Can you drive your car to the IVA test ?

[Ainsley]

Insurance cost me £328.00, rural garaged aged 58 no points.

No point having a PBC after the IVA, basically Silverstone will do the PBC, then anything they think needs attention either they or I will sort.  Then after that the IVA.

As I cant legally drive it to the PBC, they will pick it up, but I will drive it to the IVA.

I suggest you call up and book the IVA as soon as you can, there are some issues however:

• They cant look at a calendar for more than a few weeks in advance.
• They take about 20 mins to pick up the phone.

But once you get to talk to a human, they are helpful, within the constraints of any typical government institute.  So basically you get about a 3-4 week opportunity to look ahead and book.  But you will need to book in the PBC first and they will want the car for a week in case you put the engine in backwards and it takes them some time to sort anything out for you.

You will need to drive it long enough to bed the brakes in, so if you go straight from the PBC to the IVA will that happen ?

I started the build, took a view after 2 weeks on my progress and booked the PBC and then added in 3 weeks after that and then rang for an IVA appointment.  Only to be told they cant book that far in advance, so I ended up calling them each week to see if they could book me in for when I wanted.  They also have limitations based on the fact it takes them 4hrs to do the IVA, so need to ensure that fits in with their testers schedules.  

Not much you can do about that, but you can book the PBC and draw up a build calendar and stick to it.  I basically have no limits to my time and worked from 7am to 11pm each weekend, plus almost every evening after work.  Took delivery end of Feb, and I'm now probably three full days work away from getting ready to present to them for the PBC.  

Things that held me up were cutting a hose too short, I had to buy a new one that took some time to source and arrive, breaking a mirror, which cost me only two days thanks to some help from the Club.  Also running out of shrink wrap and delivery drivers demanding I collect my delivery from the post office instead of leaving round the back of the house.  There were always jobs I could do, so nothing stopped the build going ahead.

The only time I needed help was putting the engine in, that took 3 of us.  Diff you can do on your own if you use a crane and jack.  Bleeding brakes, even with the easy blead kit still really needs someone to pump the pedal and operate the handbrake while you open / close the nipples.  If you don't pump the brakes the bubbles may not come out.

The rest you can do yourself.  

Shout if you get stuck or need a picture of what its meant to look like.  My mate came round in his factory built one a few times which did help.

[Brownmonster]

Great advice thanks, I'll let you know what MSM quote me when I've sorted it (although there are not many companies that seem to insure the bare kit before it has the wheels on it so I'm not sure I have much choice!!)

I'll be using Silverstone as well. Last time I spoke to them, you can book the PBC and also book an IVA with them (so they keep it after the PBC and present it for you at the IVA. The benefit of this is that they actually swap out parts like the brakes so you can pass the IVA, then they put yours back on. I think they do this with mirrors and other usual fails aswell). I'm going to go down this route I think, it probably means leaving the car there for about a month, but I've waited a year to get the kit, so a month more is no problem!

Taking delivery of mine next week and I can't wait to get started 🙂

[Ainsley]

I may get Silverstone to do that as well for me.  If there are corrections that need doing that I can do, then I will bring it back home, but if its little things and I cant be bothered then they can do it.  I'm also toying with the idea of them taking it to the IVA as you suggest. I've informed them of the time and date, so its an option.

I may well end up doing that, as then its all over and done with and I just go back to Silverstone and pick up my car.

[BigCol]

Advice used to be apply for an IVA test ASAP - but that was 11 years ago.

Personally, I wanted to take my car to the IVA - it’s all part of the “build journey” and saved £450 (?) by Caterham not presenting it!

[Graham Hutton]

Yep, go right ahead and enjoy the IVA experience, I thought it was fun. It's like giving birth......... but much more painful 🙂 

[Brownmonster]

On 04/04/2024 at 10:41, Ainsley said:

MSM Insurance, they were very helpful and understood Caterham's.

Another +1 for these. They have insured the car whilst in kit form (420R + lots + lots of options) for £356. they also give a discount when the policy is converted to a full road policy after the IVA is passed.

