Uk - Driving, Insurance And Passing A Uk Theory And In Car Test

[Mercury]

Just thinking ahead.

She can drive for a year but what about insurance ? All the best deals are over the net and I don't think one has sufficient options to cover a non transferable foreign license.

Can't put her on as a provisional as she'll need to drive alone. No actual car as yet so not just a case of adding her to an existing policy.

Then what about the test ? Practical I can think she might be ok after lessons but theory seems just insane to me, nevermind her !

Any stories and advice most welcome.

[bangkockney]

She should get an international licence and you can there buy her insurance. This arrangement is only valid for her first year of residency.

Buy the self-study books for the theory test, with the tests on CD. The test is multiple choice, so it's just a case of practice. She will also need to point out where certain things on the car/under the bonnet are: where to put screen wash, engine oil, where's the horn etc. Again, just a case of practice. Get your hands on the material and it's easy really. My wife passed the theory test first time (and she scored more than me lol!

No matter how long she's been driving, I suggest getting her lessons. In fact, if she has been driving for years lessons are a must as one really needs to know how to pass the British Driving Test; examiners expect you to do things in a certain way.

This is what my wife did. I think she had something like 20 hours of lessons. She didn't bother with an international licence, but we could go out together, time permitting so a provisional was OK. I certainly wouldn't advise you let her loose on UK roads without going with her a few times. Roundabouts seem to cause the most confusion!

Edited July 30, 2010 by bangkockney

[chongam]

I would not let my wife drive on anything other than a British License, let me explain, if she's here on a temp visa (27 months) she will in the future apply for ILR/citizenship, ok, picture the scene, she runs a red light on her Thai/International License, if she had a British License, she would be dealt with by way of fixed penalty, ie: 3 points and £60 fine, but on a foreign License, she cannot, she would have to go to court, and get a criminal record! which would not be "spent" for 3 years---criminal record=NO ILR/CITIZENSHIP!!

[bangkockney]

I would not let my wife drive on anything other than a British License, let me explain, if she's here on a temp visa (27 months) she will in the future apply for ILR/citizenship, ok, picture the scene, she runs a red light on her Thai/International License, if she had a British License, she would be dealt with by way of fixed penalty, ie: 3 points and £60 fine, but on a foreign License, she cannot, she would have to go to court, and get a criminal record! which would not be "spent" for 3 years---criminal record=NO ILR/CITIZENSHIP!!

If caught by camera, you can always take the points instead on your British licence. Pulled by plod is a different matter though.

[7by7]

Just to point out that although an international licence may be useful as it is effectively a translation of the Thai one, it is not a legal requirement for driving in Great Britain*. A Thai licence alone is fine.

Also, provided one is still within 12 months of taking up residence, one can still drive unaccompanied with a foreign licence whilst holding a GB* provisional licence as well. You will probably find that an instructor will not take you out for lessons unless you do have a GB* provisional; I never did when I was an ADI as my insurance company advised that my insurance covered GB licence holders only.

You will certainly need the appropriate GB* provisional in order to take both the theory and practical tests.

*The rules on this may be slightly different in Northern Ireland.

Chongam has a valid point; but as a former driving instructor who now works in traffic management I must say that if you don't commit a moving traffic offence this wont be a problem!

[Mercury]

Good points 7by7.

I fully intend for her to get a UK provisional and whatever international license is available but as she will need to drive by herself, not immediately but quite soon, then she cannot be insured under her UK provisional and it must be on her Thai / International license.

I also intend for her to get some lessons but here we fall foul of another point. She can drive a manual but we've always had automatics in Thailand. Quite simply, I will probably never buy another manual as it is unnecessary. However, in the UK, they make a distinction between licenses for automatics and manuals and thus, I suspect all driving schools have manual cars. I toyed with the idea of buying a cheap small manual car and though that remains a very slight possibility, we would normally buy a better car and go for an automatic. So to put her in the instructors car, as a manual, seems just another complication, though I would prefer her to pass in a manual but would rather not buy one, have her pass her test and then be stuck with a car neither of us want.

