Advice on insuring and taxing a new used car
I went and test drove a used car from a trade seller the other day and was happy with it but, as the car needed a part to fix an issue with the air-conditioning, I didn't pay for the it there and then (just paid a deposit)
They told me they expect the part to be delivered and fitted on Thursday but they didn't sound very sure it would definitly happen that day
So I'm left wondering what I should do about setting up the insurance and tax on the car. I know I can't tax it until the purchase is complete and it's insured and I understand I can do this on my phone when I pick it up. However, there seems to be some warnings that it can take a while (up to 24h) for the online database to register that the car is insured so I'm unsure whether I should just setup the insurance now, even though I dont own the car yet, so there's time for the database to update.
My concern is the annual insurance is a reasonable lump sum to stump up and if something falls through with the sale I might struggle to get this back quickly (the insurer allows cancellation within 14 days for £25 fee but no idea how long it takes them to refund it). The alternative is I dont setup the insurance yet and do it on the day I complete the sale but then what happens if I cant pay the tax in the system, would I just have to leave the car there and go back again another day?
Anyone have any suggestions?