[Matt420R]

8 minutes ago, Brownmonster said:

Another +1 for these. They have insured the car whilst in kit form (420R + lots + lots of options) for £356. they also give a discount when the policy is converted to a full road policy after the IVA is passed.

How common is insuring the kit prior to build completion?

I have a kit in my garage and hadn't considered insuring before completion, but now thinking I should as I'm sure my home insurance wouldn't stretch that far if the bits were stolen from the garage!!

 

[Jonathan Kay]

2 minutes ago, Matt420R said:

How common is insuring the kit prior to build completion?

I have a kit in my garage and hadn't considered insuring before completion, but now thinking I should as I'm sure my home insurance wouldn't stretch that far if the bits were stolen from the garage!!

I don't know how many builders do and how many don't. 

IIRC most who have told us have arranged with the insurer who will be providing cover when it's on the road.

If I were building again I would.

Jonathan

[Brownmonster]

1 minute ago, Matt420R said:

How common is insuring the kit prior to build completion?

I have a kit in my garage and hadn't considered insuring before completion, but now thinking I should as I'm sure my home insurance wouldn't stretch that far if the bits were stolen from the garage!!

 

House insurance certainly doesn't cover it for me, it has to be declared etc which then costs a lot more. I live in a relatively low crime area, however I personally don't want to take the risk on the basis that I've had a people break into my house to steal a car before, and as such you never know who is watching you and planning something!

These cars are not cheap either these days so I'd hate to wake up one morning and have my garage half emptied!

[Brownmonster]

I realise that probably doesn't answer your question either, I guess it is personal preference if you are happy to leave it uninsured, some do and some don't!

[Ainsley]

I suppose it depends on if you can afford to cover the loss and your appetite for risk.

No one is going to steal a part built Caterham where I live, but the tiny risk of say a garage fire, flood, or asteroid strike is off set by my ability to afford the insurance combined with the fact that the car cost me in excess of £50,000.

Given you will be insuring it once built anyway, you are really only paying a month or two more of your yearly insurance cost.  So 2/12ths of £380 is a small price to pay.

 

[Matt420R]

Thanks everyone.

It's not a case of being willing to take the risk, or being able to afford to cover the loss (I wish!). It's a case of I didn't realise that being able to get car insurance for a car that hadn't yet been built was a thing.

I'll give MSM a call and see what their quote looks like.

 

[CAT170]

Make sure that whoever you speak to understands it is a Caterham fully supplied new kit and not a home built special or a donor car build. If they don't understand a Caterham, ask to speak to someone else or go elsewhere.

Despite what was said in an earlier thread in this post, Adrian Flux were quite happy to insure mine against the chassis number while I was building it and the cover also applied for to/from the IVA (unlike Footman James who would insure the build but not to/from IVA which would have cost extra). Adrian Flux insurance also covers 'on the road' when the car is registered.

A point to note is that some of the companies I contacted had a build time limit of six months - I knew that in my personal circumstances I would take longer than that so it is something to consider.

[Brownmonster]

Adrián flux wouldn't touch mine until it had the wheels on. The chasis number was not enough for them. 

MSM I spoke to Janet, she knew what was what, she also told me that 55k was a price bracket before the cost goes up another notch , so we left the cover at that and saved a bit. 

 

 

[CAT170]

Isn't it odd that AF would change their approach, but then again, there are quite a few contradictory comments about various insurance brokers in this thread. The person I spoke to at MSM for instance took a while to appreciate that the car would not have a registration number while I was building it, and also had some difficulty understanding that whilst it had 2 seats it did not have any doors (well, it won't pass an IVA with doors!). Their quote otherwise was ok but they called back to say they had made a mistake (surprise!) so they had to use another insurer at a higher price - I gave up at that point. 

Perhaps there is a higher than expected dependence on the knowledge and experience of the person that answers the call at the insurance broker. We are also naming insurance brokers here but in reality the eventual cover depends on the specific insurance company they offer. For example, through Adrian Flux mine is with KGM Motor which is actually part of A-Plan/Howden and underwritten by Zurich  

[Ainsley]

Interestingly I've just been told by MSM that although they were happy insuring my car in build state and that would be rolled over to finished car cover - I now need a tracker.

