UKC

I am currently suffering from a surfeit of leisure time but not claiming benefits. I haven't had a car for some years so no ncb. I was also looking at trying to get some temp work for a while. This could be a few days here and there and in differing roles and industries.

Obviously having no ncb and starting from being unemployed means that the quotes I have been getting are high to start with.

However, the main issue I don't really understand is the potentially changing job aspect. I have to declare occupation when applying and any changes need to be reported to the company and they will charge a fee for each change. In a temping situation of changing occupations regularly and having periods of employment and unemployment these charges could soon mount up and working would be very expensive.

There is an increasing number of people in irregular work who must be facing the same issue. Has anyone here been in the same situation or have any suggestions on the best way to handle it without paying a fortune in fees to constantly change the policy?

thanks

In reply to BigBrother:

This comment contains no legally-backed information at all, and should be relied upon by nobody.

Personally I would be very surprised if an insurance company was able to successfully argue in court that they shouldn't have to honour a claim because you said you were unemployed and you had subsequently acquired a job... I personally wouldn't even think of telling my car insurance company I had changed jobs.

In reply to BigBrother:

Employment has to be stated when applying and type makes a huge difference to the premium. I tried putting in 'factory worker' to test it and then had to specify what type of product was produced. The premium quoted was half that compared with the unemployed option.

The job specified makes a large difference to their risk assessment. Obviously, I assume, this doesn't apply if you change from one employer to another but in the same role but when temping the type of job could be totally different and be interspersed with periods of not working.

I couldn't find an option for temping or casual work to cover this so I am assuming that they would need to be informed at every change to avoid them claiming the policy was invalid.

In reply to BigBrother:

Working for an insurance company, it would only be a problem if you lied to the company at he beginning of your policy (in which case it could void your insurance) in the majority of cases, the most that might happen is you would be charged a back-dated premium if your job class was a higher risk than the job you were doing at the start of the policy.

Generally though, being unemployed is one of the highest risk categories, so you are likely to be on the right side of the problem. Just don't get a job as a Journalist as they have probably the highest premiums.

Most insurance companies have a way for you to update them of changes in circumstance that don't require a policy change (& charge) if you are concerned.

In reply to BigBrother:

Changing employer doesn't automatically change your occupation. A van driver is a van driver. A clericl worker is a clerical worker. etc. etc.

In fact, if memory serves me, insurance companies don't ask for your employer details.

In reply to BigBrother:

This is a useful tool when taking out a policy:

http://www.moneysavingexpert.com/insurance/car-insurance-job-picker

(obviously it's for tweaking your job title, not lying!)