Insurance for US expat
Discussion
Hi, looking for a pointer in the right direction,
Wife is from US and has moved here a few years ago and coming close to the second 2.5 years for the ILR visa. She is about to do he UK provisional and Driving tests befoere the year is out. She has over 20 years driving in the US with a clean licence - can this be passed on or at least used as a reference over here? We are looking for a car for her but I hope that it wont be like looking for a car for a 17yo new driver.
So is there a reputable insurere (or probably broker) that can be used in this instance that will count for 20 years and of clean driving in California?
Thank you in advance
Wife is from US and has moved here a few years ago and coming close to the second 2.5 years for the ILR visa. She is about to do he UK provisional and Driving tests befoere the year is out. She has over 20 years driving in the US with a clean licence - can this be passed on or at least used as a reference over here? We are looking for a car for her but I hope that it wont be like looking for a car for a 17yo new driver.
So is there a reputable insurere (or probably broker) that can be used in this instance that will count for 20 years and of clean driving in California?
Thank you in advance
Hi
Your best bet would be to try a broker such as Adrian Flux or A Plan and see if there is a friendly broker, Adrian Flux talk about US drivers on their website:
https://www.adrianflux.co.uk/foreign-ncb/?gclid=Cj...
Your best bet would be to try a broker such as Adrian Flux or A Plan and see if there is a friendly broker, Adrian Flux talk about US drivers on their website:
https://www.adrianflux.co.uk/foreign-ncb/?gclid=Cj...
As above, just use one of the price comparison websites
Everyone goes on about no claims discount but the effect is much less than I was expecting.
I have just returned from several years working in the US, long enough that I no longer have a UK NCD I can use. I was expecting to have problems and concerned about the cost.
My UK insurance is still less than I was paying in the US, despite now having two vehicles which are worth 3 times what my US vehicle was worth !
Everyone goes on about no claims discount but the effect is much less than I was expecting.
I have just returned from several years working in the US, long enough that I no longer have a UK NCD I can use. I was expecting to have problems and concerned about the cost.
My UK insurance is still less than I was paying in the US, despite now having two vehicles which are worth 3 times what my US vehicle was worth !
Big Raff said:
Wife is from US and has moved here a few years ago and coming close to the second 2.5 years for the ILR visa. She is about to do he UK provisional and Driving tests befoere the year is out. She has over 20 years driving in the US
Hard to tell from your original post, but you say she has been driving for 20 yrs in US, has she been driving in the UK? Maybe as a named driver. If so she's probably been driving illegally as she should have have passed her test within 12 months of moving to the UK. The ILR Visa makes no difference.If she hasn't but now wants to take her test, then fine, but she will need a provisional licence, L plates, and must not drive unaccompanied until she has passed.
Sorry, can't help you with the insurance question.
NGee said:
Hard to tell from your original post, but you say she has been driving for 20 yrs in US, has she been driving in the UK? Maybe as a named driver. If so she's probably been driving illegally as she should have have passed her test within 12 months of moving to the UK. The ILR Visa makes no difference.
If she hasn't but now wants to take her test, then fine, but she will need a provisional licence, L plates, and must not drive unaccompanied until she has passed.
Sorry, can't help you with the insurance question.
Hi, nope she hasn't driven here yet, shes got the provisional and theroy coming up in a few weeks. Can we put L plates on any car? If she hasn't but now wants to take her test, then fine, but she will need a provisional licence, L plates, and must not drive unaccompanied until she has passed.
Sorry, can't help you with the insurance question.
Thanks again for the advice
Big Raff said:
Hi, nope she hasn't driven here yet, shes got the provisional and theroy coming up in a few weeks. Can we put L plates on any car?
Thanks again for the advice
Yes, you can put L plates on any car but there are some cars you can't take your test in. (Mainly soft tops and others with poor visibility. I think they're listed on the DSA website)) It's also worth remembering (coming from USA) that if you pass the test in an automatic in the UK you won't be able to drive a manual.Thanks again for the advice
Oh yes,.....and then there's the roundabouts!!!
Big Raff said:
Hi, nope she hasn't driven here yet, shes got the provisional and theroy coming up in a few weeks. Can we put L plates on any car?
Thanks again for the advice
I’ll send a longer email tomorrow but yes, you can. Only proviso is that Supervising driver is over 21 and has held a licence for that category of vehicles for at least 3 years. Thanks again for the advice
Manual licences allow you to supervise a learner in an automatic car but not the other way around.
There aren’t many companies that offer learner insurance but one I recommend is a company that sounds like an orange based breakfast spread. The learner is insured themselves so the owner of the car has no impact on their insurance, if a claim is made.They also guarantee that they won’t put premiums up once the learner passes. However, it’s age limited to under 30 IIRC
Looking forward, some companies may credit you for no claims overseas. 1 is a Naval sounding one with an African/Asian Land mammal sounding subsidiary.
Just to clarify another poster, there’s no reciprocal agreement with USA. It’s part historic but also because each state has different licensing requirements.
2 things to mention...
1.If you do decide to be the supervising driver for practice, the law conveys the same responsibilities on you as the learner themselves. Therefore, don’t make any phone calls from a hand held device, don’t forget your glasses, don’t have a few ‘cheekies’ before supervising etc. (although, I do think this job should require you to be permanently pissed, sometimes!)It’s caught a few people out.
2.i receive a commission of between £10-£50 if a pupil takes a policy with the orange based spread sounding company. (Although, in a moment of madness, I ticked the box that said put it into the fund for disabled/disadvantage driver training) I try to be nice at least once a month!
Normally, I’d also say, don’t go anywhere near a learner without dual controls but I figure your wife has reasonable experience.
Edited by TVR1 on Friday 4th September 22:45
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