no correlation between tax and insurance so why try to make one.
I assume the claim numbers is so low on sorned cars that they don’t actually ever have to test it. There is no correlation between tax and insurance so why try to make one.
ChrisKnottIns
Active member
ronk said:
Hi Ron,
Many thanks for your post. Your enquiry regarding SORN insurance was the first we have had for a long time. As you know from the conversation with our team, we did refer this over to the underwriting team and unfortunately this is not something they would usually accommodate under the current scheme we have with Highway. However, as discussed, they have agreed to continue cover until your renewal date and as advised, we will look to move to a company that will facilitate the fact that your are likely to declare the vehicle SORN.
Many thanks
Chris Knott Insurance
ChrisKnottIns said:
That's encouraging.
I think it would be a good question to add to your initial checklist when someone calls you up for a quote.
Given that you are aiming at the enthusiasts' market, where a large proportion of owners are likely to SORN their cars over the winter, then it makes sense to ensure that you offer a suitable product to cover this.
ChrisKnottIns said:
Thanks for replying openly to the situation- your communications re this issue have been excellent and that is appreciated.
I think the sorn issue should be discussed with the insurance company- I was not looking for any discount or refunds for the six months of the year my car is unused.
Indeed the car is stored In the same locked and alarmed garage as it is ever night while being used over the summer months- but because I don’t don’t pay the ved the risk is not acceptable to the insurers?
The risk of loss would be much much higher should I use the car!
I’m sure I’m not alone on this forum and indeed other car user forums.
I’m sure this is a issue you ought to seriously discuss with the providers .
Thank you for taking the time to reply publicly- I’m sure there will be many others who are watching for a sensible reply from them.
I appreciate that they have allowed me to sorn my car this year but I am at a loss to understand their rationale!
ronk said:
Ronk, this is the question that is not being answered, as I mentioned previously I've contacted the ABI asking but am getting no response so far.
My suspicion is that reasons for SORN can vary, including a car being unroadworthy (whilst still MOT'd), under restoration or repair, due to financial difficulties or being unable to sell it. All can, and have been reasons for unscrupulous owners to cut their losses and report it stolen, I'll bet that industry statistics show this and flag cars on SORN as an elevated risk. Sadly careful enthusiast owners SORN'ing cars to protect them are probably being bundled up with a dishonest minority.
PaddyfromStoke said:Aviva
Thank you for choosing Aviva
Hello Patrick,
Thank you for your reply.
We do not provide cover for a SORN vehicle, you would need to cancel your policy.
To cancel online, just follow the steps below:
I’ve checked with my insurance as I always have sorted my E85 during the winter and received this reply today
So don’t think I will bother this time.
I nearly moved to Aviva this year, glad I didn’t now as the saving would be lost having to read the ///M for another 4 or 5 months would have been £200-£250.
I’m not sure if it’s posted on here or not but a couple of years ago Admiral confirmed to me my car was covered if SORN but number5 (Alan) got the complete opposite response from them. He forwarded my communication from them to his contact and managed to get them to then confirm in writing the car was covered.
Lets see how this plays out guys. Chris Knott are a broker not an insurance compant (as I'm sure most of you know), so they will be in a better position to liaise with the insurance companies on our behalf. I will keep my eye on this in the meantime but as an aside I think we should run a poll as to how many people would require SORN cover in their policy. This will give Chris Knott some good figures to go to the insurance company with.
