Right well I'm in the process of importing my Irish registered ST170 and basically need to have it MOTed and insured before heading down the the local DVLA office to get it registered. Leaflet that came with the form says that obviously since it doesn't get a registration until after the process then it has to be insured on its VIN, is this easy to get done? Will most insurance companies do this? Anyone who has gone through this process who has tips feel free to share!
Insuring a car on the VIN and not registration
- Thread starter Blinkz
- Start date
Aren't used car prices in Ireland insane? I'd have thought it'd be a better idea to sell your car in Ireland and buy one in the UK
Given his location is Ireland maybe he already owns it and is bringing it to the UK mainland?
Actually Ireland has been hit worse them pretty more all of Europe with the current economic climate. The difference in price I could have got for it was out weighed by the simplicity of just bringing it over and changing reg. Otherwise I wouldn't have had any car once I came over here and I didn't want to have to rush to buy a car once back in the UK. I'm actually back in the UK now driving it on Irish plates so getting it sorted now. I'll have a look for quotes online and then give the cheapest ones a call and ask about insuring on the VIN.
Any insurer will do this, even the mainstream ones. When I insured my Cefiro with Direct Line, I just did an online quote told it I didn't know the reg number but here's the make and model, got the quote, then rang them up and asked to insure it on the chassis number as the car was unregistered.
Technically you're not allowed to drive an unregistered car on the road, except to and from an MOT, but in your case I think you're allowed to drive around with an Irish registered car for the first 6 (12?) months of your residency in the UK so this should be less of an issue. What some of the Jap import people do is book their MOT for the same day they collect the car from the docks, then drive it straight to the MOT station from the docks (stopping at a services to fit a foglight), and then drive it home. Don't forget to park it off road. Personally I had a 3rd part handle this part of the process for me.
Registering it is fairly easy, go down with all the paperwork you need, not sure what that is from within the EU but in my case it was the deregistration/export certificate, evidence that customs fees have been paid, insurance certificate (valid on the day you visit the DVLA) and a valid current MOT, also done on the VIN. You need the registration fee £50 and the money for however much road tax you want to buy
The DVLA will give you a tax disc, a replacement MOT certificate showing the new numberplate and a "certificate of entitlement" which allows you to get a plate made up at any numberplate supplier. You'll need to then phone your insurer and advise them of the new registration number, bolt your new plate to the car, put the tax in the windscreen and you're good to start driving.
Technically you're not allowed to drive an unregistered car on the road, except to and from an MOT, but in your case I think you're allowed to drive around with an Irish registered car for the first 6 (12?) months of your residency in the UK so this should be less of an issue. What some of the Jap import people do is book their MOT for the same day they collect the car from the docks, then drive it straight to the MOT station from the docks (stopping at a services to fit a foglight), and then drive it home. Don't forget to park it off road. Personally I had a 3rd part handle this part of the process for me.
Registering it is fairly easy, go down with all the paperwork you need, not sure what that is from within the EU but in my case it was the deregistration/export certificate, evidence that customs fees have been paid, insurance certificate (valid on the day you visit the DVLA) and a valid current MOT, also done on the VIN. You need the registration fee £50 and the money for however much road tax you want to buy
The DVLA will give you a tax disc, a replacement MOT certificate showing the new numberplate and a "certificate of entitlement" which allows you to get a plate made up at any numberplate supplier. You'll need to then phone your insurer and advise them of the new registration number, bolt your new plate to the car, put the tax in the windscreen and you're good to start driving.
This is turning out to be harder then I have expected. I have tried a number of insurance companies and none of them so far will insure it on its VIN, they all require the car to be insured in the UK before they will insure it!
To be fair, Adrian Flux are fine, however they are a brokers and when you have a claim, it's the underwriters you deal with. Flux will almost always put you with a company called Equity Red Star, who I once ended up with via a different broker.
Put frankly, ERS are ****e.
Firstly their protected no claims bonus is a con, most insurers you get one or more lives and any further claims reduce your NCB as normal, ie. 2 years per claim. So if you had 1 life and 3 claims you'd lose 4 years NCB.
Not so with ERS, one claim and you're fine, on the second claim you lose 4 years, on the third you lose another two meaning 6 years.
Thanks to that shower of ******** I faced going from six years NCB to zero due to: stolen/recovered, attempted theft, rear ended (non fault, admission of liability by 3rd party, 3rd party insurer slow to pay up). I ended up paying for the repairs for the rear ender myself as the £1200 repair bill was about equal to the value of my remaining 2 years NCB. It took me almost 3 years to get the money back off ERS and I got zero interest on it.
Put frankly, ERS are ****e.
Firstly their protected no claims bonus is a con, most insurers you get one or more lives and any further claims reduce your NCB as normal, ie. 2 years per claim. So if you had 1 life and 3 claims you'd lose 4 years NCB.
Not so with ERS, one claim and you're fine, on the second claim you lose 4 years, on the third you lose another two meaning 6 years.
Thanks to that shower of ******** I faced going from six years NCB to zero due to: stolen/recovered, attempted theft, rear ended (non fault, admission of liability by 3rd party, 3rd party insurer slow to pay up). I ended up paying for the repairs for the rear ender myself as the £1200 repair bill was about equal to the value of my remaining 2 years NCB. It took me almost 3 years to get the money back off ERS and I got zero interest on it.