Car Insurance for American girlefiend

jimmymcnulty

Him I am buying a new car this weekend, getting new insurance etc. My gf is visiting for a month from the states and as i am in London for 4 days at one point would like her to drive it. She is in her 50s and has a fairly long unblemished track record in the states. Is it cheaper to add her at the named driver at the start of the policy (which puts it up by £100 or is there another way to do it for a few weeks?

TELLIT01

Ask your insurer. They won't all have the same policy.  Excuse the pun.

unforeseen

Also, does she have a manual or automatic licence (it's predominantly automatic in the US) & are you buying a manual or automatic? 

DullGreyGuy

unforeseen said:

Also, does she have a manual or automatic licence (it's predominantly automatic in the US) & are you buying a manual or automatic? 

The US dont distinguish between the two on their licences so having never even sat in a car with stick they are legally allowed to drive one.

jimmymcnulty

thats a good point. she drives auto, mine is stick   and correct, licenses don't differentiate. I drive her car5 all the time when i'm there, she doesnt even need to notify her insurance  

Brie

Check how much the admin fees are for making changes.  If she's only visiting once in the policy year it might not be significant but she might show up again if she enjoys the English weather enough. 

But frankly unless she truly knows how to drive manual I wouldn't let her drive.  I had already learned to use a stick but even so it took a while to remember that I needed to use my left hand and not my right.  Smack the door several times at least as a result.  It would be even worse in London traffic.  

Emmia

When my then boyfriend and I went on holiday in my car, I was able to add him to my policy for a fairly small fee for a limited duration - I think it was an extra £10 or £20 for the week. Does your insurance offer a similar option?

I agree though that unless she's driven stick before I'd probably not let her near the car, it might be easier (less ruinous on your car) to hire an automatic car for her to drive for those days (if she wants to)