# UK Car Insurance - Help!



## heiff (Oct 21, 2008)

I'm a British citizen who's lived his entire life so far in the US. I'm moving to the UK in a couple weeks, and I'm trying to line up a car to buy quite soon after I arrive. 

I am more than a little confused about the issue of the insurance, though - what I've been led to believe thus far is that even though I've held insurance for years in the US with no claims and have a perfect driving record, every last UK insurance company is going to treat me as though I'm 16 years old and have never driven in my life, and thus charge me as a "high risk" policy holder. 

Is this really the last word on UK car insurance? Or is there anyone here who has had a positive experience with a particular insurance company? Any advice would be appreciated.

Thanks,

Ian


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## Stravinsky (Aug 12, 2007)

heiff said:


> I'm a British citizen who's lived his entire life so far in the US. I'm moving to the UK in a couple weeks, and I'm trying to line up a car to buy quite soon after I arrive.
> 
> I am more than a little confused about the issue of the insurance, though - what I've been led to believe thus far is that even though I've held insurance for years in the US with no claims and have a perfect driving record, every last UK insurance company is going to treat me as though I'm 16 years old and have never driven in my life, and thus charge me as a "high risk" policy holder.
> 
> ...


Not sure if it will be the same but when I moved here I got my UK insurance company to write a letter confirming I had "X" years and "X" % no claims. The Spanish company accepted that and gave me an introductory discount of 60%

I have used SKY Insurance as well as A Plan in the past, bith have been fine. Best you can do is google them and send them an email to ask. But definately get some supporting docs from your present insurer


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## Bevdeforges (Nov 16, 2007)

When I moved to Germany, the insurance agent told me that I could get a better rating if I provided a letter from either my insurer or the DMV showing that I had a clean driving record. In California, I was told it is the DMV (Dept. of Motor Vehicles) that issues such things.

Try getting your record from your state motor vehicle department. It doesn't always work - the "report" they send you doesn't really say much if you have a clean record (I got what amounted to a blank sheet of computer paper) and some insurers in Europe aren't sure what to make of it. But they might accept it!
Cheers,
Bev


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## littlehelper (Sep 18, 2008)

heiff said:


> I'm a British citizen who's lived his entire life so far in the US. I'm moving to the UK in a couple weeks, and I'm trying to line up a car to buy quite soon after I arrive.
> 
> I am more than a little confused about the issue of the insurance, though - what I've been led to believe thus far is that even though I've held insurance for years in the US with no claims and have a perfect driving record, every last UK insurance company is going to treat me as though I'm 16 years old and have never driven in my life, and thus charge me as a "high risk" policy holder.
> 
> ...


Hi Ian,

I've only had good experiences with Cooperative Car Insurance, for what it's worth


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## andy in germany (Aug 24, 2008)

I doubt it's the last word myself. Bring a letter - it should get you some discount, as should your age.


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## Eliska (Oct 14, 2008)

Stravinsky said:


> Not sure if it will be the same but when I moved here I got my UK insurance company to write a letter confirming I had "X" years and "X" % no claims. The Spanish company accepted that and gave me an introductory discount of 60%
> 
> I have used SKY Insurance as well as A Plan in the past, bith have been fine. Best you can do is google them and send them an email to ask. But definately get some supporting docs from your present insurer


I am afraid that this may be the case. However, as some alredy suggested in this thread, it might be worth to try to get a letter from your current USA isurance company to prove that you had no claims for however long.


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## mcrooks (Dec 21, 2008)

heiff said:


> I'm a British citizen who's lived his entire life so far in the US. I'm moving to the UK in a couple weeks, and I'm trying to line up a car to buy quite soon after I arrive.
> 
> I am more than a little confused about the issue of the insurance, though - what I've been led to believe thus far is that even though I've held insurance for years in the US with no claims and have a perfect driving record, every last UK insurance company is going to treat me as though I'm 16 years old and have never driven in my life, and thus charge me as a "high risk" policy holder.
> 
> ...


Hi Ian
Just saw your post and answered someone else similar to your question. You may have already arrived in the Uk as this post is old. My husband and I came from the US to the UK and ran into the same problem. We searched all kinds of insurance companies and some of their rates were ridiculous, like 2100.00 pounds! I finally found a company called Norwich Union who accept US licenses as most don't accept them. I have also heard that if you have had Geico insurance in the states, then they have a company out here called Geico who will insure you. Their rates were higher than Norwich, so we went with Norwich and have had no problems for almost a year. Now we are working on getting our UK licenses!
Good luck!
Michele


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## GVW (Jan 30, 2009)

Hi, 

I have had experience moving within Europe and have generally been able to get no claims with a letter from my current insurer saying I have a clean record. I am not sure if this is applicable outside of the EU but if you get a competitive quote without no claims I would give the insurer a call and ask them before you buy it. Also, having no no claims does not mean you will be considered as a 16 year old, insurance forms generally ask for your age and the number of years you have held a licence and will take these into account even without no claims. I suggest you use a comparison tool such as confused dot com to compare quotes and then call and talk to some of the most competitive to explain your situation.

Hope this helps!



heiff said:


> I'm a British citizen who's lived his entire life so far in the US. I'm moving to the UK in a couple weeks, and I'm trying to line up a car to buy quite soon after I arrive.
> 
> I am more than a little confused about the issue of the insurance, though - what I've been led to believe thus far is that even though I've held insurance for years in the US with no claims and have a perfect driving record, every last UK insurance company is going to treat me as though I'm 16 years old and have never driven in my life, and thus charge me as a "high risk" policy holder.
> 
> ...


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## travelnwork (Jan 26, 2009)

You are not out of options. We blew a lot of money doing exactly as you described...treated as though we were 16. Then we realized that GEICO does international car insurance at great rates! We had GEICO for 3 years prior to moving here, but I'm not sure it really matters. Our insurance through GEICO on a 15 year old used estate is about $400/year...yes, that is dollars....and no I do not work for GEICO


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## Ashley_Mc (Feb 11, 2009)

*Ibuyeco*

I am an American in the UK, and got insurance quite easily through a company called IbuyEco. They gave me a no claims discount after I got letters from my previous US insurance companies (which was a huge pain, as I had 3 in the last 5 years, because I moved states) and accepted my US driving license. I think I paid £370 for a year's insurance.


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