Due to relocation of my office I will become a bus commuter on 1 July. This being the case I will no longer use the car for commuting and wondered if this will make a difference to my insurance.
At present the car is insured comprehensively for 'social domestic and pleasure, plus commuting to place of work' Is it worth telling the insurance people about the change when I next renew, in December?
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I would expect your insurance to be slightly cheaper but who knows?
Enjoy your new freedom to read a book and enjoy the scenery if any.
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Not sure if it will make much difference, but is there a chance you might still want to drive to work on the odd occasion?
I'm in a similar position to you in that my office is moving later in the year combined with a new bus route. The thought of not having a car at all is a step to far, but I think when the volvo goes back to the lease co in October I might opt for a sub 1K motor.
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No chance I will drive to work. Parking local to the new office is upwards of £5 per day, and the weekly bus ticket is only £12.50. Scenery is non existent unfortunately, but I am hoping some of the other passengers will be worth a look as the summer continues :)Free wifi on the bus too!
As you say not having a car at all is a possibility, but I do have a social life that requires driving, and it is handy to maintain access to a car.
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I always drove for preference even when it was expensive and a hassle. Idiotic of course but there it is. Feeding sixpence after sixpence into those old West End meters.... god it cost a fortune, two bob, no four, no six bob an hour eventually...
I just have a memory of meters that would accept a heptagonal fruppeny bit... am I wrong? Perhaps. And were they heptagonal? They had a nice weight to them.
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I was lucky when I used to work in the centre of Manchester that I got parking paid. It was very expensive (to me at least) back in 1995/96 but would be a lot more these days. Handy car park pass for other times though :-) I think it was at least £8/day back then and probably a lot more!
If you didn't have a pass you could claim it on expenses. And the oddity in pricing was if you drove out of the car park at lunchtime and then back in again... it cost less than all day.
But will Alastairw miss working where he did in terms of location? If it's only £12.50 per week and doesn't take too long, then he might save money? But I doubt there's any saving on insurance to be had.
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>> I just have a memory of meters that would accept a heptagonal fruppeny bit... am
>> I wrong? Perhaps. And were they heptagonal? They had a nice weight to them.
>>
They were octagonal. But you're right that they were quite chunky. Come to think of it, not seen anything like them in terms of weight & size in any other currency.
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>> >> I just have a memory of meters that would accept a heptagonal fruppeny bit...
>> am
>> >> I wrong? Perhaps. And were they heptagonal? They had a nice weight to them.
>>
>> >>
>> They were octagonal. But you're right that they were quite chunky. Come to think of
>> it, not seen anything like them in terms of weight & size in any other
>> currency.
I think they were dodecagonal, if that means 12 sided.
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I've got some, along with the other pre-decimal coin denominations in a spaghetti jar in the kitchen. There are also some Greek drachma, Italian lire, German marks and pfennigs, French francs, Austrian schillings, Turkish whatever they're called, Swiss francs, some American stuff, some Brazilian cruzados, some Canadian thingies, Irish punts, Belgian francs, Dutch guilders, Danish kroner, some Swedish, some Norwegian, Hungarian even Yugoslavian whatevers, Cypriot pounds, all the different Scottish notes, Northern Irish stuff, Euros of course and several others.
Not sure why. Comes into the category of "it might come in handy one day" sort of thing but of course never will.
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>> I've got some, along with the other pre-decimal coin denominations in a spaghetti jar in
>> the kitchen. There are also some Greek drachma, Italian lire, German marks and pfennigs, French
>> francs, Austrian schillings, Turkish whatever they're called, Swiss francs, some American stuff, some Brazilian cruzados,
>> some Canadian thingies, Irish punts, Belgian francs, Dutch guilders, Danish kroner, some Swedish, some Norwegian,
>> Hungarian even Yugoslavian whatevers, Cypriot pounds, all the different Scottish notes, Northern Irish stuff, Euros
>> of course and several others.
>>
>>
If GCHQ pick up on this thread you're going to be the subject of a money laundering investigation, Humph.
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>> If GCHQ pick up on this thread you're going to be the subject of a
>> money laundering investigation, Humph.
>>
You will be ok, Zero thinks GCHQ is still using 1960s technology. :-)
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You only know what happens in a metal tube under the sea, you couldn't even find your way home after they put you ashore, so shut your hatch.
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>> I think they were dodecagonal, if that means 12 sided.
>>
I agree. I have a 1956 version which has 12 sides.
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>> I just have a memory of meters that would accept a heptagonal fruppeny bit...
>> am I wrong? Perhaps. And were they heptagonal? They had a nice weight to them.
>>
>> They were octagonal. But you're right that they were quite chunky. Come to think of
>> it, not seen anything like them in terms of weight & size in any other currency.
I just found one in the next room. Definitely twelve sided.
Only a millimetre or so smaller than the present £1 coin, and about 10% thinner.
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>> Scenery is non
>> existent unfortunately, but I am hoping some of the other passengers will be worth a
>> look as the summer continues :)
Good Luck.
I only ever got to sit next to the:
- the person that smells
- the person who insists on playing their headset at max volume
- the nutter
or a combination of all three.
I didn't use the bus much.
