In the United
Kingdom car insurance (also known as ‘motor insurance’) is compulsory
for any person intending to drive or operate a motor vehicle.
Liability and legal
requirements
Currently the law requires that
any vehicles of three years old and over have a valid MOT certificate. You are
unable to tax a vehicle without an MOT and certificate of insurance. Driving a
car or Motorbike without these is an offence.
The Road
Traffic Act states that all motorists must be insured against their liability
for injuring other people (including passengers) and for damage to other
people’s property.
It is also vital to keep your
insurance company up-to-date including vehicle modifications and fixed
penalties as it is an offence not to – and it may affect any claim you
make.
Most insurers will issue the
following documents
Certificate of insurance
– You will need this to buy your road tax.
A cover note - It acts as
a temporary policy and certificate until your new insurance policy has been set
up.
Policy document
– This tells you everything you are covered for.
Making a
claim
Most car insurance companies will
have a claims helpline with certain office hours. Some will offer an accident
emergency recovery hotline for outside those hours. If you have the addition of
roadside recovery as part of your claim. It is worth discovering beforehand if
your insurer will immediately authorise repairs from recommended agents and in
the event of a theft does your insurance include cover for personal belongings
or replacement locks? It’s also worth checking whether a courtesy car is
included in the price quoted, and if so, for how long as your own car may be
off the road for a number of weeks after an accident and hire cars can be
expensive. |
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