Young Drivers' Insurance

Many of us are using our cars much less than normal, whether that's because we're furloughed from work, working at home or just not going out as much due to the lockdown.

Yet it's led to many asking whether they still need car insurance, or if they can just cancel. Others have asked if there are ways to cut costs without going that far. We've help for both scenarios...

Not using your car? You can declare it 'off the road' to save on tax and insurance

Since 2011, you need insurance when you own a car, not just if you're driving it. But there's an exception to needing to pay.

If you can keep your car on private land, for example, your drive or garage, or a friend's property, you can declare it off the road via a Sorn (statutory off-road notification).

This cancels your vehicle tax, which may net you a pro-rata refund for the rest of the year. Once you've declared it off-road, you can then cancel your insurance, though do note your car won't be covered for damage, fire or theft. You also you won't get the year's no-claims bonus and you'll often need to pay an admin fee for cancelling (though some have waived this - see a round up of the 20 top insurers below).

In light of all that, is it worth doing? Here's Martin's view...

However, if you think it's for you, here's how to do it, how to reverse it, and the risks involved:

I'm still driving but much less than I used to. Can I save on my existing policy?

Insurance is all about risk, so the more chance they think you have of claiming, the more they charge. So driving more, or having riskier drivers on your policy, will likely mean you pay more. 

The good news is that driving less often reduces that risk, so here are three things to look at that could result in a saving. But insurance pricing is personal to you, and much also depends on how much you'll save from these changes and whether your insurer charges admin fees if you change things around (see a round-up of the 20 top insurers below). So try these to see if they work for you:

So is it worth changing an existing policy for these savings? Our view is that it's a faff, so you'll need to have many months left on your policy to make it worth it, and big savings from the changes, eg, large mileage drops, taking younger drivers off a policy.

For everyone else, use this as a trigger to check if you should look for a new policy, as big changes can mean another insurer is cheaper, and you may have been overpaying anyway.

Lost your job? You MUST tell your insurer about this and other major changes

You need to tell your insurer about big changes in your circumstances, such as losing your job, changes to how you use your car, big mileage alterations, plus new convictions or medical issues. You'll also need to tell it if you're moving home as this'll affect where the car's kept (though this is unlikely during lockdown).

However, you don't need to tell it if you're furloughed from your current employer.

Major changes can lead to a charge or, better, a saving. Yet even if it'll cost more, you do need to tell your insurer. If you've not been entirely truthful with it, your insurance could be cancelled.