Insurance loading for imports

comanche_cor

Am looking around at insurance at the moment and am finding that my quotes are being loaded if I specify that my car was imported and in some cases I am not being quoted at all. Has anyone else noticed this?

Surely with the number of people who have imported in the past few years from the UK I thought that this would be pretty standard for the insurance companies!

MetzgerMeister

I have had to put up with this for the past 2 years as my car is a Jap import. I wasn't aware that this happened for UK imports also

djimi

Insurance companies hate Japanese imports. I think they see them as some kind of mass killing machines or something.

Ive not heard of it being as much of an issue for UK imports however. I can see no reason why it would be an issue; cars from the UK are far more traceable than cars from Japan so I dont see why there is any kind of risk for the insurance company.

bazz26

Insurance company's load Jap imports because up to recently JDM cars didn't have immobilisers because car theft in Japan was pretty low. Not having an immobiliser here is like leaving the keys in the ignition.

OP, I could be wrong but when an insurance company asks if the car was an import they may be asking was it imported from Japan or outside the EU. In any sense ring the insurance company and ask for clarification on what they mean by "import".

Eoin

I asked my broker about this last time I got a quote, and they said when they say "import", it doesn't mean cars from the UK.

comanche_cor

Well for me the car came in from Luxembourg - it is a right hand drive however. Surly all they have to ask is if a) its left hand driver and b) there's an immobiliser. Not if its an import!

Eoin

comanche_cor wrote: »

Well for me the car came in from Luxembourg - it is a right hand drive however. Surly all they have to ask is if a) its left hand driver and b) there's an immobiliser. Not if its an import!

No, because as has been mentioned, they load Japanese cars which will also be RHD and possibly have an immobiliser.

djimi

bazz26 wrote: »

Insurance company's load Jap imports because up to recently JDM cars didn't have immobilisers because car theft in Japan was pretty low. Not having an immobiliser here is like leaving the keys in the ignition.

Is that actually the reason why they load Japanese imports? I was always of the impression that it was because they are harder to trace the origins of and often come in with questionable history and falsified information? Also a lot of Japanese imports are of a higher spec and performance than the Irish equivalent (if one even exists) so they are seen as being a higher risk category?

brainer in disguise

Insurance companies are a total rip off when it comes to Imported cars.
I have imported german beauty and it costs me a small fortune to have it insured.
I know few poeple who insured their imported cars without telling insurer about it. Premium was significantly lower but they won't be able to claim anything.

hellyeah

insured a type r integra jap recently. what a nightmare.
current insurer refused cover ( kicked up a stink) they phoned back
with a 1500 euro quote. ( im 34 full no claims living in the sticks.)
eventually went with quinn for half the above premium.
have to say quinn were very helpfull.
dont think id buy a jap car again. not worth the hassle.

djimi

Quinn told me to get stuffed when I rang them about insuring my ITR; fed my some bull**** about not insuring new customers on cars over 1.6 or something like that. Most of the main insurers in this country dont want to know cars like Integras; they just flat out say no regardless of who you are, what age you are and what your experience and NCB is.