Insurance in limited companies name

[Cjro]

I’ve purchased a model3 via my ltd company (of which I am the only director/employee). It will be mainly used for personal use.

My accountant said I could use the car insurance as a business expense if the policy is taken out by the company.

Im struggling to find any insurance companies that offer policies in the companies name for just one company car. Has anyone been able to find one?

 

[Arran]

I’ve purchased a model3 via my ltd company (of which I am the only director/employee). It will be mainly used for personal use.

My accountant said I could use the car insurance as a business expense if the policy is taken out by the company.

Im struggling to find any insurance companies that offer policies in the companies name for just one company car. Has anyone been able to find one?

Not sure how/why your accountant is saying that as you’d have to get a trade policy.

For sole directors ask Tesla via email to put you personally as the named keeper on the V11. Then take out a regular insurance policy and pay it via the company bank account.

On confused.com you can tell them you personally are the named driver but the car is owned by the LTD. And there’s no problems

 

[Joe83]

Hi Cjro.

I did the same thing. Picked up my Model 3 at the end of March and purchased via my Ltd. Company.

I too had some issues finding fleet insurance for the car so discussed at length with my accountant who did some checking and she finally suggested that I could take out a policy in my name as long as the car was noted as being owned by the company.

I got my policy through Churchill (who were the cheapest by miles) - when you fill in the form online it asks who the owner and registered keeper of the vehicle is - just mark that as Company Owned (can't remember the exact term but there isn't that many options).

Pay on your company card and you'll get a receipt to put through your books.

 

[Cjro]

@Joe83 thanks for this, I’m just going to go ahead and get the policy in my name and ensure the owner is specified as the company.

Out of interest, did you purchase on finance via your ltd company? I ordered using the business and pcp option, and now I’m due to pay my deposit before delivery. I’m just hoping that everything looks good for the accountant in order to get the 100% first year capital allowance as that’s the main reason i went this route, plus the low bik of course.

 

[tomorrowman]

Ditto on the how to insure feedback.

PCP Purchasing via company is interesting. FRom what I had seen to date tendency seemed to be either lease or if they have enough funds in the company purchase outright (the ability to offset the full purchase price in year 1 can make that attractive if you plan to keep the car for a while).

 

[Joe83]

@Joe83 thanks for this, I’m just going to go ahead and get the policy in my name and ensure the owner is specified as the company.

Out of interest, did you purchase on finance via your ltd company? I ordered using the business and pcp option, and now I’m due to pay my deposit before delivery. I’m just hoping that everything looks good for the accountant in order to get the 100% first year capital allowance as that’s the main reason i went this route, plus the low bik of course.

I HP'd mine through the business but my understanding is that if you have the option to own the vehicle (as you do with both HP & PCP or indeed via outright purchase) you can get the FYA. There is no opportunity to reclaim any VAT unless it's solely for Business use.

If you lease you can claim back 50% of your VAT but obviously don't get the benefit of the FYA.

I did the maths on this and purchasing made sense to me - but then I intend to keep it for a while.

The end of my Tax year was 30th April so being able to wipe out a rather significant portion of my tax bill was rather pleasant!

 

[Joe83]

Ditto on the how to insure feedback.

PCP Purchasing via company is interesting. FRom what I had seen to date tendency seemed to be either lease or if they have enough funds in the company purchase outright (the ability to offset the full purchase price in year 1 can make that attractive if you plan to keep the car for a while).

Yes - think the majority of people do tend to lease through ltd companies as far as I've seen. There were / are some cracking lease deals out there but that got me thinking that if they're leasing them out cheap they can't depreciate horrendously badly (famous last words) and I'm prepared to take the risk over 3 to 5 years. The way I see it is that over that duration there'll be a reasonable market for cars that have a decent proven range.

My last few cars have been new BMW's (purchased by me, not the company) so I know the true meaning of depreciation. Once you've experienced 60-65% of the value of the car disappearing after 3 years nothing looks quite so bad.

 

[Cjro]

I’m planning to exchange it for a model x whenever they become available most likely in 18months - 2 years time as I quite like the extra boot space the x provides, that’s why I went with pcp for this one. I just find it odd that pcp stands for personal contract purchase even though it’s from a business, fingers crossed it all works out!

Yep I wish I’d known about this earlier when the bik was 0% and I could have reduced my tax bill a bit in the previous financial year!

