Direct Line Car Insurance Price Hike?

Ditzy_Mitzy

janze1 said:

Should we pay for a green card to go to France. I am with Direct Line and they charged £33 for 10 days abroad

I assume you'll have to if it's not included in the normal terms of the policy.  My Direct Line policy doesn't provide automatic cover for foreign driving, other than Southern Ireland, either.

Sandtree

janze1 said:

Should we pay for a green card to go to France. I am with Direct Line and they charged £33 for 10 days abroad

Why randomly add this onto a question about renewal pricing rather than start your own thread?

Lets first of all separate the "green card" from if you are insured or not... you have no legal requirement for a physical greencard whilst we are under the transitional arrangement with the EU and you are driving in the EU with a UK insurer. The card itself is just proof of having insurance and your certificate of motor insurance has been sufficient for decades.

All Motor insurance issued by an EU insurer must provide the legal minimum insurance for the vehicle to be taken into any other EU state as standard. This continues to apply to the UK whilst under the transitional arrangements. If you example you were living in France and coming to the UK under your French insurance then you would be covered at a level just under "Third Party Only" (known as RTA Only and only exists for commercial fleets in the UK generally). 

Each country has its own minimum insurance requirements, though they are roughly similar, and so if you go to France then Direct Line would only cover you to the French minimum.

Now many people don't want just TPO when they go abroad but want TPFT or Comprehensive and so if your insurance doesn't include this as standard you can pay extra to mirror your current level of protection whilst you are away. There is no legal requirement to do this.

The above will probably change once the transitional period ends this year.