SORN & Admiral Multi-Car Insurance

[X5Sport]

Well here's a new twist to things.

Like a number of people we have a multi-car insurance policy. One of our vehicles is now going to be placed on a SORN as it's not being used but we want to keep it. When we phoned Admiral this morning to tell them the car was to be laid up imagine our surprise we were told that as a result that car would not be insured AT ALL! Not even for just Fire & Theft! It seems that this is a well known Admiral trait (I have found a lot if references to such on line) and of course as it's no longer insured by them it's not part of their Multi-Car Policy and so all the insurances go up (a lot) for the other two cars we have on the same policy.

One quick phone call to that lot in Norwich, and as they now do both multi-car and 'Laid Up' insurance guess where our money is about to go.....unless we find another one today.

I would have thought that insurers would see a laid up car as easy money for Fire & Theft cover. Let's face it, the car isn't on the road so the risks are much lower, but with this particular lot it seems not. So beware, if you have Admiral Multi-Car Cover and you SORN any one of them, then that vehicle is no longer insured! On top of that the rest of your policy will suddenly go up as your multi-car discount also disappears!

[MJim]

If you've got 2 other cars on the multi car policy they must surely let you just drop the SORN car from the policy and maintain the others, and with a refund for fewer cars being insured (we insure our two cars with Admiral multi car)? It'd still be multi car after all? I would have thought insurance on an unused car would be cheap as chips. These insurers can be a bit nuts at times.

[X5Sport]

I have spoken to most of the major players thus evening, and NONE will provide 'lay up' cover on any new business. Apparently the 'new business' status last a year. Even then they aren't keen.

Went to Adrian Flux and they got us a policy for Accidental Damage, Fire & Theft for £175 - less than the Road Tax.

I agree that I think insurers are missing a trick, but none will play unless you have been with them at least a year, if at all with the stress on the 'if at all'.

Oh and the cost of the policy for now only having two cars goes UP too! Make sense of that if you can.

[shadrack]

if the policy goes up anyway how come you never just kept it on the road but not use it if you get what i mean!

[dirtymonkey29]

Probably get all cars covered for less in total with individual policies. More hassle but I don't see why you should give your hard earned to any company that has bad service

[pvr]

So ... I better not say that the E53 is going at the weekend and I dont have a replacement for another 6 weeks or so ...

[X5Sport]

At the time set it up it all made sense to multi-car them as SWMBO had two cars but could only get NCD on one. That made the cover for the cheaper of the two, over £800 a year. The theft of the bumper has hurt her badly in this area as it's a 'blameworthy' claim. We will now look again at separating the whol lot out again. Mie is still separate so will not be added next month. We will revisit the whole thing after further 'discussions' with Admiral, and if they won't play nicely, well there are a lot more multi-car policy providers now, so they no longer have such a position of strength that they may have had a year or so ago.

As to keeping it on the road; insurance, tax and MOT comes to over £700 a year. Not using it, SORN and no MOT (we can get a short insurance cover change to stay legal for that bit that if necessary, or I can trailer it with the X6) costs £175. No brainer really, well at least it looks that way at present.

We did try moving to a different insurer, but none of the major players will allow any car on their multi-car policies to be 'laid up' in year one. Why is beyond me. Lots will allow it from year 2 onwards. Admiral just won't at all. If you 'lay up' any car then they simply will not insure it and the lost discount is still less than the cost of keeping it on the road. The others will happily put it onto a accidental damage/fire/theft basis as long as it's garaged - which is all we wanted - but only from year 2, and give some money back too. Not Admiral!

There is of course the possibility that the 'Asian' call centre person actually had no clue, but the Internet searches I made on the subject revealed others have had the same experiences with said watery insurer.

[MJim]

Could be a clueless rep, but then again they do sometimes have these ridiculous policies that the reps have to abide by. When I called Admiral to tell them I was fitting winter tyres, the rep started telling me that the premium would need to go up. I started throwing a few toys out of my pram, that it was outrageous that they were financially disincentivising me from making my car safe for the winter, take it up a few levels etc etc. I was promptly called back to be told there would be no additional charge. I'd rather not have to rattle my cage but sometimes it's sadly necessary.

[robinft]

Try http://www.primoplc.com who specialise in multi vehicle insurance. With enough vehicles on cover it's actually cheaper to maintain comprehensive cover when SORNed.

[samlucas]

Discount car insurance schemes are offered by various insurance companies emphasizing that you could pay low premiums towards your mandatory car insurance and in return get your vehicle adequately covered against damage by way of accidents, thefts, vandalism, or in the event of your car being the target of acts of force majeure.

motorhome insurance

[Nat]

I have NEVER found multicar policy cheaper than individual policy.

Honestly these people need to be told to fk off. Either you do car insurance or you dont. All the ...........I wont cover this, that or the other. How is a laid up car any different with one parked on your drive that does minimal mileage other than having no road tax ?

thank you for the heads up and will never admiral anything.

Regards,

Nat.

[Greydog]

Admiral have another trick, 14 days before the policy is due for renewal they withdraw it from the Insurance register as I found out when I went to tax my wife's car last year.
So there we are with a car you can't tax online as it shows as "no insurance" Admiral didn't see it as a problem at all. It could have been very embarrassing had my wife been pulled over by the Police for having an uninsured car particularly if it was out of office hours.

Needless to say we don't use them any more

[535dboy]

Sorn I mean really - not much of a saving is it !