I'm just about to pick up my personally imported car from Europe, and I'm having real problems getting it insured for the drive back from Holland to the UK. Once it is in the UK it seems fine, but the problem is how do I get it there?

I tried my previous insurer (Direct Line) and they will insure it on the chassis number, but it is only covered when it gets into the UK. I've phoned a few insurers now, and this seems to be fairly standard.

It seems the rules have changed in the last few weeks(?), as when I previously looked into this when I started the purchase process there didn't seem to be a problem with UK insurers covering cars "in transit" - as they term it - back to the UK, simply by modifying the policy to allow European driving.

I have *some* coverage as part of the insurance from the dealer (although I'm not sure if that is just in Holland, or continental Europe? - I guess just Holland). Not sure of the extent of this cover (I think the equivalent of third-party), and I don't really want to risk a trip through Europe in my new car on that!

Has anyone else come up against this? Surely enough people in this country import cars from Europe for this not to be a problem?

Any advice would be gladly received!

Thanks,

Christian

Hi Christian,

I picked up my car form holland a few months ago, like you I was becoming v worried about the prospect of not been able to obtain fully comp insurance for the drive back.

This was 2 months ago now so I dont know if the situation has changed but I got insurance through Greenlight (contact - Neil Fehily) on 01 277 263 773 or 01 277 263 030

You might want to do a search on uk.rec.car.imports (paul baldam) frequently post a list of know suppliers (below is the current list)

Insurance cover for EU import drive - known suppliers - issue 14
=============================================
Churchill 28/11/00
0800 200 326
"were happy to sell me 2 weeks comprehensive cover for the trip on
the VIN. Cost.. about £10 I think (being an existing customer)"

PS - theres also a section on insurance at

IF you have no luck why not do what a few others are doing -

Get the dealer to mail you Certificate of Confirmity, invoice etc. Then register the car (make sure you use a VRO office which doesn't want to see the car), Wait for reg plate & tax disk then get plates made and take with you for collection.

Markab and Gizmo, thanks for the replies - some very useful advice and info.

I gave Greenlight a call, and they quoted me £190 for 1 months cover - which seemed a bit pricey!

I tried a few of the other insurers, but they seemed to be closed (it was late on Saturday afternoon), so I'll try again on Monday.

Gizmo, unfortunately registering the car in the UK beforehand is no longer an option as I've booked flights etc. (non-refundable!), so I guess it would cost me more than taking the sting for the insurance. Sounds like a good idea for anyone else experiencing these problems though...

I'll post what quotes a get from the other insurers on Monday, for everyone's reference.

Cheers and thanks for the help!

Christian

Try Bell Direct

0800140180

I eventually went with Hill House Hammond, who were quite reasonable. In the end I ended up paying £8 a month more than the best quote I had previously, so it could have been worse.

Thanks for all the responses. All I've got to do now is pick the car up next Monday - after a boozy weekend in Amsterdam ;-)

Cheers,

Christian

Try What Car insurance (see number above). They provided me with fully comp insurance back from the dealer in September, and provided just about the cheapest quote anyway.

The only restriction was that they would only provide laid-up cover (fire and theft) until you've got your UK plates.

Pete

Frizzell (Liverpool Victoria) covered me for the drive back from Holland. Cost was about £20. Frizzell were also by far the cheapest insurers for the car generally - £650 compared to an average quote of around £1000...

Frizzell - 01202 752007

Nick

Christian


I got my Holand dealer to arrange the appropiate european insurance. It cost £50. Then my uk insurance company took over.

Mark