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Help - non EU couple living in the UK need car insurance

Gregory4u
Gregory4u Posts: 2 Newbie
in Motoring
Friends of mine from Moldova have recently moved to the UK and got a car but are struggling to find affordable insurance after being messed around by a provider found through money supermarket. They got a deal for about £750 and said very clearly their licences were Moldovan even though they are EU citizens. The agent appears to have ignored this and the underwriter has subsequently withdrawn the insurance as of next week having processed the paperwork. We then got a quote over the phone with Direct line but the "deal" was £1400. And we wonder why we have problems with uninsured foreign drivers doing jobs we don't want on the minimum wage! Can anyone offer any suggestions for companies it is worth contacting? Thanks for any help.
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Comments

  • forgotmyname
    forgotmyname Posts: 33,098 Forumite
    Part of the Furniture 10,000 Posts Name Dropper
    Unless its changed recently. The licence is only valid for 1 year from entry to the UK then they will need to get a UK licence.

    Is it true that applying for a UK provisional to learn to drive in the UK means their current licence wont be valid?

    I hope they have that car off the road and SORN it.
    Censorship Reigns Supreme in Troll City...

  • Quiet_Spark
    Quiet_Spark Posts: 1,093 Forumite
    Gregory4u wrote: »
    And we wonder why we have problems with uninsured foreign drivers
    The police have no problems taking someone off the road if they don't have a licence or insurance, and rightly so.
    Gregory4u wrote: »
    Can anyone offer any suggestions for companies it is worth contacting? Thanks for any help.
    Bring a (legal in Moldova) vehicle over and use it for 12 months before going home for at least 6 months, or exchange the Moldavian licence for a UK one if they intend to stay longer.
    If neither of those options are viable, your friends will have to take the hit if they wish to drive legally in the UK.
    Understeer is when you hit a wall with the front of your car
    Oversteer is when you hit a wall with the back of your car
    Horsepower is how fast your car hits the wall
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  • AdrianC
    AdrianC Posts: 42,189 Forumite
    Eighth Anniversary 10,000 Posts Name Dropper
    Their passports are irrelevant. If they only hold non-EU licences, that's the key detail.

    Once they've been resident here for 12mo or more, their old licence is no longer valid for driving in the UK. They HAVE to apply for a UK licence.
    https://www.gov.uk/driving-nongb-licence/y/a-resident-of-great-britain/full-car-and-or-motorcycle/any-other-country

    So, as it stands, they have bought an insurance policy but won't legally be able to drive for the full term of it.
  • AdrianC
    AdrianC Posts: 42,189 Forumite
    Eighth Anniversary 10,000 Posts Name Dropper
    Quiet_Spark wrote: »
    Bring a (legal in Moldova) vehicle over and use it for 12 months before going home for at least 6 months
    Apart from the inaccuracy over the time (visitors can only drive on their temporary-import foreign plates for six months out of 12, not 12 out of 18), they're resident here - so can't drive a foreign-registered vehicle at all other than in certain circumstances. A UK policy wouldn't cover it anyway, and buying a year's insurance kinda shows they fail the "planning to stay for six mo or more" test.

    https://www.gov.uk/importing-vehicles-into-the-uk/temporary-imports
  • Gregory4u
    Gregory4u Posts: 2 Newbie
    edited 13 September 2014 at 12:29AM
    The car is british. They are applying for British licences. The point is that they are not going to drive after the period of 1 week provided by the selectively deaf insurer and are trying to buy insurance they can afford without being messed around again by idiots like go skippy. My request was not about the length of time non eu drivers can use their licences for. Recent means in the uk for weeks. Looking forward to someone with experience of an easier to deal with insurer thereby contributing to a nice civilised society where everyone has car insurance.
  • AdrianC
    AdrianC Posts: 42,189 Forumite
    Eighth Anniversary 10,000 Posts Name Dropper
    Gregory4u wrote: »
    They are applying for British licences.
    My request was not about the length of time non eu drivers can use their licences for.

    Actually, yes, it was.

    Put simply, they do not currently have licences that will last the duration of the policy they're trying to buy.
  • GwylimT
    GwylimT Posts: 6,530 Forumite
    1,000 Posts Combo Breaker
    My wife's sister was able to retain her current insurance policy (from the states) and simply use her UK address.
  • AdrianC
    AdrianC Posts: 42,189 Forumite
    Eighth Anniversary 10,000 Posts Name Dropper
    GwylimT wrote: »
    My wife's sister was able to retain her current insurance policy (from the states) and simply use her UK address.
    A US insurer wouldn't meet UK RTA requirements, so would be somewhere around chocolate teapot for a UK-reg car.
  • knightstyle
    knightstyle Posts: 7,411 Forumite
    Part of the Furniture 1,000 Posts Photogenic Name Dropper
    Have a chat with Stuart Collins who are specialists in dealing with this problem. 1792 655562 https://www.stuartcollins.com/
  • zappahey
    zappahey Posts: 2,254 Forumite
    Part of the Furniture 1,000 Posts Name Dropper Combo Breaker
    AdrianC wrote: »
    A US insurer wouldn't meet UK RTA requirements, so would be somewhere around chocolate teapot for a UK-reg car.

    Since you don't know the circumstances, you're being rather presumptuous there.
    What goes around - comes around
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