Car insurance for a foreigner...

[plounce]

I am British...my partner is not, I do not hold a driving license, she does (one from Guatemala) and has been driving for the past 7 years. We plan to head to the UK for 3 years next year and would love to be mobile (preferably a camper-van).

 

My question is if any of you good people know the ins and out of a foreigner (who has driving experience) would pay for insurance on a car that I buy, but she drives? I looked at a quote on the net and it said £7500 / year.....that surely can not be right, can anyone help?

 

Thank you all and hope i hear from you soon!

[afcwben]

you can start looking here https://www.gov.uk/non-gb-driving-licence

[ericsbrother]

If you wish to stay in the UK for any length of time she will need a UK driving licence. You will also need a permanent UK address, by that I mean somewhere you can be contacted by so you wont be able to live in the camper van without another house address.

[Surfer01]

Insurance will be very high. Although I had a clean driving licence with No Claims when I arrived in Britain in 1993, we paid £500 insurance on a car worth £500! Second year it was a whole lot cheaper.

We used my father's address when we lived in our touring caravan. We had no issues and it was all legit. You may be better off buying a small car to use for the first year to build up a bit of No Claims plus the driving licence and then a motorhome in the second or even third year.

Alternatively buy a decent old towing car and a second hand caravan as there is no obligation to insure a caravan. Even if you do insure the caravan it will be about £500 per annum. Also gives you more freedom.

[plounce]

Thanks very much for your replies, with regard to towing...no insurance needed on the caravan which is good, however will she need a particular licence for towing?

 

I read somewhere that foreign license holders may drive a vehicle of up to 7.5 tonnes, when you say insurance will be very high, how high do you mean...(i guess a new driver will paying £1000), I have no idea what a foreign driver would pay.

 

yeah, we would be living / travelling and working in the vehicle...so i think space is an issue. We are looking at vehicles such as this one:

 

[ATTACH]43096[/ATTACH]

 

Will definitely use parents house as address.

 

Any more thoughts?

 

Greatly appreciated.

 

Oh, I forgot to ask...i know absolutely nothing about (but learning) about the rules and regulations, but if my brother for instance (who lives in the UK) buys the car, has it in his name and under HIS insurance policy (allot cheaper), would my partner be able to drive it, or would she have to have her own insurance fullstop?

 

thanks again everyone!

[afcwben]

No that would be illegal it is called fronting people do it for their children but risk invalidating their insurance of caught

[plounce]

so will have to pay out on foreign driving insurance no matter what?

 

does anybody know if non-uk residents can even get car insurance, if so how and where?

 

thanks again

Edited April 12, 2013 by plounce

[crem]

There would be nothing wrong with your brother buying and insuring the motorhome, provided he correctly declared the details and experience of the MAIN DRIVER of the vehicle which would of course be your partner.

 

You may find it more convenient for the paperwork side of things to do this and there is no issue on the insurance as they would be able to correctly assess (and charge for!) the higher risk they may deem to be applicable with a foreign driver.

[unclebulgaria67]

Worth trying these brokers, as I think they may be able to assist.

 

Stuart Collins who specialise in foreign usage and foreign licences.

 

Herts Insurance again specialist brokers, who offer many different types of policy.

 

There are probably other brokers out there, who may be able to assist, but you will have to phone around a bit. This link is to a directory for brokers.

 

http://www.biba.org.uk/

[plounce]

Thanks Crem, if i understand correctly, my brother would be able to buy (in his name?) and insure the vehicle himself by putting my partners name and details as main driver. I've got that, however what would be the difference if my partner insures it herself.

 

I guess you are saying that it would be easier for my brother to insure the vehicle for us himself as he is UK resident and holds a valid driving license?

 

Thanks so much!

[plounce]

Thanks!

[Surfer01]

You can buy a fairly decent damp free caravan for under £5000 and a decent towing vehicle for about £3000. By joining one of the caravan clubs like the Caravan Club who have a network on sites across the country plus about 3000 small 5 caravan sites you should have no issues with finding a place to stay. However be aware that most local authorities will only allow a stay up to 28 days on one site. The advantage with the caravan is that you can leave it on site and use the towing vehicle to go out and about. As you may have gathered we have a caravan that we use quite a bit so hopefully can offer some insight.

[Nimrod205]

If you are a British national, your partner will probably be issued with a "spouse" visa. This will provide her with "leave to remain" status and she will become "normally resident" in the UK from the date that she arrives here. This means that she will be able to apply for a UK provisional driving licence immediately after arrival. She can drive on her licence from Guatemala (without L plates) for up to one year after which it will become invalid. She should use this 12 month period to take some driving lessons and take her UK driving test. I would also advise her to obtain an International Drivers Permit (IDP) from Guatemala which is basically a translation of the details on that licence into other major languages including English. (I assume that you are resident in Guatemala?) If it is a licence to drive automatic vehicles, she will only be permitted to drive automatic vehicles in the UK until she passes the UK driving test for manual vehicles. Unless her foreign licence states otherwise, she will only be permitted to drive a vehicle of up to 3,5 tonnes (fully loaded). When and if she passes her UK driving test, this limitation will still apply. Regarding towing: very basically, she would be allowed to tow a trailer of up to 750Kg. To drive anything heavier than 3.5 tonnes or to tow larger loads would require additional driving tests to be passed.

[Surfer01]

It may also help if the driver is able to offer proof of No Claims bonus if they have something similar there.