As for roundabouts, they do have them in Thailand and she is ok with them. My main worry is the need to pay attention to 20 mph and 30 mph speed limits as she is used to no speed limits and kph !

[bangkockney]

Good points 7by7.

I fully intend for her to get a UK provisional and whatever international license is available but as she will need to drive by herself, not immediately but quite soon, then she cannot be insured under her UK provisional and it must be on her Thai / International license.

I also intend for her to get some lessons but here we fall foul of another point. She can drive a manual but we've always had automatics in Thailand. Quite simply, I will probably never buy another manual as it is unnecessary. However, in the UK, they make a distinction between licenses for automatics and manuals and thus, I suspect all driving schools have manual cars. I toyed with the idea of buying a cheap small manual car and though that remains a very slight possibility, we would normally buy a better car and go for an automatic. So to put her in the instructors car, as a manual, seems just another complication, though I would prefer her to pass in a manual but would rather not buy one, have her pass her test and then be stuck with a car neither of us want.

As for roundabouts, they do have them in Thailand and she is ok with them. My main worry is the need to pay attention to 20 mph and 30 mph speed limits as she is used to no speed limits and kph !

You can book driving lessons in an automatic car for sure.

Sure they have roundabouts in Thailand, but there is no lane discipline and no giving-way to the right. I've also never seen double mini-roundabouts etc. Just something to maybe do with her a couple of times first.

People in UK generally drive a lot faster, which I know can take Thais some getting used to. I guess a lot of the attitude you face on the road does depend on where you live.

[7by7]

As said, the larger schools, BSM and the AA for example, do have instructors in most areas with automatics.

I would advise, though, that she learns and passes her test in a manual as this will then allow her to drive both, whereas passing in an automatic will only allow her to drive automatics. However, if your car is an automatic then whilst she will be able to drive it and practice with you, it would be very inadvisable as it would cause confusion for her when she next drove her instructors manual.

Buying her a small manual would be a solution to this, as you say. Would you have to sell it after she'd passed, though? Keeping it means she'd have her own car to use when yours was unavailable and she would still be able to drive your automatic with her manual licence.

Your choice, though.

I taught many Thais when I was an instructor. Getting used to mph rather than kph doesn't take long, after all the speedo in British cars is calibrated in mph, and glancing at that is the correct way of judging one's speed rather than what it feels like! The main problems, and this applied to all experienced pupils not just Thais, were the bad habits they had fallen into: lack of proper observation; checking mirrors, blind spots etc. properly and often enough, coasting with the clutch down, proper use of the handbrake, tailgating (only a fool breaks the 2 second rule!), poor lane discipline etc.

At least Thais drive on the left as we do, so they don't have to get used to that; although they do have to be reminded that in the UK one can't turn left at a red light!.

Interestingly, the test centre I used most was Guildford, which is just of the A3 and in easy reach of London. Having learned in London, many people, for obvious reasons, didn't want to take their test there, so they'd come down to Guildford. According to the chief examiner there, most of them failed first time due to faults at roundabouts; there are very few of them in London!

[Mercury]

Some good additional points there, thanks.

I'm playing with all kinds of ideas on the car front and have just today been to see Hyundai who do some cheap small cars. I went to see the i10 and i20 but the i10 is a flimsy skinny high seated mismatch of a car (though only around £7-9k) and the i20 (around £9-11k net) has a well documented design fault on foot access to the pedals and the fascia being far too pronounced. So they are ruled out !

I am also somewhat worried about the attitude to accidents, scrapes, etc. because there is no Somchai who can fix it all for peanuts and we certainly have no "mai pen rai". Every clip or small bump will end with insurance and you don't end up with an unlucky car as in Thailand but an uninsurable driver ! For that reason, I am revisiting the idea of a circa 3-5 year old Ford Focus for £3-5k which I don't care so much if she scrapes it on a car park wall (within reason), as opposed to a £15-20k Nissan Qashqai which I'd prefer as a longer term motor.

