Looking to insure a kiwi

wez130 · 22 Oct 2013 at 10:01

My gf is from NZ and has lived here for about 16 months, she has had a full NZ license for 10 years, going on confused et al seems to add about £1000 onto a premium to insure her, are there any specialist insurance companies which would insure her for less?

Thanks

[TW]Fox · 22 Oct 2013 at 12:13

Has she got a UK licence?

KongoBongo · 22 Oct 2013 at 12:26

If she only has a full NZ licence she can drive in Great Britain on her driving licence for 12 months from when she became resident.

After 12 months she will need to apply for a provisional licence and pass the theory and practical driving tests to drive in Great Britain.

To find the cheapest insurance I just visit multiple companies like LV and Churchill and get online quotes. Find this far more reliable than comparison sites.

sovietspybob · 22 Oct 2013 at 18:02

Yeah she'll need to get a UK licence to be able to drive on the roads from 4 months ago anyway so then it'll be the same as adding any newly passed driver onto your policy once she gets her test.

Destination · 22 Oct 2013 at 20:24

NZ might have a swap service, some countries do, where you can exchange one licence for the local one, in this case NZ for UK, ring DVLA and ask.
If she can exchange then she can avoid doing the test.
If not, she has to do it, as my wife did.

-edit, worth noting, if she continues to drive on a NZ license, she is driving illegally.
If they'd actually catch her or spot it is another thing.

wez130 · 22 Oct 2013 at 21:27

She hasn't driven over here yet, I won't let her until she is insured. I didn't know that about having to retake a test though!

Thx

ste_bla · 22 Oct 2013 at 21:35

dvla will give her a UK one for £50 as its nz

My sister just done hers a painless task!

[FnG]magnolia · 23 Oct 2013 at 00:24

There's a reciprocal arrangement between the two countries and she should not have to sit (or re-sit) anything.

e : unless things have changed in the last 4 years which is entirely possible.

Cybergangster · 23 Oct 2013 at 03:57

As said above, swap out at the DVLA for a small fee. The only test I faced back in NZ was an eye test...

hillbilly2 · 23 Oct 2013 at 10:51

Yep just swap it out with a UK one. I did this (NZ licence) 9 years ago. Pay a small fee and continue as normal.

wez130 · 27 Oct 2013 at 00:02

Just after some clarification again.

Filling in the details for her on confused, questions go as follows...

How long has she been in the uk, (16 months)
How long has she held her license (shes actually had her license for 10 years but max I can put in is 8)
Any claims in last 5 years (no)

Does that sound ok?

Thx

Berger · 27 Oct 2013 at 05:28

Phone the company up....

Destination · 27 Oct 2013 at 06:07

wez130 said:
Just after some clarification again.

Filling in the details for her on confused, questions go as follows...

How long has she been in the uk, (16 months)
How long has she held her license (shes actually had her license for 10 years but max I can put in is 8)
Any claims in last 5 years (no)

Does that sound ok?

Thx

No that isn't right.
The small print assumes a UK licence, read it.
Get her a UK licence else she will be driving illegally. We've told you this already.
Swap the licence first, then get her insured, she has been here more than twelve months, she can't drive on her NZ licence now.

If she has an accident and they investigate, they will void the claim.

wez130 · 27 Oct 2013 at 09:24

Hikari Kisugi said:
No that isn't right.
The small print assumes a UK licence, read it.
Get her a UK licence else she will be driving illegally. We've told you this already.
Swap the licence first, then get her insured, she has been here more than twelve months, she can't drive on her NZ licence now.

If she has an accident and they investigate, they will void the claim.

I think you misunderstand me, she's getting a uk license, but the questions know she has only been a UK resident for 16 months, but has had a license for 8 years, the form is clever enough to think she's too young to have had her license for 10 years and brings up errors, so surely it would bring up errors when i say she's had her license for 8 years, yet only been in UK for 16 months. After all, the question is, how long has she held a license, not specifically a UK license.

I'll probably ring a random insurance company to be sure.

[TW]Fox · 27 Oct 2013 at 09:34

wez130 said:
I think you misunderstand me, she's getting a uk license, but the questions know she has only been a UK resident for 16 months, but has had a license for 8 years

She hasn't hadnt a license for 8 years. It is asking about a UK license.

, the form is clever enough to think she's too young to have had her license for 10 years and brings up errors, so surely it would bring up errors when i say she's had her license for 8 years, yet only been in UK for 16 months. After all, the question is, how long has she held a license, not specifically a UK license.

Everyone here is telling you the question is how long has she had a UK license. The websites validation is implying the question is how long has she had a UK license by failing if license duration is greater than time in the UK.