Short term car insurance for a Canadian?

emmonk

Hi

My sister-in-law is coming home from Canada over xmas and I want to insure her on my car. However my insurer (RAC) has refused as she became a Canadian citizen last year and now holds a Canadian licence (although she had a full UK one til then).

I tried Aviva short term insurance but it won't accept non-EU licences either!!

Does anyone know of companies that offer short term car insurance to Canadians?!

Thanks for your help.

Emma

huckster

A company called HIC Insurance should be able to arrange the cover you are looking for.
Their website is hertsinsurance.com

cogito

The stupidity of insurers clearly has no limits. Personally, I wouldn't accept the answer you've been given. Get back to the RAC and insist on speaking to someone with a brain.

Short term insurance is offered by Aviva although I wouldn't know off the top of my head if they will insure a Canadian citizen. Aviva own RAC. I wonder who RAC place your car insurance with.

huckster

Cognito

I think the information that RAC have given the poster may be correct. I have read many posts on this site and others, where people have had problems adding US, Canadian and Australian licence holders as temporary additional drivers.

In the back of my mind, I do recall some issues regarding these countries. I believe it has something to do with driving offences or legal liability and the ability to pursue these issues once they have left the UK.

raskazz

huckster wrote: »

Cognito

I think the information that RAC have given the poster may be correct. I have read many posts on this site and others, where people have had problems adding US, Canadian and Australian licence holders as temporary additional drivers.

In the back of my mind, I do recall some issues regarding these countries. I believe it has something to do with driving offences or legal liability and the ability to pursue these issues once they have left the UK.

This is the main crux of it. If they are involved in an accident then they will !!!!!! off back to Canada, leaving the insurer hamstrung when it comes to negotiating with third parties. Hence most insurers will always be reluctant to get involved.

The Canadian licence is really a secondary consideration.

cogito

In that case, could someone explain to me why self drive hire companies rent cars to visitors from overseas, including North America?

huckster

cogito wrote: »

In that case, could someone explain to me why self drive hire companies rent cars to visitors from overseas, including North America?

I have always wondered about that myself. I suppose the answer is that with a hirecar, you give your credit card number and agree to allow them to charge your card with such things as speeding offence fines, excesses. You also give your full contact details in the country where you reside, so you can be contacted. Plus the Insurance with a hire car, is probably for a higher average daily rate than standard annual Car Insurance and they probably also take out increased levels of reinsurance to cover their backsides.

I am pretty sure that in regard to car Insurance, it has something to do with agreements between governments, in regard to be able to pursue matters. Why for example is it more difficult for an Australian licence holder visiting the UK to obtain Insurance, than it is for someone from New Zealand?

dacouch

It is possibly down to New Zealand not having compulsory Insurance but having a basic injury insurance built into the registration cost of a car.

The larger car hire companies tend to have captive Insurers and tend to derive a large proportion of their customers from over seas visitors so have probably factored the additional risk of overseas visitors and spread the risk over all their customers. As Huckster has mentioned they also take their credit card details, often their passport details and have specifically drafted contracts.

I have written a few self drive hire policies for smaller operators (Upto 50 vehicles) and the Insurance tends to have a load of 25% for non UK or EEC licence holders (This is on the policies that come with the software to insure the vehicle each time it is rented out). They also have the no renting to US service personel who are not popular on most motor policies

raskazz

cogito wrote: »

In that case, could someone explain to me why self drive hire companies rent cars to visitors from overseas, including North America?

Apples and oranges, as dacouch and huckster have already explained.