UK car insurance for overseas residents when visiting UK

Phrozenpenguin

Phrozenpenguin

Phrozenpenguin

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Joined
20 Oct 2002
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484
Looking for some help here re car insurance. We live overseas now but born and lived in the UK for 20+ years. Previously on trips back we have used family vehicles and they have added us to their insurance with no issues - a small charge but to be expected.

We are planning another trip, but it seems hard to get insurance. One family member their current insurer will not add us, another will but it doubles the cost of the insurance. We are all 35+, no accident etc so I would have expected "low risk".

The issue seems to be being classed as a "non-resident". I'm not sure if rules have changed or previously we missed this. For what it is worth, we did our driving test in the UK, live in a country with the same road rules, drive on same side of road etc.
 
The stumbling block seems to be we are “non resident” ie don’t normally live in the U.K.

We have U.K. driving license.

Hiring a car is something we have looked into. It is more expensive and also gives us less flexibility eg car seats, roof racks etc. So would prefer not to resort to this.
 
If you live overseas, how do you still have your UK driving license, do you not need to exchange it?

When we moved we had to exchange ours, which means we can't be added to family members policys.
 
Terminal_Boy said:
Assuming that you drive a car where you currently reside, will your current insurance agent not add overseas car insurance for a reasonable fee?
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Where we are you insure the car not the driver e.g. any driver over 25 can drive our insured vehicle and be fully insured. An owner of vehicle needs to be specified but they do not have to be main driver etc. I don't think they are setup for overseas options but will explore further.

pacegod said:
If you live overseas, how do you still have your UK driving license, do you not need to exchange it?

When we moved we had to exchange ours, which means we can't be added to family members policys.
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I understand I can't renew it when it expires (because I'm not resident), but there was no need to exchange it (on the UK side) unless we missed something. What would we have exchanged it for?
 
Phrozenpenguin said:
Where we are you insure the car not the driver e.g. any driver over 25 can drive our insured vehicle and be fully insured. An owner of vehicle needs to be specified but they do not have to be main driver etc. I don't think they are setup for overseas options but will explore further.


I understand I can't renew it when it expires (because I'm not resident), but there was no need to exchange it (on the UK side) unless we missed something. What would we have exchanged it for?
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We exchanged ours for a French license, and were informed by the DVLA to do so as we were no longer UK residents, and we should not have a UK driving license.

If you are not a UK resident you shouldnt be able to renw your license either. I'd call the DVLA.
 
Yes, I understand the UK license isn't renewable. Regardless, the license part of things doesn't seem to be the issue - the issue is insurance generally not wanting to include "non residents" on an insurance policy. This was really what I was after some assistance with - hoping for recommendations for particular firms which aren't so rigid or are more suited to our needs. Seems we might not be missing anything and just have to go with the expensive option that does seem to be available.
 
Before we swapped our license, we could never find anyone who would insure us on family members cars. They ask for our address, find out its not UK and turned us down.
As you say, looks like you'll just have to pay.
 
Yes, you will just have to pay
About 6 years ago I put my niece from NZ on my insurance for a month and it was admin fee only. She only had a NZ licence
3 years ago her mum (my sister) wanted the same and it proved impossible, and she still has a UK licence
So something must have changed in the way the industry assess risk in the interim, for non residents
 
pacegod said:
Before we swapped our license, we could never find anyone who would insure us on family members cars. They ask for our address, find out its not UK and turned us down.
As you say, looks like you'll just have to pay.
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Thanks, at least we weren't missing something.

Pipe & Slippers said:
Yes, you will just have to pay
About 6 years ago I put my niece from NZ on my insurance for a month and it was admin fee only. She only had a NZ licence
3 years ago her mum (my sister) wanted the same and it proved impossible, and she still has a UK licence
So something must have changed in the way the industry assess risk in the interim, for non residents
Click to expand...
Thanks - yes that is similar to what we are finding. Good to know it's not just us though.
 
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