An Aussie desperately in need of advice on car insurance!

EDC_2

Hello you wonderful MoneySavers!

I hope someone out there has some advise about getting cheap or even reasonable car insurance. Having gone through all the suggested routes Martin offers (which would be fab if I'd had a UK licence for as long I've had my aussie one & some no claim bonus years which were valid) as I am finding it near impossible.

So, here’s the thing. I've been living in the UK for nearly 5 years and have recently been given an old banger of a car by some mates who went to live back home in Australia. It's a 1987 VW Golf Driver.

I've only just traded in my Aussie drivers licence for a UK licence having no need for one previously. It arrived yesterday. Due to complicated circumstances (wallet stolen with aussie licence in it, had to get a replacement from oz which took 3 months (!) and then apply for a UK licence) I only yesterday received my UK licence. Unfortunately the MOT on my car ran out yesterday. (Blimey this is complicated!) Now to get the car MOT'd I need to get it insured but I don't want to pay for insurance and be out of pocket if the car's not worth having. So, I'm now in the process of trying to find an insurer who will;

1) Insure someone who has only held a UK drivers licence for 1 day and not charge £896 (as I have been quoted)

2) Guarantee I can get my money back if the car isn't worth having.

Problem number 2 isn't too hard to tackle, as there are a few providers out there who have a 14-day cooling off period if you buy on line. I just need to make sure I get the car MOT'd in that time!

Problem number 1 is a major major hassle and I am at the depths of my despair with it! That quote of £896 is no embellishment - it is seriously the cheapest I can find. It's the 'how long have you held a UK licence for' question that stumps me every time. I was hoping to pay no more for £350 as the car is seriously only worth about £250.

Any advice you can offer would help me enormously and maybe stop me from going outside and slashing my own tyres in despair!!

Sorry for the enormously long posting and thanks for reading!!!

EDC

Savvy_Sue

A broker might be a good person for someone like you to approach. They know which insurers might take into account 'foreign' licences, especially from Australia where I imagine the standard of driving is comparable to UK driving. And I presume it was a straight swap and you didn't have to take a test here?

seaniboy

you need insurance document to get road tax but not an MOT, norwich union do short term insurance if you want to insure the car to take to the garage if thats what you mean
http://www.dayinsure.com/retail/cmfeatures.aspx


are you sure none of the big UK companies will take your a copy of your Oz no claims bonus into consideration? this would make a dramatic difference regardless of a new UK licence, http://www.avivagroup.com.au/aviva/ was Norwich Union Australia until it rebranded but is still owned by Norwich Union UK Ltd so I assume since they play in the insurance game in australia they could contact Oz operations and work you out a better quote as they have access to what deal you would get with your Oz NCB on the same car back home, hopefully you could get them to match the Oz division, long shot but worth a try as may work out cheaper

actually get a quote from www.norwichunion.com
&
www.avivagroup.com.au


with your Oz NCB then approch Norwich Union UK with it and say you really want to take out a policy but you cannot justify the cost because the UK division will not take your Oz NCB into consideration, you may pull off cheaper car insurance as the UK market is v. expensive in comparison to Oz

sorry to be the burdon of bad news but compared to Oz you'll find it pretty dam expensive here to keep a car on the road after your insurance!

let us know if that the above helps

EDC_2

Thank you both for your replies, it's really nice to know I'm not alone out here!

My licence was a straight swap - just had to fork out £38 for the UK one and relinquish my Oz licence. No test was needed.

Seaniboy, in answer to your first question, yeah, I only need insurance for the days the car goes to the garage to see if it's worth keeping. If it's not, I'll scrap it or give it away to some other poor sod!

Quite depressingly I've just had a look at the dayinsure's website and I needed to have held a UK licence for a min of 12 months. The price is very good though - £10 for my car for a day. I've just sent them a message (no contact number was given) explaining my situation so hopefully they'll get back to me and be understanding.

The problem with the whole NCB thing is that i've lived over here on and off for nearly 5 years and in that time haven't had a car so, no insurance and no NCB. I'm not entirely sure that my insurance policy back home would still be applicable. But, I am definatly going to try my hardest to make it work.
If they take my NCB years driving back home my quote with Norwich Union is £242, if they don't then it's £687. Definatly not affordable!

I really want this car but am under no illusions that it might just be more hassle than it's worth. Thanks for taking the time to respond to me I'll be looking into it all and will get back to you with an update!

Cheers!

EDC_2

It's been a while since my first posting but I wanted to give a brief update and say thanks. I've gone with Virgin online car insurance and it came to a total of £468 which I'm paying for monthly. It seemed to be the cheapest that recognised my 10 years driving experience back home and the monthly installments are interest free. If I renew with them after my first year they will award me with 2 years NCB. This was def. the best offer I could find and they've a 14 day cooling off period if my car doesn't pass its MOT tomorrow or has too much wrong with it to be worth fixing.

Many thanks to all,
Em

EDC_2

ps: Norwich Union wouldn't recognise my NCB years back home and they were about £200 more expensive with an 8% monthly charge if you paid by installments.

SammyD_2

I had no problem with getting first Direct Line then Tesco to give me full NCB even though I had only had my UK licence for a few months, having traded in my New Zealand licence. I had to get proof from my NZ insurer, but they were prepared to treat me as having had a UK licence for the three years. They even gave me the 60% NCB even though my NZ NCB was for 45% which was the maximum over there.

Also, Tesco was fantastic when my dear husband drove the car into the back of a brand new mercedes.

Definately worth a go for others in your position.

EDC_2

Thanks for the tip - I shall look into them next time....

My car has just failed its MOT and it's not worth fixing so to the wreckers it is. Never mind. So I'll be asking Virgin to honour my 14 day cooling off period.

Anybody know where I can buy a cheap (that's no more than £450 cheap) car???! Ho hum.

Thanks for all the advice,
E.

Kaminari_2

https://www.gumtree.com

I'm in the same situation as yourself. If i want a UK drivers licence do i have to give them my Aussie one? I'd like to have both as i live on and off in both countries.

Savvy_Sue

b

EDC wrote:

Anybody know where I can buy a cheap (that's no more than £450 cheap) car???! Ho hum.

Not so much where as how: Bangernomics and Honest John.

Joannaclaire

Kaminari wrote:

https://www.gumtree.com

I'm in the same situation as yourself. If i want a UK drivers licence do i have to give them my Aussie one? I'd like to have both as i live on and off in both countries.

I'm in the same boat. Don't drive here (yet) but drive when I go home to Oz each year.