As for getting her to sit a manual test, then that is my immediate reaction, drummed into me since a child, but it is illogical for her in 2010 because I will never buy a manual car and she prefers the ease of driving automatics. I have a manual license but have no use for the manual part. In a straight choice, then yes, get a manual but when we will never use a manual, it seems a little silly to go down that route.

[sumrit]

Just one other point, finding an insurance company to insure somebody driving on a foreign licence is very difficult, at least when looking through the on line 'compare' sites. They will give a quote on line but when you phone them up they all say 'no' if on a foreign licence. It's easy to get insurance with a provisional licence but I'm not sure if that person is still insured when driving on the foreign licence.

[Mercury]

Just one other point, finding an insurance company to insure somebody driving on a foreign licence is very difficult, at least when looking through the on line 'compare' sites. They will give a quote on line but when you phone them up they all say 'no' if on a foreign licence. It's easy to get insurance with a provisional licence but I'm not sure if that person is still insured when driving on the foreign licence.

That is one of my points exactly. She will have both but obviously needs to be insured on the Thai license as she would be driving alone.

[7by7]

On the car front, the choice of manual or automatic is of course yours to make. I would always recommend to my pupils that their first car should be a cheap, older car that they can build up experience of driving alone in and that they wont mind receiving a few scrapes and dents. It will also be cheaper to insure. After a couple of years they can then go for something more expensive.

On insurance, you must tell them all material facts. That she has a foreign licence and a GB provisional is a material fact, so you must tell them this. She will, of course, then be insured to drive using both.

[Mercury]

On the car front, the choice of manual or automatic is of course yours to make. I would always recommend to my pupils that their first car should be a cheap, older car that they can build up experience of driving alone in and that they wont mind receiving a few scrapes and dents. It will also be cheaper to insure. After a couple of years they can then go for something more expensive.

On insurance, you must tell them all material facts. That she has a foreign licence and a GB provisional is a material fact, so you must tell them this. She will, of course, then be insured to drive using both.

Good point again there 7by7 on the double license issue. Just wondering though whether she would always be driving on her Thai license, it being a full license, or whether, when accompanied, with L plates on, she would have the choice as to which license she was driving under ? I assume, if she did not have L plates on, then it would be assumed the Thai license but is that necessarily so ? What is certain is that there is no internet engine which can cope with that eventuality nor I expect the duality of it all and perhaps not even the Thai license issue.

I'm confident enough to go to sleep when she is driving in Thailand, even on long journeys but I share your advice that an older car, on which you can live with a few dents and scrapes etc. is probably the wisest way to go but I find it a Herculean task to try and get one. What Somchai can fix for Bt1000 will cost £X00's in the UK and a new motor needs putting right after a scrape. Slowly but surely I am coming around to the idea that a cheaper, almost throw away car, is a much better alternative but I have to consider the safety, security and reliability of such a model. As I add to the budget to get a second hand car which is good enough, I get ever nearer to the new price for a car I know can do the job. Ah well, back to the net this afternoon and keep on searching.

I'd be really interested in hearing about what UK guys did with their partners after they came to live in the UK, especially on the insurance front.

[7by7]

If she is driving unaccompanied or without L plates then she would be using her Thai licence; if driving in an instructor's car then she would be using her GB provisional. Driving with you, or someone else, in a private car displaying L plates she should be using her GB provisional. Apart from any other considerations, see post 3 from Chongam.

A little known fact; it is illegal for a full licence holder to drive a car displaying L plates, unless that driver is an ADI driving between booked lessons. I've never heard of it being enforced, though.

Can't help you with personal advice on the insurance, I'm afraid. My wife did not have a Thai licence when she came, and as I had ADI insurance we did not need to get her added to my policy as she was covered anyway.

You will find, though, that you are very unlikely to get a result from any of the internet companies. These search engines are no use if there is anything out of the ordinary; that's how they keep their premiums down. Try contacting insurance companies direct.