This was not made clear when I took out the build insurance.  Tracker costs £300 to buy, then £100 pa.  

I rang AIB, who have now quoted less than MSM and will allow me to be insured on a chassis number only while the car goes to the PBC and IVA.

Seems it really depends on who you talk to.

Edited April 23 by Ainsley

[Brownmonster]

To add to this, I'm insured with KGM as a kit, which was done through MSM. Really does depend who you talk to. 

As with Ainsley above, I'll likely be moving to use AF once the car is built and ready for IVA/PBC.

[Ainsley]

Actually, I said AF, I meant AIB as the broker - they actually insurer you with Footman James.   Doh ! (now edited for correctness)

AIB just emailed me and I quote: "I have attached the quotation schedule from Footman James for you. They are happy to insure you on Saturday 27^th for the drive to the Post build check and for 20^th May for the IVA based on the Chassis number."

Total premium £289.82 🙂

Edited April 23 by Ainsley

[Benedict.]

My advice:
Many years ago I drove to an SVA test (what the IVA test used to be called) legally as above, pre- registration, obviously.
When I drove back, I passed one of those Police/DVLA pop-up spot check sites and they were pulling anything that looked like it might even smell odd. Of course with no numberplates I was straight in.
Initially the policeman who spoke to me was adamant that I should not be driving *anywhere* pre registration. At all.
Fortunately I had with me the booklet with me that clearly said that "You will be allowed to drive" to and from the test centre, provided you're insured and comply with construction & use.
The poilecman checked that the lights & indicators worked and that it didn't look like it was about to fall apart and sent me on my way.

So basically don't expect the local constabulary (even traffic/RPU) to have any knowledge of the law here at all, take whatever booklet / documentatuion you get. That may invilve printing something nowadays or having a dvla page available on your phone.

 

[BigCol]

9 hours ago, Benedict. said:

…basically don't expect the local constabulary (even traffic/RPU) to have any knowledge of the law here at all…

or in my case, the testers themselves; one of my IVA failure points was due to a mis-interpretation of the regs by the tester!

To be fair, he accepted my subsequent email with *my* interpretation!

[CAT170]

16 hours ago, Ainsley said:

AIB just emailed me and I quote: "I have attached the quotation schedule from Footman James for you. They are happy to insure you on Saturday 27^th for the drive to the Post build check and for 20^th May for the IVA based on the Chassis number."

Total premium £289.82

That's quite a price for 2 days of insurance. I had a similar situation with FJ and thought the extra fee was a rip off and found it cheaper to just change to KGM via AF as the cover for IVA (never asked for PBC) was included and the insurance rolled over to 'on the road' after registration. My premium was inevitably cheaper as a 170 so only £97 !!!! (Age 62, semi-rural, no issues/points, £30k, garaged, no commuting or track days, 3000 miles pa, £150 excess)

[Ainsley]

No, that's the price for insurance for the whole year, but its insurance that allows me also to drive to the PBC and IVA and several track days.

No requirement for me to have an expensive tracker either.

[John360s]

@Ainsley I thought you couldn’t legally drive to the PBC?

[Ainsley]

Well, its pre booked and I am insured, I have the booking in writing and the insurance in writing.  So that means I am 🙂

The insurance specifically states I'm insured to drive to the PBC and the IVA.  In reality I am taking the car to Caterham Silverstone in a trailer, but I will be bedding in the brakes and doing an engine running in session on the morning of the PBC, which can be fairly described as driving to the PBC.

[John Vine]

4 hours ago, Ainsley said:

The insurance specifically states I'm insured to drive to the PBC and the IVA. 

Well, that's unusual.  I wonder if the insurer realises the implications of what they've put in writing?  My understanding is that the only trip you can legally make prior to registration is to the IVA.

JV

Edited April 24 by John Vine