I have recently been notified by my present insurer that I am not able to change cars frequently on the policy. I intend to change cars every month, by buying them at auction and selling them to hopefully avoid depreciation. I am not in the motor trade and the absolute maximum number of car changes I will make is 10 in a year.
My present insurer thinks I should change to a motor trade policy but I will only ever have one car at a time and a maximum of 10 changes a year (likely to be anything between 3 and 8 changes) does not constitute a part time motor trader according to the trade insurers I have spoken to. I am told that I would have to sell a minimum of 25 cars a year to have a trade policy. I am frankly surprised my current insurers are refusing to help as so far they have charged a fee everytime I have changed cars (5 times in the last 13 yrs!)
Is it at all possible to acquire a private policy that allows the holder to change cars a maximum of 10 times a year?
Greatly appreciate you help
Many thanks
Regards
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Hatman, I have news for you. You are trading in cars - at least as far as the Inland Revenue definition is concerned.
Their compliance officers regularly peruse the Autotrader, ebay and such like. When they see someone advertising regularly (by matching up phone numbers, usernames etc) that person can expect to receive a tax return and the inspector would then expect the 'trade' to be properly declared and any taxes paid. Hope this doesnt pour too much cold water on your idea.
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Many thanks for the reply, if I sold cars regularly I would be a part time trader but in my quest to avoid depreciation I have sometimes bought a car and then ended up running it over 2 years as I have been unable to sell it through the Auto Trader for a very long time. I don't mind viewing the enterprise as a small business but as I say I dont aim and dont expect to make a profit.
It does sound as though I need motor trade insurance but this presents a problem as they all require 25 cars a year and in reality I am more likely to be buying and selling more like 5 cars a year! I take your point about trading but the car I am selling is the car I drive to work everyday, it's not like I'd ever have more than one car at any one time.
I'm just wondering if anyone else has ever carried out a similar approach to motoring? As I say though I bought a car in 2001 with the aim of selling it for what I paid for it in 2 or 3 months only to still have it in 2003 after paying £100s in Auto Trader ads and losing about £2500! So I'd hardly consider myself a car dealer!
I was hoping I could find a slightly more flexible private car policy, naturally I wouldnt expect to sell lots of different cars on a private policy but 5 or so a year hardly in my opinion classifies me as a trader. A neighbour is always changing his cars every 6 months so and buying them from a retail garage, so I didnt think it was that rare for a private motorist to be changing their cars a fair bit.
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Hatman, as an amused onlooker, while I appreciate the attractions of your scheme, I am surprised that in view of your previous experience you believe it is a worthwhile enterprise. The world is overflowing with used cars, and there seem to be lots more sellers than buyers. Of course if you just do it for fun, well OK ...
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far they have charged a fee everytime I have changed cars (5 times in the last 13 yrs!)
I don't understand. If you have changed cars 5 times in 13 years what has led them to even notice ? Or were four of those in the last month ?
To offer advice I'd need to understand how many car changes you have done in the last 12 months, why your insurer thinks your trading and how many changes per year your insurer believes is acceptable.
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your = you're
I hate it when I do that. At least when I had an edit button I could do something about mistakes later.
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To offer advice I'd need to understand ......... why your insurer thinks your trading and how many changes per year your insurer believes is acceptable.
I think we can assume that hatman has advised his insurer of his intention to change his car many times a year therefore they must consider the number of changes (up to 10) he mentions in his first post as unacceptable.
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