HPI and Insurance (Car initially imported from IOM)

[jelluzz]

Afternoon all!

Couple of questions with regards to a car my partner is bugging me about and couldn't find anything relevant with some searching...

Saw a car for sale on PH for SWMBO, spoke to dealership and car seems spot on... happy days. Asked about service history, dealer said the car was originally located in the Isle of Man as well as confirming F Main Dealer SH etc. etc. etc... happier days

Passed the vehicle reg. to SWMBO who works as part of the motor trade (accounts not sales) as she gets everything she has interest in HPI'd.

Now...

She calls me back and says the HPI check is incomplete as the car was originally registered the Isle of Man so gives an incorrect valuation and also that she would have to insure the car as an import due to the fact its from Isle of Man and also that the price the dealership is charging (which is fair for an original UK car is too high as the car is classed as an import...)

Is this entirely true? I know from Jap imports etc. the need to declare the car as an import but I did not think that the value and the insurance would be an issue for a car from the IoM!!

Just incase anyone asks:

Car already has a UK reg (59-plate) with a build date of the end of 2009 based on a VIN decode, was imported to the UK in around 2012/2013.

Any help would be much appreciated!

Thanks

[TwigtheWonderkid]

I don't know, but I could well imagine that a car built for the IOM market might come with a lesser security system than the same UK model. So I wouldn't be surprised at having to treat it as an imported model.

I could be talking tripe though, it's not unknown.

[mgv8]

We are all part of the thing called the EU so makes no odds. Only if it was left hand drive would there be a problem.

[jelluzz]

mgv8 said:

We are all part of the thing called the EU so makes no odds. Only if it was left hand drive would there be a problem.

Interesting, that's what I believed but she seems adamant that it is a problem.

Thanks for the info so far.

[TwigtheWonderkid]

mgv8 said:

We are all part of the thing called the EU so makes no odds. Only if it was left hand drive would there be a problem.

Is it not reasonable to think that a manufacturer might spec two identically named models differently depending on the market they were destined for, say Portugal and Finland. Isn't the Finnish insurer entitled to know that the car they are insuring isn't the one built for Finland, but for Portugal. And charge accordingly.

The Portugal model might come with climate control, that they left off the Finland car in favour of some fancy anti skid system.

[jelluzz]

TwigtheWonderkid said:

Is it not reasonable to think that a manufacturer might spec two identically named models differently depending on the market they were destined for, say Portugal and Finland. Isn't the Finnish insurer entitled to know that the car they are insuring isn't the one built for Finland, but for Portugal. And charge accordingly.

The Portugal model might come with climate control, that they left off the Finland car in favour of some fancy anti skid system.

I see what you mean, had a look through at the spec sheet using a VIN decoder and the car is UK spec. Sorry, should have made that clearer in the first post.

[bigmowley]

Assuming the car was first registered in the Isle of Man then it is a full UK spec car, thus not an import. I am based in the Isle of Man and move cars backwards and forwards regularly. I have never experienced any difficulty in either direction. The vehicle licensing office in the Isle of Man are very approachable and helpful so give them a ring if you are concerned.
As far as value goes it shouldn't make any difference at all, never has to any of my deals.

[Rude-boy]

All this sounds quite odd.

I have bought 3 cars over the years which have had 'IOM history' importing 2 myself!

Not one insurance company ever considered either car to be worth less than on bought on the mainland. I suspect that any manufacture would laugh themselves silly at the suggestion that they down grade the spec of anything for an IOM car.

Do you know the full history of the car? One thing that happened with all of mine was that they were bought on the mainland new and then 'imported' to the IOM. The biggest PITA i had was to pay about £100 for a European Certificate of Conformity for my Audi, I believe that these days these are in almost all car manuals.

Don't forget this is the IOM we are talking about, not Japan.

I can't help on the HIP bit though, only to say that the Boxster (which was a C16 car and started off life on the mainland, then went to IOM then came back about 2 owners before me) was HPId by the chap who sold it to me and that got a certificate and was all good.

[anothernameitist]

you summed up the issue yourself

SWMBO.

Some women are never satisfied.

As an earlier poster said it's more than likely a UK spec car, that's now living over here

[Mandat]

Isn't the IOM part of the UK anyway, therefore the car would be an official UK model, rather than an import?

[Gavia]

Do people really hunk that a car manufacturer looked a little island off the NW coast and thought "Oooooo there's a completely different market there, lets change the specs of the car massively, as it'll be a real money spinner for the 8 new cars we sell there every year".

It's not an import, it'll be a UK Spec model. End of.

[TwigtheWonderkid]

Mandat said:

Isn't the IOM part of the UK anyway,

No.

[TwigtheWonderkid]

mgv8 said:

We are all part of the thing called the EU so makes no odds. Only if it was left hand drive would there be a problem.

IOM isn't part of the EU.

[Gavia]

TwigtheWonderkid said:

mgv8 said:

We are all part of the thing called the EU so makes no odds. Only if it was left hand drive would there be a problem.

IOM isn't part of the EU.

It's also not part of the UK as someone suggested further up the thread. The car will still be a full UK spec model, no matter what the OP's wife thinks and it's certainly not worth less than an identical one that's been registered here since day one, despite what the the salesman at her workplace will try to tell her.

Edited by Gavia on Monday 17th July 17:19

[poo at Paul's]

I cannot see it as an issue. it will be a UK car, there is no alternaltive market car for IMO to pick up , and Ireland one would have KMs not MPH etc, so sine IOM is all in MPH, there will be UK cars.

The fact it is already registered in the Uk gets over that "hurdle" and it is hardly hard anyway. MOT needed and send off form and old logbook.

it is not an "import" as far as insurance are concerned, but you should declare all. But they are very used to IOM cars, indeed, if you go to google and get the reg of an IOM car for sale, call you insurance for a quote, they will in 99 % of cases, be able to quote you on the IOM reg number. They have accesss to that database as they do the DVLA / mainland one.

What I have found is that some vehicles based on IOM (on manx reg) can be bought a little cheaper than on mainland, but that is only as the market is limited so far as Islanders are concerned. But this also allows for the transport back and the MOT / reg fee, so once here, I would expect it to the pretty much the same value as an equivalent mainland UK car.