# Expat car insurance. what a joke



## Threeo (Jun 21, 2012)

Hello!

Moving to the uk in 3 weeks! GOt a great graduate job and was excited to buy a van and explore the country.... until i looked into insurance. With absurd premiums greater than the value of the car/van itself there must be a better way.

I've searched on this and other forums and got some leads but nothing seems to be any better.

Coming from outside the uk and EU. Done about 15 online quotes as well as I can, but still get absurd premiums.

I expect a slightly higher premium than usual UK-ians but 2000 gbp is a joke.

Can anyone offer any help or advice or companies to try?

Thanks for any help!!


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## Joppa (Sep 7, 2009)

Threeo said:


> Hello!
> 
> Moving to the uk in 3 weeks! GOt a great graduate job and was excited to buy a van and explore the country.... until i looked into insurance. With absurd premiums greater than the value of the car/van itself there must be a better way.
> 
> ...


It's going to be expensive as you are a non-standard risk, with no UK driving experience and no UK/EU driving licence. Changing to a UK licence (no tests needed for Aussie licence holder) may help. Until you've been here about 3 years and earned no claims discount, it's bound to be high. A few may honour Aussie no claims record, so bring your latest renewal notice, but most only honour UK (and sometimes EU) record.

I don't know what they are like for vans (campervans?), but Aviva and Direct Line are known to be competitive for recent arrivals. You must phone and don't use online quotation.
Also there are a couple of intermediaries that specialise in campervan/motorhome cover for temporary residents and new arrivals. https://www.hertsinsurance.com/walkabout.php and Camper Van Insurance and Motor Vehicle Insurance.


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## American transplant (Oct 25, 2011)

The best deal we found was with Aviva, the direct quote was £3500 for the year, but we went through Insureyourmotor.com who insure foreign license holders. They honored our no claims bonus from our previous insurer and gave us a rate of £500 for the year, granted this is for a small car.


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## 2farapart (Aug 18, 2011)

Same here with Aviva - my partner's full no-claims discount (from US) was also honoured by Aviva (arranged through our broker Swintons) - £330 fully comprehensive cover for a 2.0 litre sports coupé, by adding her to my insurance - so that's £330 for us both (another way that it might be possible to keep costs down).


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## Crawford (Jan 23, 2011)

Threeo said:


> Hello!
> 
> Moving to the uk in 3 weeks! GOt a great graduate job and was excited to buy a van and explore the country.... until i looked into insurance. With absurd premiums greater than the value of the car/van itself there must be a better way.
> 
> ...


Not at all unusual - when you go to a new country without any insurance history in that country you get hit with high rates.

After driving for some 30 years in the UK, when I arrived in the UK 12 years ago I was treated like a new 17 year old and my annual premium was 2,500 dollars a year for the first two years !


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## scotburn (Jan 14, 2013)

Just tried Downunder, wouldn't go near them, quoted over 800 quid for years comprehensive, that's with a full UK licence. Still looking, Aviva best so far.


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## Joppa (Sep 7, 2009)

Some peope have had success with Swinton Insurance. Not online but phone quote.


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## PrincessBambi41 (Nov 14, 2011)

My husband is an Aussie and he bought a car when he came over. It was expensive for him but we took out a multi car quote with Admiral and worked out a lot cheaper. They also took into account his no claims from Oz (we had to send proof of this). 
I'm not sure how you stand with a commercial vehicle - they probably don't cover those on multicar but might be worth asking.


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## Joppa (Sep 7, 2009)

CampoKid said:


> A van is a commercial vehicle and in my experience is always way more expensive than a similar car to insure.


OP means a CAMPERvan.


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## Kim_J (Apr 2, 2012)

We use NFU Mutual, just google them. Our insurance is dead cheap, even without the no claims.

Sent from my iPhone using ExpatForum


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