Do you need insurance to drive it home?
Yes. The car needs its own cover before you drive it home. Not the seller's cover, and not the cover on your old car.
Section 143 of the Road Traffic Act 1988 says you can't use a motor vehicle on a road or other public place unless a policy covers that use by you. In Northern Ireland the rule sits in Article 90 of the Road Traffic (Northern Ireland) Order 1981. Neither gives you a grace period for a car you've only just paid for.
Get this wrong. gov.uk puts the fixed penalty at £300 and six points. In court it's an unlimited fine and a possible ban. The police can seize the car, and in some cases destroy it.
That leaves three routes. Put the car on the policy you already have. Buy your own short-term cover. Or use the dealer's free driveaway cover, if the dealer offers one.
Most people reach for a fourth that doesn't exist.
Route one: the policy you already have
If you already insure a car, start with your own insurer. Ring them before you hand over any money.
Your policy doesn't cover every car you own. It covers one car, named on your certificate. Admiral's booklet defines "your vehicle" as "the vehicle displayed on the current Certificate of Motor Insurance". Aviva spells out the mechanism: a replacement is covered once details have been supplied to them and a certificate bearing that registration mark has been delivered.
There are two conditions, not one. You tell them, and they issue. Do both before you turn the key.
So ring them with the registration, the make and model, and the day you're collecting. Ask them to confirm the exact time cover starts on the new car, and don't set off until they have.
Say straight away if you're part-exchanging. The old car comes off the policy and the new one goes on. Pin down the timing of that swap.
You don't have to wait for the paperwork
People still say your policy doesn't count until the certificate lands. That was true once. Section 147 of the Road Traffic Act 1988 used to say a policy had no effect until the certificate was delivered. The Deregulation Act 2015 took that out on 30 June 2015.
Your insurer still has to send you a certificate, and it can arrive by email. But what matters is when the cover starts, not when the post does.
Why 'driving other cars' won't help now
Plenty of drivers think comprehensive cover lets them drive anything. It doesn't. For the car you've just bought, this route is definitely closed.
A driving other cars clause is written for a car you don't own. Admiral's applies where "you don't own the other car, or have it under a hire purchase or lease agreement". Aviva says the same thing. Its cover applies "as long as you don't own it, or it is not being provided to you under a hire purchase agreement or any other finance agreement".
Now hold that against the moment you've paid. You own it. The clause has already stopped reaching it.
Even where it applies, the cover is thin. Both booklets limit the cover to third party damages only, so damage to the car you're driving isn't paid for. Both require your certificate to say you have the cover in the first place. Aviva adds an age condition on top: you have to be 25 or over at inception or renewal.
And both of them tie the cover to the car you already own. Aviva requires that you still have your vehicle and that it hasn't been damaged beyond cost effective repair. Admiral's version says yours must not be damaged beyond economic repair, stolen or sold.
Hand your old car over as a part exchange and you've failed that condition too. Aviva also restricts the cover to the policyholder, so named drivers get none of it.
This is exactly where our guide to test-driving a used car stops applying. Before you buy, a driving other cars clause is one of three real options for getting behind the wheel. After you buy, it isn't an option at all.
The second offence, and you don't have to drive anywhere
Driving it uninsured is one offence. Keeping it uninsured is another.
Section 144A of the Road Traffic Act 1988 makes it an offence for the person a registered vehicle is registered to, if that vehicle isn't insured. Parked on your drive, never started, still in the same spot a week later. None of that helps. gov.uk sets the penalty at a £100 fine, with the car liable to be clamped, impounded or destroyed, and a court fine of up to £1,000.
Then comes the detail that decides everything above it. Two things have to be true at once. The car has to be covered by a policy that complies with the Act. That policy, or the certificate that goes with it, then has to identify the car by its registration mark.
The section holds open one alternative. A policy can instead be written to cover any vehicle owned by a person it names. That is a motor-trade shape, not a private driver's.
Read that once more. A driving other cars clause names no car, and it only works on cars you don't own, so it satisfies neither route. Even on the rare policy where the clause would cover your driving, the car sitting on your drive is still uninsured as far as section 144A is concerned.
Two ways out matter to a new keeper. Insure the car in its own right. Or declare it off the road with a SORN and genuinely keep it off the road. The declaration only helps while the car isn't used on a road or in a public place.
One wrinkle if you're buying from a trader. gov.uk excludes vehicles "between registered keepers" or registered "in trade" with the DVLA, which is why a forecourt full of uninsured stock is perfectly legal. That protection is the dealer's, not yours, and it ends the moment the car is registered to you.
