Here at Alliance Imported Car Insurance we are asked numerous questions in relation to insuring importing cars. Below we provide a list of some of the most common questions together with suitable answers that we trust you find informative.
We can obtain quotes on most types of imported cars. For instance, we regularly provide quotes for Japanese imports, American imports, Q Plated imported cars, Classic imports, left-hand drive imported vehicles and modified imported cars.
We take into account a number of factors such as an insurance company’s reputation for the quality of their products, the cover options, the service they provide in all departments and their competitiveness on price.
Imported car insurance is a very specialist form of insurance. Each quote is tailor-made and involves finding out quite a bit of information about the vehicle and the driver(s). Therefore, it is often better to obtain this information by speaking to the potential policyholder on the phone.
There are numerous factors such as your age, driving experience, make and model of car, motoring convictions, where the car will be parked overnight i.e. on the drive or street, security devices fitted, amount of excess, level of cover i.e. fully comprehensive, third party fire and theft or third party cover, number of miles estimated to be driven each year, what the car is to be used for and are there any additional drivers.
Yes, you can be insured to commute to work in your vehicle.
Yes. The more miles that you do then the greater the risk that you may be involved in a road traffic accident. Therefore, someone driving only 5,000 miles per annum is likely to pay less for his or her import car insurance than another person that drives 30,000 miles each year.
Potentially, yes. Some insurance companies may offer a discount on your imported car insurance premiums if you are a member of an Owners Club.
In the same ways that you could do with a car bought in the UK. For instance, if you had an alarm and/or immobiliser fitted, parked the car on your drive overnight or paid a higher excess in respect of a claim, these things could reduce your premium. If you were to shop around by using a website like ours and get quotes from a number of insurance companies you may get a better deal.
A Grey import is a car that does not meet EU standards such as a high-performance Japanese or American car. It usually costs more to insure due to the cost of finding suitable spare parts and repair costs.
A Parallel import is a car that is usually imported into this country from another EU country and meets UK standards. It may only cost slightly more to insure than its UK equivalent.
In the event of an imported car being involved in a road traffic accident, it often costs more to obtain suitable spare parts and to carry out the repairs. Such vehicles are often high-performance cars that are sought after by thieves so are more likely to be stolen.