International Driving Insurance

dacouch

It will be very expensive for the OP bearing in mind his age.

He could try http://www.towergatewilsons.co.uk/car-insurance.aspx
http://www.tfinsuranceservices.co.uk/smallprint.html
http://www.forcesinsurance.co.uk/

Avoid like the plague any schemes that are underwritten by Tradex

vaio

Given globalisation and the EU free market, movement of goods & services etc etc , I’d be surprised if there was anything in the rules to stop any company insuring any car for use in any country on any registration plates.

In reality as soon as you move away from the high volume area (uk cars with uk plates and drivers for use on uk roads) it becomes individual and the price is probably going to sky rocket.

catflea

I've known people to insure classic VWs off the Chassis number rather than the reg plate due to them being on US plates..... dont ask me who with or how though

transatlanticrachael

hi everyone,
thanks for your replies. I'm not actually a member of the armed forces, and going with university out there so i don't think i'd qualify for the armed forces insurance. I'd rather not have to pop back all the time but would consider that. I'm with admiral at the moment. My insurance runs out in October and won't be going until January.

I looked up SAGA but i'm not 50 so they won't touch me!

dacouch

vaio wrote: »

Given globalisation and the EU free market, movement of goods & services etc etc , I’d be surprised if there was anything in the rules to stop any company insuring any car for use in any country on any registration plates.

In reality as soon as you move away from the high volume area (uk cars with uk plates and drivers for use on uk roads) it becomes individual and the price is probably going to sky rocket.

It's an international law that you insure your car in the country it is registered with the few exceptions. It is because of this law that forces in Germany and Shape have to reregister their cars with a BFG / Shape plate.

There is talk of it changing but it is complex and would take a long time to set up as there are lots of sticking points eg how would they handle claims, the insurance premium tax, the Insurance database the police use to check insurance (This is supposed to be Europe wide but most other countries have not implemented it yet) and the thing that will worry most countries is that the UK is the dominant player so they will worry that all of the premiums will leave their country and end up in the UK. On the Insurers side they will not have accurate data to rate insurance in other countries so will find it hard to provide premiums that are competitive but also make them money

The people insuring classic cars with yank number plates were probably not covered for road risks so in effect were just covered in their garages.

OP just because your not in the forces does not mean those companies will not quote, they will get asked to quote from UK people who are not forces or attached civil service. It's worth asking for a quote and if they can't help ask them to recommend someone who can

casey972

I've been looking at this also and Aviva will ensure for 6 months in several EU countries (Ireland is the important one for me) provided any 1 visit does not exceed 90 days

casey972

Ok, I've looked at Aviva again for you. It does cover the Netherlands and provides the minimum required cover there as part of your normal policy using the 90 day/6month limits above. You can upgrade for £26.25 a year to ensure the cover is the same as the UK but must still stick to the time limits above. This is what I will be doing.

Happy Studying

dacouch

casey972 wrote: »

Ok, I've looked at Aviva again for you. It does cover the Netherlands and provides the minimum required cover there as part of your normal policy using the 90 day/6month limits above. You can upgrade for £26.25 a year to ensure the cover is the same as the UK but must still stick to the time limits above. This is what I will be doing.

Happy Studying

If you buy an Aviva policy through a broker (Rather than direct) the foreign use (including the same cover as you have in the UK) of upto 90 days per trip is free and you get European RAC cover free of charge (You just pay for the RAC cover if you want breakdown cover when you are in the UK)

vaio

Another thought…….

If the OP drives a low value car (not unlikely given she’s going to university) then she could well be happy with just the minimum cover required in Holland which any UK policy is required to provide at no extra cost.

vaio

dacouch wrote: »

It's an international law that you insure your car in the country it is registered with the few exceptions. It is because of this law that forces in Germany and Shape have to reregister their cars with a BFG / Shape plate

This seems to go against the whole idea of the EU and the free movement of goods and services, do you know exactly what law this is?

There is talk of it changing but it is complex and would take a long time to set up as there are lots of sticking points eg how would they handle claims, the insurance premium tax, the Insurance database the police use to check insurance (This is supposed to be Europe wide but most other countries have not implemented it yet)………

None of these points are any different from the current system, I spend a couple of weeks in Germany every year, I can’t see any practical difference between me being insured by a UK company and driving for two weeks in Germany or being insured by an German company and driving for 50 weeks in the UK. Claims get paid either way, tax gets paid the same as any other tax on cross boarder shopping etc etc

………and the thing that will worry most countries is that the UK is the dominant player so they will worry that all of the premiums will leave their country and end up in the UK. On the Insurers side they will not have accurate data to rate insurance in other countries so will find it hard to provide premiums that are competitive but also make them money

Isn’t that the same for all financial services? I can have a bank account in Germany (or even Iceland!), I can have a mortgage from a French bank, why not insurance? As for the data issue, it’s the same as any other new entrant to the market, if you don’t have the data, you buy it, collect it, even guess it just as any other business wanting to enter any new market would have to do.

The people insuring classic cars with yank number plates were probably not covered for road risks so in effect were just covered in their garages.

Sensibly you should be able to insure any vehicle as long as it can be uniquely identified so chassis number will do as will overseas plates. Certainly back in the days when it was worth personally importing cars from the continent UK insurance companies were perfectly happy to insure cars on Belgium transit plates for use both in transit and in the UK, if they can do that for the five or ten days it takes to get the car back to the uk and get it uk registered then why can’t they do it for the whole year? Or for a Belgian bloke who drives on Belgian plates all the time?

I think it’s more about protectionism than anything else and whenever that happens consumers usually suffer