# Car insurance for Uk citizens who've NOT been residents in th Uk for the past 12 mths



## christmas (Jun 20, 2012)

Dear Ex-Pats and Fellow Members !

I've just joined today having come across your site by pure chance, while trying to find suitable car insurance company's !? What luck because I really need your help and advise please ?

My first and pressing question to you all is, does any one know of 'a' or ideally 'several' good car insurance company's that will insure my husband and I on a new car we intend to buy once we return to England at the beginning of August ? 

We'd like to buy a Skoda but Skoda Insurance wont insure us because we haven't been English residents for 12 months !!! It came as quite a shock ! 

We're both British and have held valid & full UK driving license's for over 20 years. We've also held Austrian diving license's for the past 8 years since living in Vienna. We've lived over seas for 16.5 years in my case and my husband's for 20.5 years. When ever we've been back for holidays I've always been put on my mother's insurance while borrowing her car. 

I imagine this must have happened to many of you too, so I'm hoping you can recommend your insurers or at least the first one's that would take you on ?

Many thanks in advance,
Anne-Marie


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## Joppa (Sep 7, 2009)

This is quite a common problem and online quotation tends to exclude non-UK residents or very recent arrivals (non-standard risk). So you either go through a broker or intermediary who may do business with certain underwriters who assume such risks, or go to insurers know to be sympathetic, such as AVIVA and Direct Line. Don't use their online quotation service but you need to speak to them direct. Insurers assume those without recent UK driving experience have a greater risk of making a claim, so your first-year premium may be higher but should come down after a year.


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## jojo (Sep 20, 2007)

I got insured straight away and with no problem when I returned to the UK after 4 years in Spain. They even carried my "no claims bonus" over - I'm with zurich now and I was with "Ibex" in Spain

Jo xxx


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## WestCoastCanadianGirl (Mar 17, 2012)

Will insurance companies accept drivers' abstracts from one's home country? While the abstract only states the date in 1988 when I got my license and only provides details of the last 5 years of my record, I pride myself with having a clean record with them.

How about my record with the Insurance Corporation of British Columbia? I have a long term safe driving 40% discount with them... by law, they're the only purveyors of mandatory basic auto insurance coverage in BC, so I'm pretty sure that I can get something in writing from them showing that I'm a good insurance risk.


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## 2farapart (Aug 18, 2011)

I insured my partner with Aviva. Adding her to my policy barely increased it - something like £2 extra for a year's fully comprehensive cover (£330). As Joppa stated, I spoke to my broker (Swintons) on the phone and explained that my partner is a US national with a US driving license now resident in the UK, and will be taking the UK driving test towards the end of the year. They asked if she'd made any claims or had any accidents in the last 5 years (no) and so they gave me my £330 quote with Aviva, or £502 with a second company they didn't name. The quote carries a £300 excess on everything, but it was much better than I'd expected. Given the premium was more or less the same as it always is for me alone, I presume they accepted my partner's no-claims history.


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## Joppa (Sep 7, 2009)

WestCoastCanadianGirl said:


> Will insurance companies accept drivers' abstracts from one's home country? While the abstract only states the date in 1988 when I got my license and only provides details of the last 5 years of my record, I pride myself with having a clean record with them.
> 
> How about my record with the Insurance Corporation of British Columbia? I have a long term safe driving 40% discount with them... by law, they're the only purveyors of mandatory basic auto insurance coverage in BC, so I'm pretty sure that I can get something in writing from them showing that I'm a good insurance risk.


Sometimes with EU driving record but never elsewhere. As I said, you need to speak to insurance companies or brokers and get personalised quote.


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## christmas (Jun 20, 2012)

Many many thanks Joppa, Jo and 2 farapart ! 

Jo you didn't say who your first insurer in England was, can you remember by any chance ?

Thanks all of you and I'll definitely ring AVIVA, Direct Line and Swintons today and I feel far more confident !

If I come up with another option I'll let you all know.

Thank you once again,

My Best wishes,
Anne-Marie


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## jojo (Sep 20, 2007)

christmas said:


> Jo you didn't say who your first insurer in England was, can you remember by any chance ?


Car insurance quotes | UK car insurance | Zurich Insurance

Jo xxx


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