Importing UK car - insurance?

brodrjam

Will be importing my uk reg car next month - currently taxed & insured in the uk. I have to book an appointment with NCTS within 7 days of it arriving in the state, and it must be inspected within 30 days.

During this time i'll still be on UK plates, and therefore UK insured. Question is, what is the 'grace period' after the inspection for arranging irish insurance??

Surely I cant really do this until i get the new Irish plates??

Second question - will any irish insurers honour my 5 years no claims discount that I have built up in the uk??

Thanks!

Dub XV

I imported our people carrier 3 years ago from the UK. We were able to transfer our (The Wife and Myself) insurance as soon as we bought it. Just rang the company and gave them the details. Are you currently insured in Ireland?

And we were able to get it on Irish plates the next day....things must be different now?

Sorry I can't offer anything on your second question.

brodrjam

Hi, thanks for the reply. As we dont have any car insurance in ireland at present i'll have to ring a few companies and see what the deal is

CiniO

Surprisingly, Irish insurers have no problems insuring foreign registered cars, assuming it's only temporary, and they are going to be registered in Ireland in nearest future.
When I bought a car in UK, I just rang my Irish insurer to swap my car for newly bought, and they offered 30 days cover for UK registered car.

About honouring NCB, I assume they will, but obviously you have to make sure with your insurer.
In 2007 I was trying to get insruance with Hibernian (current Aviva) and they had absolutely no problems with accepting my 6 years NCB from Poland.

slave1

My English NCB was recognised when I moved back a few years back, once I could produce the letter there was no hassle.

Mar4ix

What i like in uk, you can get short term insurance (up to 28 days). 3 or 4 years ago i bought car through ebay in uk for export to my native country. Car was imported from USA , and it was with left steering wheel. That was jeep grand cherokee wit 4.7 v8 petrol engine.
And i had problem, cos haven't insurance.
Then i found number insurance companies over internet who offer short term insurance in uk... (suggest you call around, compare price , cos some companies price was 2 or 3 times higher, then i got one.) i paid 45 paunds for 6 days fully comprehensive insurance, covering all Europe, before i went and collect my jeep. Paid via VISA, then they send policy to my email, i printed out, and thats it

It was funny to see on dockets ... irish address, uk car... even i was checked by police at ferry port, and everything was fine.

Reloc8

Careful there - there is no grace period whatsoever in respect of insurance.

You are either insured or not, and you can't lawfully drive it if not.

Your UK cover should allow you around 90 days driving abroad in an EU country but that comes down to your terms and conditions on your UK policy - ring and check - and some companies require prior notification of your intention to drive abroad, some don't.

Once you have it over here you can get insurance the same day. Quinn will insure while it is still on UK plates. Getting it Irish plates only takes about a week anyway. Once you have it on Irish plates, if still with UK insurer, you need to notify them of the new reg. If you have it with an Irish insurer on UK plates again you need to notify when it moves to Irish plates.

I don't know whether your NCB in the UK will be any good to you.

brodrjam

Thanks all for your replies. i'll make a couple of calls to the insurers and i'm sure i'll find one that will honour my uk NCB - after all, they all seem to honour UK driving licences, so whats the difference?! :cool:

CiniO

Reloc8 wrote: »

Your UK cover should allow you around 90 days driving abroad in an EU country but that comes down to your terms and conditions on your UK policy - ring and check - and some companies require prior notification of your intention to drive abroad, some don't.

All EU insurers are obliged to provide a unlimited minimum legally required cover valid in any EU country.

By this UK insurer is not allowed to limit cover abroad to 90 days. Third party cover will be valid in Ireland (the same as in any other EU country) for the whole period of policy.