Second car insurance dilemma

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Mon 12 May 2014 16:00
Second car insurance dilemma - johnnyrev
We have been lucky enough to have been given a second car, a 1997 Honda Civic 1.5. 98,000 miles and six months tax and MOT. The red paint has faded a bit but it goes and stops fine and should last a couple of years. This will prove very convenient for family life but sorting out insurance is proving tricky, and potentially expensive!

I will be driving both cars, but my wife only the Yaris Hybrid as she only has an auto licence. I think that I can only use my no claims (9 years worth) on one policy and one car. And this is where it might get expensive!

If we have my wife as the main driver on the Yaris she hasn't any no claims as she only passed in March. And comparison sites are quoting £1500 with me as a named driver.

If I have my no claims on the Yaris, and my wife as named driver, then that brings the quote down to £300.

But, without my no claims on the Civic, then the quotes just for me is £1100! Which seems a bit much for a car worth a couple of hundred pounds!

Any ideas? Multi car policies don't seem much help. Has insurance shot up in the past year? We had a years free insurance with the Yaris but even before that the Doblo was only £250 a year fully comp. Somebody somewhere is making lots of money!
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Mon 12 May 2014 16:12
Second car insurance dilemma - skidpan

Back in 2005 we needed a 2nd car for the Mrs. Full no-claims on car No 1 but no second policy, expected it to be very expensive. Settled on a brand new Micra 1.2 and rang Aviva who our other car was insurred with. Gave the Mrs 50% NCB since she had been driving the other car accident free and the cost was £160 fully comp.

Very happy (and surprised).

Suggest you do a bit of juggling like transfer yorur NCB to the Civic and get the Mrs to insure the Yaris. If she has a clean record and they give her some free NCB it could well be cheaper.

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Mon 12 May 2014 16:51
Second car insurance dilemma - Auristocrat

Who will be the main driver of the Yaris? As far as I'm aware any insurance quote will be largely based on the main driver's claim history, etc. If your wife is the main driver of the Yaris, then fine. If not you may have problems.

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Mon 12 May 2014 16:56
Second car insurance dilemma - leef

Yes, I was in the same situation 6 months ago. I've got 13 years no claims thats currently on my Focus (Auto) that the Mrs also drives (only passed last year in May). I also drive a Nissan Almera Tino, thats now my main car. I do more miles that her in both cars, so I'm the main driver. Insurance will only let you use you NCD on one car, my Focus insurance was slightly dearer with me as a driver with 0 no claims, so I applied the 13 years to that, also its the one the Mrs drives as well. Paying £780 for the Nissan and £368 for Focus (it plummeted from around £1200 last year) Mrs turned 30 and not crashed in a year.

Not much you can do, Admirals multi-car insurance worked out MUCH dearer than insuring them seperatly.

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Mon 12 May 2014 17:20
Second car insurance dilemma - bathtub tom

Have you tried talking to an insurance broker?

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Mon 12 May 2014 18:16
Second car insurance dilemma - gordonbennet

Talk to your own insurer too, assuming you can actually speak to a person without going round countless menus for hours, SWMBO is with Saga, they proved extremely helpful when we needed insurance on another car, came up with a deal for the extra car far better than the internet could provide.

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Mon 12 May 2014 18:41
Second car insurance dilemma - johnnyrev
Thanks all for your helpful comments! I will phone the current insurer in the morning and see if there is anything they can offer. I have also come across something called 'mirroring' where the no claims discount can be applied to two cars.

I also need to work out which job title gets the best quote- vicar, priest, minister, etc. And also if putting self employed makes a difference, as technical I am, even if the C of E pays me!

This is all very annoying as the Honda is sat outside on the drive and I can't drive it!
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Mon 12 May 2014 18:47
Second car insurance dilemma - gordonbennet

One other thought, as the Honda is 17 years old, you might be able to find a specialist insurer willing to cover it as a classic, classic policies don't attract NCD but are spectacularly cheap, and i would expect very cheap for a man of the cloth.

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Mon 12 May 2014 21:45
Second car insurance dilemma - csgmart

As well as Admiral you should also try Direct Line multi car. I was with Admiral and got a good deal last year but when it came to renewal time I saved 40% on the cost of insuring the same 3 cars with the same terms via Direct Line.

No link to DL - just a happy customer.

Edited by csgmart on 12/05/2014 at 21:46

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Mon 12 May 2014 22:00
Second car insurance dilemma - Chris M

Be sure to use a false name and address and don't input the car registration number if you are going to try different job titles. The insurers' quote systems will recognise that you can't work out what job you do and potentially penalise you.

Last year when we needed to insure a third car between myself and the wife, we got a C1 (Group 1) and got fully comp for £200 with no ncb. I know the Honda must be a higher group, but I imagine you may live in a city and perhaps your calling doesn't cut it with insurers. Have a word with your boss ;-)

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Mon 12 May 2014 23:14
Second car insurance dilemma - Avant

You won't be perjuring yourself if you say you're the main driver of both cars. No doubt when you go out together or do a long distance it'll be you driving the Yaris.

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Tue 13 May 2014 09:01
Second car insurance dilemma - Bromptonaut

You won't be perjuring yourself if you say you're the main driver of both cars. No doubt when you go out together or do a long distance it'll be you driving the Yaris.

Care though. Is the main driver the person who drives most miles who the person who generally has use of the vehicle?

Between a couple with similar professional occupations and licenses since they were 17 it probably makes little difference. For the OP, because of his wife's new driver status it will and he risks being penalised in a claim.

I'd be well mifed with an insurer that provided four different versions of my job title and then penalised me for trying them out!!

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Tue 13 May 2014 09:39
Second car insurance dilemma - skidpan

This is all very annoying as the Honda is sat outside on the drive and I can't drive it

Be very careful.

Under current law if the car is taxed it MUST be insurred even if it is parked off the public highway.

If you are not going to insure it for some time the solution is simple, send back the tax and declare SORN. You are then legal.

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Sat 17 May 2014 10:38
Second car insurance dilemma - johnnyrev
Thank you for all your replies. The cheapest quote we found was through a classic car policy for £522, which still seems rather a lot. So after speaking to our kind benefactor who gave us the car we decided to pass it on to someone else who currently doesn't have a car. The convenience of a second car didn't justify the cost in the end. We would probably have needed it maybe once or twice or week, but because public transport is very good we can manage perfectly well without!

An extra £80-90 a month, including tax, servicing, petrol and insurance is something we can do without at the moment, especially as my wife is about to be a student for two years. It's a shame really as the Civic is a nice car, and I'm sure will do a few more years reliable service, but sadly not for us!
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