Insurance for American Licence holder

[Stevenj214]

Can anyone recommend insurance companies who are competitive when quoting for a US licence holder on a UK registered car?

[Council Baby]

This is probably one for general gassing rather than the lounge mate, click report if you want a mod to move it, good luck!

[redtwin]

At the time I used Norwich Union (now Aviva), as they recognized No Claims earned in the US. Direct Line are another option, but they would not insure me on a group 15 car I had at the time, never mentioned the restriction beforehand though.

Is the person just visiting or moving here permanently/long term?. I only ask as I ran into (sort of) an issue when I applied for a UK provisional which superseded my US license entitlements. Didn't know that at the time though, so I was driving for months illegally and uninsured.

[sawman]

Two years ago I was able to get insurance while on a canadian licence, with tesco. Aviva was significantly more expensive foe me - I was trying to insure a merc c class estate on merseyside at the time

[Tom H]

Sent you a message ...

[Mactheknife]

I've had no luck on this one either! GF is US Licence holder and I can't get her insured for my classic, Lancaster said she had to be driving on the UK for 5 years, which is odd considering they only have 1 year on the US licence before they have to take our test. if anyone knows of a classic car insurance company that will cover US drivers I'd be interested to hear.

[sawman]

Mactheknife said:

I've had no luck on this one either! GF is US Licence holder and I can't get her insured for my classic, Lancaster said she had to be driving on the UK for 5 years, which is odd considering they only have 1 year on the US licence before they have to take our test. if anyone knows of a classic car insurance company that will cover US drivers I'd be interested to hear.

I also insured my morgan on a classic policy with Gott & Wynn (they are brokers, google will find them), no problems with the canadian licence there either, although in fairness I had previously held a UK licence.

Can your GF swap her US licence for a UK one, or will she need to do a test?

[Mactheknife]

Thanks. I'll try them and see what they say.
As far as I know she'll have to do the test in a year. Unless anyone can tell me different?

[redtwin]

US license is valid for a year. If she applies for a UK provisional before the year is out then it supersedes the US license which means all the provisional restrictions apply, L plates, accompanied etc.

No swapping US license either which means full test, theory, driving etc. I would recommend getting some proper lessons too. The UK driving test is vastly different to the US one. I took lessons despite 17 years driving experience and it was shocking from the first one just how much I would have to change driving habits in order to reach pass standard.

[Stevenj214]

The advice on DVLA is fairly confusing re: American licence holders. Is the 1 year thing cumulative? Or can they come to the UK and drive for more than 1 year as long as they go home in between?

My girlfriend is over here to study so each summer she will go home. So 9 months UK, 3 months US, for 5 years. Does the 'year' restart each time she comes back?

[McSam]

Stevenj214 said:

The advice on DVLA is fairly confusing re: American licence holders. Is the 1 year thing cumulative? Or can they come to the UK and drive for more than 1 year as long as they go home in between?

My girlfriend is over here to study so each summer she will go home. So 9 months UK, 3 months US, for 5 years. Does the 'year' restart each time she comes back?

Yes, it should restart each time, so you shouldn't need to worry about her replacing her licence with a UK one. It's only to stop permanent residents driving around on a foreign licence for years on end. The only problem you might run into is that she spends more time here than there..