This particular offence applies in England, Wales and Scotland.
Insure it, then tax it, in that order
gov.uk's own steps for buying a vehicle come in a fixed order. Check it, buy and register it, insure it at step three, tax it at step four.
Most people put those last two the wrong way round. Road tax doesn't come with the car. Our guide to car tax bands explains how the tax side works. Sort the insurance first, because it's the step that can actually hold you up.
Before any of it, it's worth knowing what you're buying. Our free check shows a car's current road tax status and its full MOT record from the registration alone.
Two things stall people at the counter. You can tax the car using the green new keeper slip from the log book. And gov.uk warns that MOT information can take up to two days to update, so a car that passed its test this morning might not tax this afternoon.
Northern Ireland works differently
To tax a vehicle at a Post Office in Northern Ireland you need a paper insurance certificate or cover note. You also need an original MOT certificate, or evidence of a Temporary Exemption Certificate. Worth sorting before you join the queue.
What the dealer's free cover actually is
Some dealers put a few days of cover on the car for you. It's a real insurance policy arranged by the dealer as an agent for an insurer, not a goodwill gesture.
Pentagon Motor Group is a live example. It offers three to seven days of fully comprehensive Driveaway cover on its vehicles, free of charge. It describes the cover as "subject to status and conditions". Its own small print confirms it acts as an agent for the insurer under FCA-regulated insurance distribution.
Ask four questions before you rely on any of it.
- What level of cover is it? Pentagon's is fully comprehensive. That's one scheme, not a market-wide guarantee, so get the answer for yours.
- How many days does it run for? Pentagon's runs three to seven. Don't assume another dealer's matches.
- When exactly does it start? On collection, or when the dealer sets it up?
- Who gets turned down? Pentagon says "subject to status and conditions" and doesn't print what those are, so make them tell you.
That last one bites. You can find out at the counter that you don't qualify, with the money already paid. I'd sort my own cover first and treat the dealer's as a bonus.
A private seller can't offer any of this. It only exists because a dealer has a scheme behind it.
Buying your own short-term cover
No policy of your own, and no dealer scheme? Then buy short-term cover yourself.
Providers such as Dayinsure and GoShorty sell it against the car's registration, from a few hours to a few weeks. You can set it up on your phone while you're standing next to the car. Both describe comprehensive as their standard level, though that's two providers rather than the whole market, so check what yours actually gives you.
Buy it before you pay for the car, not after. You'll need the registration and your licence details. Get the registration off the seller while you're still deciding.
Then mind the gap at the other end. Short-term cover stops at a stated time, and section 144A doesn't care that you meant to sort the annual policy on Monday.
Whatever you buy, get your own details right. The Motor Insurers' Bureau lists a wrong registration number, date of birth or address among the errors that can invalidate a policy. If you're comparing annual quotes afterwards, that's where the rest of our car insurance advice picks up. Start with why your postcode affects your car insurance, which covers what really moves the price.
Common questions
Can I drive a car home on my existing insurance after I've bought it?
Only once your insurer has added it. Your policy covers the car named on your current certificate, not any car you happen to own. Ring them with the registration before you pay, and ask what time cover starts on the new car.
Does 'driving other cars' cover let me drive a car I've just bought?
No. Admiral and Aviva both write the clause so it only applies to a car you don't own and haven't got on finance. Buying the car switches it off. It wouldn't help with the second offence either. Keeping an uninsured car is a separate thing, and this cover names no car at all.
Do I need insurance before I can tax the car?
Yes, and gov.uk's own steps for buying a vehicle put insuring it before taxing it. In Northern Ireland there's an extra step. To tax at a Post Office there, you need a paper certificate or cover note. Elsewhere in the UK the tax service doesn't ask you for a certificate, but the cover still has to be live before you drive.
Can I get insured on the spot, standing next to the car?
Usually, yes. Short-term insurers sell cover by the hour against a registration number. You can buy it from your phone. Your own insurer may be able to add the car to your existing policy instead, so ask when you ring. Either way, do it before you pay rather than after.
What if I leave the car parked on the road for a few days before insuring it?
That's an offence in its own right in England, Wales and Scotland. It applies even if nobody drives it. The fine is £100, and the car can be clamped, impounded or destroyed. There's one legal way round it. Declare the car off the road with a SORN, and actually keep it off the road.