Sold your van- but not cancelled your insurance?

[Oldrat]

Following on from the SORN/Insurance thread, Funster’s might not be aware of this risk.

Having sold a vehicle, if you don’t cancel the cover tor that vehicle, perhaps because there is only a short time left to run, you leave yourself open to the following circumstances:-

• Sell vehicle
• New owner fails to insure vehicle
• New owner crashes
• There are 3rd party injuries/damages

Who do you think the 3rd party can claim against?

You.

As your policy is still in force and is the only insurance cover existing….

And as before..

That insurance company may well come after you personally to recoup their costs via the courts.

 

[Ernesto]

Are you sure? The original contract of insurance would state you owned the vehicle - if that changes, whether you tell them or not, wouldnt that void it?
Edit - learn something every day - according to Google, contract doesnt end - I will need to read up more on this ….

 

[Ernesto]

Yep - its definitely a thing. Some people do it apparently to try and gain an extra years no claim bonus

“Under European law innocent road users are entitled to be compensated for their injuries and the idea is a “cascade” of insurers and indemnifiers. So if the buyer had proper insurance, his insurers would pay up.

The next stop on the cascade is an insurer who has taken a premium for the vehicle and the policy was not lapsed at the time of the collision. Your insurers are obliged by law to meet the judgment and the costs of the action brought by the injured person.

You have no idea how badly injured that person is, so you don’t have a clue what you are looking at by way of the size of any claim but it is going to run into a few thousand pounds with costs and damages. Under your policy of insurance you have permitted a non-insured driver to use the vehicle your insurers were still insuring so you are in breach of your policy, and yes they can come after you”

 

[Coolcats]

A view from the motoring press

Can I cancel my car insurance if I sell my car? | Auto Express

If you’ve sold your car, you no longer need to insure it but it’s easy to forget to cancel that policy

www.autoexpress.co.uk

 

[Oldrat]

Yep,
“There are good legal reasons for promptly cancelling your car insurance too though. Your insurer will need to know that you’re no longer the owner of the vehicle and that they’re no longer responsible for coverage if a claim is made against the new owner or something happens to the vehicle.”

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[David and Sally]

I had 30 days to go on a motorbike insurance. Rang the company to cancel - £50 please. But there will be some rebate I says, no they say, nothing to come back. £50 please.

So, I will just let it run I said,……. can’t do that they said, you would still be liable.

You must cancel, how would you like to pay?

 

[Gellyneck]

Your alternative could be just transferring existing insurance to a new car if you purchased one.

 

[L' Hobo]

From experience, if asked by the Police "Do you want to press charges" ALWAYS answer YES!

Back in the 70's, a moped rider shoot across the road from between trucks that were parked along the curb on my left.

I hit him doing 30mph and he went up in the air, over my bonnet and was VERY badly injured.
Ambulance and Police were called, he was taken to Hospital and the Police took statements from me and witnesses.

While still in shock of having to remove the Mobed riders embedded false teeth from what was left of his mouth, stop bleeding etc. for the first 20 minutes (thank goodness I had been given emergency medical training) I was eventually asked by the Police, "IF I wanted to press charges?"

Foolishly I replied (as my old vehicle was only slightly scratched) " NO, I think he has been punished enough already!"

The next year, and for a number of years later, .my vehicle insurance more than doubled.
When I asked why, it seems, the Moped rider had been in Intensive Care for weeks and was going to receive treatment for the foreseeable future.
HIS Insurance Company claimed a massive payment from MINE and because, according to them, I didn't press charges and the Police didn't prosecute, it was classed as a 50/50 claim!

 

[bobandjanie]

Here in Spain it's the vehicle that's insured, and anyone can drive it, when we purchased our first car the chap had given up driving, the car was completely road legal, but we couldn't insure it because it was insured.
The problem was we didn't know who with or when it expires.

It took a week or so to get the original owner to cancel and get our own insurance. Bob.

 

[gus-lopez]

Your alternative could be just transferring existing insurance to a new car if you purchased one.

I always do that

Here in Spain it's the vehicle that's insured, and anyone can drive it, when we purchased our first car the chap had given up driving, the car was completely road legal, but we couldn't insure it because it was insured.
The problem was we didn't know who with or when it expires.

It took a week or so to get the original owner to cancel and get our own insurance. Bob.

You'd be amazed how many sell vehicles on milanuncios " With insurance"

As Bob has said above you cannot insure it until the old owner either cancels or it runs out.
This is also why you cannot easily change the date when your insurance expires to another part of the year as to cancel any policy here you either have to have sold the vehicle & you have to show the paperwork for the changeover or have done a 'baja' ( Spanish sorn*) or have scrapped it & for which the paperwork also has to be shown
*No one in their right mind does that as it costs money & if you wish to re rgister for use it costs even more money, + new itv as other is cancelled the instant you 'baja' it.

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