Car insurance and change of licence plates

aian

Good morning to all!

A great forum you've got here, lots of very useful info.

I moved to the UK recently and brought my car with me. The car has Greek licence plates and I want to register it with DVLA to get UK plates. I am trying to find some insurance that will cover me according to the relevant article at direct gov site. I contacted BIBA and they gave me some contact numbers but I got given some very high prices for a simple Hyundai Matrix 2008.

Has anyone ever imported a left-hand wheel EU car and registered it with UK plates that could give any help and guidelines on what to look for/avoid and any service places that can make the appropriate changes to the car (like speedometer, lights etc.)?

TIA

InsideInsurance

First of all, what is a very high premium?

Making the car legal for the UK generally only requires the lights to be changed, dual marked speedo and a rear fog lamp(s). In many cases it is simply a case of replacing the speedo's back plate and changing a setting on the headlights.

Secondly, your premiums will be high because you dont have experience of driving on UK roads and imported cars are more expensive to insure due to parts frequently being different to the UK equiv model and so meaning repairs take longer etc so more expensive.

aian

I got a quote of 882 pounds per year with Eviva, for full comprehensive insurance. They also told me that 3rd party insurance only would be over 1100 pounds per year. I think that is very expensive, isn't it?

Regarding the headlights, is it just a setting or I need to replace the lights with new ones? Do you have any info on that (or guide me where to find out more)?

Let me add that i have zero claims for all the years I've been driving (since 1995 that is).

InsideInsurance

£882 is not much given you will have no NCD which can represent up to a 70% discount, most people have maximum NCD and average premiums are around £400

As to how you adjust the lights, check the owners manual to see if it says anything in that, with my first car there was simply a screw at the back, my current car it is a setting in the ECM. If it doesnt say then speak to your dealer back home - the dealer here would probably not be certain if the UK version has different unit fitted to the ones you get back home.

MattLFC

£882 is very cheap when you consider that the average premium for an 18 year old who just passed their test in excess of £4000 right now. Driving on a Greek (EU) licence, and this being your first car over here, will inevtiably add risk to your policy, because you have never taken and/or passed, or even studied, for a UK driving test (consider driving on a different side of the road, different road signs and marking, different road laws etc - it's quite an increased risk and personally, I feel foreign drivers should be made to take a theory test if they wish to stay here - in fact looking at the standard on driving from British drivers not seeming to know what markings and signs [speed limits on NSL roads particuarly] mean, renewing your theory certificate should be compulsary requirement every 10 years IMHO). Even if you transfer your licence over to a UK licence, the insurance companies will know, though it may reduce the premium a tad.

Some insurance companies will accept a prrof of NCD from a foreign insurer, provided it is written in English and meets the insurers own criteria for proof of NCD, so it may be worth contact your previous insurer.

My better half is Italian, lived here a few years, and has 1 year NCB in this country, but has had her Italian licence since 2003. She was paying £2400 per year, I think it went down to the £1100 level with the 1yr NCB. She was told changing the licence over to a UK licence would knock a bit off, but she prefers to keep it Italian. This was on a 1.2 Corsa, she had lived in the UK for 12 months before she purchased it, and is in a high-end professional job (surgeon), which usually bodes well for insurance. Fortunately, her insurance costs are refunded in their entirity by the company she works for, as she is required to be on call in case of emergency situations every day not designated as a holiday, so it's not an issue with regards cost, but it just illustrates that your premium is relatively low.

aian

I feel the same way too, and I'd be more than happy to pass a new driving test, even every year if that would prove I am capable of driving in the UK.

I will definitely contact my previous insurer.

Thanks for eceryone's answers and help, really appreciated

CKhalvashi

InsideInsurance wrote: »

First of all, what is a very high premium?

Making the car legal for the UK generally only requires the lights to be changed, dual marked speedo and a rear fog lamp(s). In many cases it is simply a case of replacing the speedo's back plate and changing a setting on the headlights.

Secondly, your premiums will be high because you dont have experience of driving on UK roads and imported cars are more expensive to insure due to parts frequently being different to the UK equiv model and so meaning repairs take longer etc so more expensive.

You don't need to change the speedo; as long as it clearly displays km.

I've used this photo before as an example, so I'll use them again now; This is OH's car, which clearly shows both

We've got a couple of (originally German) Mercs, which only have km/h on them, as they're EU models, they didn't need to take the SVA either, you simply need to do a plate transfer with DVLA.

CK

InsideInsurance

CKhalvashi wrote: »

You don't need to change the speedo; as long as it clearly displays km.

According to http://www.direct.gov.uk/prod_consum_dg/groups/dg_digitalassets/@dg/@en/@motor/documents/digitalasset/dg_071776.pdf it must have dual marked speedo - mph and km/h. Most european cars just have km/p