Do I really need car insurance?

It can be extremely frustrating having to pay for car insurance year after year, but even if the safest drivers need to make sure they’re covered because while you may be able to control how you drive, you can never anticipate what other drivers will do.

Obviously having insurance can’t prevent these accidents from happening, but it can help ease the massive financial pressures that occur after one. Even the smallest incident could mean you have to pay out hundreds of pounds in repairs, and if the worse should happen you could be forced to spend thousands buying a new vehicle.

Why insurance is important

It’s often believed that car insurance is a large, unnecessary expense for something they may never be used but it should actually be seen as a form of protection against any mistakes you may make in the future.

We can all make mistakes and even the smallest error could mean you end up causing thousands of pounds worth of damage to a complete stranger. If an accident is your fault, you should responsible for any costs that occur.

Without car insurance, you would be forced to pay out for the damage, something most of us just couldn’t afford to do. If you’re covered, however, you can guarantee that you are able to pay for the damage you caused.

Car insurance not only offers finical protection against any accidents, it can also be a real lifesaver if your car is stolen or vandalised. You may be able to recoup any costs back from the thieves but that could a long process with no guarantee of any actual payment.

If you have an insurance policy, you won’t have to pay to replace or repair your vehicle when you’re a victim of a crime.

What happens if I don’t have car insurance?

Not only should you have car insurance to be responsible but it also a legal requirement. If you’re on the road, you must be properly insured otherwise you face a number of penalties.

Currently, if you are caught driving a vehicle without insurance you could face between 6 and 8 penalty points, driving bans and an unlimited fine. These penalties will increase if you’re involved in an accident or cause death while driving uninsured. You could also lose your vehicle and it could be destroyed by the police.

Driving without insurance is never worth the risk. Not only can it put you in danger but also other road users. You can ruin other people’s lives by driving without insurance as they could be left ruined financially if their own insurance company is not able to recover the costs.

Do I need car insurance to drive someone else’s car?

Some drivers are under the illusion that having car insurance means that you are able to drive any vehicle. This is not true and driving someone else’s vehicle without the right insurance carries the same penalties as stated above.

You may find that driving a friend or family members car is covered by your annual insurance under the ‘driving other cars’ clause. This, however, is dying trend within the insurance industry and even those who do still offer it will often only offer the most basic level of insurance, third-party only.

The majority of drivers will need to buy a new policy to insure them to drive another vehicle and for many, the prospect of having to pay out for a new annual insurance policy can cause people to take the risk of driving without insurance.

Luckily you don’t have to take that risk to avoid the expensive cost of annual insurance. You can simply purchase a flexible and cost-effective temporary car insurance policy, which will give you comprehensive cover you to drive another vehicle for the duration you need.

Policies are available from 1 – 28 days at a time and you can even get a policy if you’ve had penalty points or have had a previous disqualification or conviction; however, time limits and certain restrictions do apply.

When do I not need insurance?

If you are using your vehicle on the road then you always need to have car insurance. There are however a few occasions when you are not required to have car insurance. These are:

• If you have a valid Statutory Off Road Notification (SORN)
• If your vehicle has been kept off a public road since before 1 February 1998
• If your vehicle has been scrapped, stolen or exported and you have given notice of this
• If your vehicle is between dealers or is being held in stock by an authorised dealer

Whatever type of car you have and whatever type of driver you are, you need to have car insurance. We never know what’s going to happen in the future, so the best way to ensure you’re protected financially and obeying the law is with to be insured. Don’t take the risk, it’s never worth it.

Start a quick and easy quote now and get temporary insurance in minutes.