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Thrupenny bits and scenery...i see a link.
Always found the train better for sightseeing.
:-)
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The trouble with any form of public transport is that there are people on it. Not keen on people really. Which is admittedly a bit of a disadvantage as I am one.
I'd pay the extra to avoid any unnecessary proximity with them though !
:-)
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When I worked, I always insured my cars as "use on the policyholders business". Which meant I was covered for driving to any place of work. However the mileage rate paid was so pitiful I used to claim more off my tax!
Don't think it adds much to the cost unless you are going for a supposed cheap insurer.
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I've got a load of pre-decimal stuff. The kids used it for ' play-money '. I wonder if a frupnybit will work a supermarket trolley.
Might try one....just a scientific experiment, you understand. If I wanted a trolley, I'd be happy to sacrifice a quid ! Might lead to all sorts...now, do they still do fag machines ?
Ted
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>now, do they still do fag machines ?
When I lived in Germany (pre Euro) the fag machines took 4DM in 1DM coins. The same size as a 5p piece at the time. Apparently.
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A 2p coin works in a 1 Euro airport or supermarket trolley. (I am led to believe). :-)
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Aren't they a different size?
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Those trolley thingies aren't very sensitive to size - not like proper vending machines anyway. I have a counterfeit 10Fr coin I was given in change on my first adult holiday in France; nice lady in a bakery explained why she couldn't accept it, and it's quite clear when you know what to look for, but it works just fine for releasing a trolley.
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Mine didn't go up when I told them I'd be commuting, so I doubt yours will go down.
For £20 you can get yourself officially ordained as a Minister of the Church of the Flying Spaghetti Monster (a truly worthwhile organisation), which might get your insurance even cheaper if you list it as your occupation.
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>> When I lived in Germany (pre Euro) the fag machines took 4DM in 1DM coins.
>> The same size as a 5p piece at the time. Apparently.
>>
A fact well known to squaddies serving in BAOR. I remember staying at a camp site in Germany where a group of UK soldiers were also camping. The owner was not too happy about finding his payphone full of sterling but a quiet word with the OC solved his problem.
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Could do, but how much and will it be worth writing off any commuting use for?
What do you do if there's a bus strike?
What if you change jobs? The cost of varying the policy is quite likely to wipe out the annual saving. Check this.
I remember when I ran my MGB daily I got a quote for insurance. The total difference covering SD&P only, SD&P + commuting and full business use was, erm, 20 quid.....
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Usually removing commuting* from scope does not reduce premium much. So I'd rather leave it just in case if you need to take your car to work for few days.
* = unless commuting distance pushes up the overall mileage significantly.
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I think adding full business use only added £20 to mine.
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On reflection I think I will leave the insurance as is for now, but will see what happens at renewal time.
I'm not changing employer. Due to lease expiry the whole company is moving. Still in Stockport town centre, but there is no free parking at the new premises. If there happens to be a bus strike I will either take the day off, or walk. Its too far to walk every day, but ok occasionally.
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>> Its too far to walk every day, but ok occasionally.
Ahem, bicycle!!
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>>>> think adding full business use only added £20 to mine.
I wish! Last year I shopped around the comparison sites as LV put my premium up without asking if it was ok with me. All the quotes came in much much less but I couldn't select full business use so rang 4 up and every one hiked it up. I ended up with M and S and they only addded £180 for full business use making it £400 a year, all the options, legal protection, european breakdown, extra cover for new car audio and £200 less than LV. I'm 58, maximum protected NCD, 25k miles a year, 15k business.
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The cost of SD&P v SD&P plus commuting is probably small. Adding travel to work for Miss B, as a 19yo student working at Maccys in vac, was about £30.
Business use, travelling for work, is a different kettle of fish. It will be heavily dependent an occupation, miles travelled etc. My cover as a public servant doing <1k miles pa attending conferences and meetings would be very different if I were peripatetic staff delivering those events day in day out. Add in a more risky profession and the cost change is massive.
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Ah, but is it? The insurers I've used recently have been happy to include Class A business (i.e. travelling to meetings, which is what I do on the rare occasions I drive for work) effectively for nothing. One even told me it would cost more without it.
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WDB, if you don't mind, be interested to know who you insure with for future reference as I'd be keen to investigate avoidance of a big hike for business use come renewal. Thanks.
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It's Aviva these days, Neil, but in recent years I've used Sainsburys and Tesco too. It was Sainsburys that told me the Verso would cost less with Class A than without but I don't think in any case the addition has been more than £20 on a premium of £350-450. Your experience may be different, of course, but I'd always get on the phone once I'd got a few online quotes.
We need Class A on one car (a condition of my car allowance); the decision has been whether to have it for both. I call myself a 'commercial manager' not, significantly, a salesman or sales manager. No-one has asked me how many business miles I do, but last year it was about 10 - yes, ten.
Good luck!
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LV charge me £224 to insure the 3 Series. They added Class A Business Use at no cost, and winter tyre use. Cheap at that price - No point shopping around at that level.
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Similarly the Alfa is with LV inc full business use for self and Mrs F at around £200... agreed no point in looking elsewhere at such prices.
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Does commuting make a difference? - -
