UK Car Insurance

Hi, my friend has just moved to UK 6 months ago and he wants to get a car but he has been quoted crazy money £1800 to insure his car as he has only been living in UK 6 months and only has Polish driving Licence. (does he need to get UK Licence to get better deal)

Does any one know any insurance company that has good rates for immigrants or is it better to just insure car in Poland and have international travel options?

Just looking for ideas, he can’t be the only one to have this problem?

Many Thanks

Sounds like a zero no claims discount quote. Get your friend to get a no claims cert from previous insurer in PL. If he or she has no previous insurance then depending upon the car, where it is in the UK, and your friend's age it may not be unreasonable. Not sure the license is an issue with all insurers.

If it is for a Ferrari F499 it's a good quote

Try Swift Car Insurance

Internet Company I used on my Uk Car and was about half of what i was getting quoted as a new driver. No claims is a great way to get your price down. Always worth getting a Uk Licence as it only takes around 2 weeks to do.

This is possible? they would accept translation?



No way...definately not...



Do you have to resit the driving test?

You don't have to resit, as far as it worked with my friend.

He just sent it off to the DVLA in UK and they sent him one back

Think there may have been a fee involved. Not sure how much though

This site will help you with finding cheapest car insurance: moneysupermarket.com/c/car-insurance/quote-request/1/

i would never change my european licence for the british one.
on my european one i can not get any points and be banned from driving. not that i am consistently speeding but i simply do not like the fact, that there might be points attached to my licence. points on your licence makes getting cheap insurance almost impossible.
consider well before doing so...

also if you go back to continental europe one day to change it back isn't as easy.

police people like to tell you that you had to change your licence for a uk licence within 2 years. this is not true. you are allowed to drive on your european licence until you are 70 years old. that is information taken from the dvla website...

regarding all these comparison websites.
in my experience they do not work. just tried for fun to get a better deal as i have to renew my insurance. all quotes that came up were at least 30% above what i pay now or did not include everything i have included now...

shopping around yourself is tyhe best option.
try hastings or lancaster for example. both cheap for me.

possible reasons that raise your quotos:
- european licence is a bit mor expensive.
- insuring left hand drive cars (if you brought yours from the continent) is much more expensive.
- insuring your car on your european plate is possible for a few month's but also quite expensive.
- the 0 years no claims bonus can be a bit of a problem but my insurance when i first came to england asked me if i had any claims in the last five years and i said 'no' which was true and they accepted it.
- being 'too young' and having the 'wrong' job also makes quotes more expensive.

good luck finding a good one...

Not having a UK licence pushes up the premium, I got around that by registering my GF through my insurance (I'm a UK citizen), I told them that she had a PL license, but the policy came through as if she had a UK one- bit dodgy, but it'll do this year. The cost to change to a UK license is around £80, and as stated it means you can get booked with points. As said you don't have to get an UK license but if you don't you get hammered on the insurance.

It's a stupid situation as the combination of the insurance quote and the perception that having a PL license aviods punishment will lead may Poles to drive illegal. In truth the legal system can still punish you with fines, and even imprisonment, they could also take your PL license away from you (but would you care if you are already illegal). The system encourages illigality.

For shoort term Polish workers (less than 90 days) it makes no sense to get involved in the UK system, just make sure your car is legal for Poland, for longer term workers it is an issue. If I remember correctly your car (R/H drive) can be destroyed after 2 years if it has not been through an expensive DVLA test by that time.

£1800? Pfft not so long ago I was paying £2008!!! Tesco insurance is cheap

For Tesco, human souls are cheap.

car insurance in the UK is indeed very expensive, plus car tax too each year.

Much cheaper (if possible) just to bring a car from Poland and keep your Polish licence, MOT and insurance