Can I drive a car home after buying it without insurance?

What the law requires

GOV.UK says you must have motor insurance to drive a vehicle on UK roads, and that third party insurance is the legal minimum. Third party cover protects you if you cause damage or injury to other people, vehicles, animals or property; it does not pay for repairs to your own vehicle.

GOV.UK’s step-by-step guide to buying a vehicle puts it plainly: you must have insurance before you can use the vehicle on the road. That applies from the first mile, including the journey home from the seller.

The car being insured is not the same as you being insured

GOV.UK warns that even if the vehicle itself is insured, you can be penalised if you are not correctly insured to drive it. So do not assume that cover already on the car applies to you: check that you are insured to drive it before you collect.

You can check whether a vehicle is insured on askMID, the Motor Insurance Database service GOV.UK links to.

What happens if you drive uninsured

The police can give a fixed penalty of £300 and 6 penalty points. If the case goes to court you can get an unlimited fine and be disqualified from driving. The police can also seize the vehicle and, in some cases, destroy it.

Tax and MOT as well

You must tax a car you have bought before you drive it, because the previous keeper’s tax is not transferred to you. If the car needs an MOT it must have a valid one, apart from the journeys to a repair or a pre-arranged test that GOV.UK allows.

Northern Ireland

GOV.UK notes that there are different rules for vehicle insurance in Northern Ireland, so check nidirect if you are buying there.