 

[rectofossa]

I did precisely this. I’ve been with Direct Line for years - gave them a call, deal was it’s still ‘my’ policy but they note on it that you’re not the legal owner. V5 subsequently turned up with Ltd Co as the registered keeper - gave DL a call and they amended the policy to ‘insured is not owner or registered keeper’.
All v painless. They said only me and the wife can drive it, can’t be a pool car etc so I think they’re quite used to people doing it this way.

 

[Joe83]

I just find it odd that pcp stands for personal contract purchase even though it’s from a business

I see what you mean now and must say I found it a little odd too. When I was going through the figures with my accountant I happened to mention the whole 'PCP through Ltd. business' thing and she stated it's all fine and it's just how the product is now known. I'm fairly confident you'll have no issues at all.

Enjoy your new car - I love mine (probably on balance the best car I've owned) and I've had some very pleasant cars in the past!

 

[btc1k]

I did precisely this. I’ve been with Direct Line for years - gave them a call, deal was it’s still ‘my’ policy but they note on it that you’re not the legal owner. V5 subsequently turned up with Ltd Co as the registered keeper - gave DL a call and they amended the policy to ‘insured is not owner or registered keeper’.
All v painless. They said only me and the wife can drive it, can’t be a pool car etc so I think they’re quite used to people doing it this way.

Exactly this, there is really no need to complicate it all... Mine is set up the same.

 

[Jason71]

Exactly this, there is really no need to complicate it all... Mine is set up the same.

me as well. Admiral wanted £50 extra of course but they were ok with it in principal.
And of course the insurance is still a legitimate expense that can be claimed back from the company. Since the company owns the car. Yes there is a benefit to you but that's what company car BiK is there to cover.

 

[Cjro]

I’m finding that the quotes are quite high to insure myself and the wife on the new car. Looking at 1,200 - 1,400 p/a, ok I admit I have 6 pts on my license but even when I take those off and try the quote is 800+. Maybe I should try changing my job title and see if that reduces things a bit!

 

[tomorrowman]

Yes I found 'Wall of Death' rider had an adverse impact on quotations.

 

[Jason71]

I’m finding that the quotes are quite high to insure myself and the wife on the new car. Looking at 1,200 - 1,400 p/a, ok I admit I have 6 pts on my license but even when I take those off and try the quote is 800+. Maybe I should try changing my job title and see if that reduces things a bit!

You know the M3 is in the highest insurance group there is right? That may have an impact

 

[scs8]

I would be really careful with the initial registration. I bought my car in the companies name but requested tesla to add me as the registered keeper. They didn't. They made the company both, then sent a letter for me to send to the DVLA to change the name. 5 months later the DVLA refused to make the change without adding an additional 'keeper' , essentially making it look like the car had been sold.

Admiral moved my insurance to registered keeper being the company for no charge. I wouldn't make any assumptions that Tesla will do what you ask so don't rely on an insurance provider with you as the keeper

 

[JS77]

I'm having a nightmare obtaining quotes at the moment - neither DL nor Churchill will offer insurance if you select "company" as legal owner during the quote! I even called DL and although the advisor couldn't comment on the specifics, he suggested it's because I'm not the "legal owner", but rather my LTD company is.

I went through Churchill again and selected myself as the legal owner and it gave me a quote... switched it back to "company" and they declined to quote.

I assume everyone above has just requested a personal quote (citing yourself as the legal owner) and then call the insurance company after the fact when your V5 document turns up and has the company as the legal owner?

 

[JS77]

I would be really careful with the initial registration. I bought my car in the companies name but requested tesla to add me as the registered keeper. They didn't. They made the company both, then sent a letter for me to send to the DVLA to change the name. 5 months later the DVLA refused to make the change without adding an additional 'keeper' , essentially making it look like the car had been sold.

Admiral moved my insurance to registered keeper being the company for no charge. I wouldn't make any assumptions that Tesla will do what you ask so don't rely on an insurance provider with you as the keeper

At what point did you request this, and how? (ie. In-person, email etc) - I'm really curious as I'm due to collect next week!

 

[scs8]

At what point did you request this, and how? (ie. In-person, email etc) - I'm really curious as I'm due to collect next week!

I requested it on the phone (to the delivery number not a service center) before collection, about a month before, I then confirmed after paying about 3-4 days before collection. On the day of collection it was too late it had already been done in the companies name.

 

[curmudgeon]

At what point did you request this, and how? (ie. In-person, email etc) - I'm really curious as I'm due to collect next week!

Tesla need an email to change the registration details from company to individual.
Phone them and get the right email address and then email them, otherwise they just put the company name on the V5 and its a PITA to change once done.

The cars are registered on the day of delivery. My account page changed to look like this a few days before delivery (the register personally bit) :