Thai Visitor To Uk Getting Car Insurance

[NamF0n]

We have a Thai guest come to visit us next week, and im having difficulties putting her on my car insurance here in England, in that the insurance company has refused as she doesnt have an EU licence .... with the amount of foreigners from outside the EU coming for long stays im surprised at this.

She has an international driving licence aswell as a Thai one and has more then 15 years driving experience.

Is there any way around this as she will be here for 6 weeks and a car would make life more enjoyable for her.

[Soutpeel]

The insurance refused point blank or wanted a premium increase ?

If refused point blank then you do have a problem, Insurance companies, their rules, their prerogative to accept or refuse somebody, but typically they want more money off you.

she may have to hire a car then

[simple1]

Do a search on this forum, as subject has been discussed before. Apparently the British insurance companies add a hefty premium for Thai's -

[samran]

Might be tricky. On a recent visit to the UK, my sister wanted to put me on her insurance. Luckily I had a UK license from a previous stint there, otherwise it would have been hard even using my Australian license, which I also have (not to mention a Thai one).

Might just be that car hire is the way to go, unless you can find some obscure insurer who covers this risk independently of you own insurer.

[NamF0n]

Cheers English car insurers do price things to encourage people to drive with no insurance ... They point blank refused and didnt ask for age sex or anything.

[beano2274]

I am sure you have to be a resident in the UK to be added to an Insurance cover, the others that you talk about normally rent cars so that insurance is already included in the price of hire.

[Soutpeel]

Cheers English car insurers do price things to encourage people to drive with no insurance ... They point blank refused and didnt ask for age sex or anything.

and of course you are not going to do something daft like letting her do that are we ?

[NamF0n]

Cheers English car insurers do price things to encourage people to drive with no insurance ... They point blank refused and didnt ask for age sex or anything.

and of course you are not going to do something daft like letting her do that are we ?

No .... but im daft enough to let her drive it with insurance ... she drives like a Thai.

[7by7]

Cheers English car insurers do price things to encourage people to drive with no insurance ...

No; UK insurers work premiums out according to risk; the higher the risk, the higher the premium.

They point blank refused and didnt ask for age sex or anything

If you are insured with one of the low cost companies then they wont insure anyone outside a narrowly defined, low risk group; that's how they keep their premiums down.

I used to be a driving instructor, and my pupils simply could not get insured with any of these companies; even after they had passed their test. What's more, neither could I; too many inexperienced drivers driving my car and the car being on the road most of the day meant I was too high a risk for them.

Shop around or, as others have suggested, hire a car for her which will include insurance in the hire fee.

.

[Soutpeel]

Cheers English car insurers do price things to encourage people to drive with no insurance ... They point blank refused and didnt ask for age sex or anything.

and of course you are not going to do something daft like letting her do that are we ?

No .... but im daft enough to let her drive it with insurance ... she drives like a Thai.

She might suprise you, Mrs Soutpeel drives like a manic in Thailand, but when we go on holiday home, she is very well behaved and actually drives like a sane person for a couple of weeks...so my belief all enviromental, they can drive properly when they have to

[theoldgit]

I found that when I rented a car from Hertz in the UK, because I used a Thai licence, credit card and address the price was doubled.

Thankfully because I had made an online reservation and I took the reservation with me the manager honoured the price by doing a manual over ride.

[PattayaParent]

My mates Thai GF was staying 6 months in UK and he got her on the car insurance but it cost £1,000, which was more than he paid for the car!

[Mosha]

I'd be very wary, if their driving experience was only in Thailand. There was a post here a couple if years ago maybe. A TV member took his wife to the UK. She had an international licence. After 5 minutes he told her to stop the car, and booked her into a driving school.

[stevenl]

As somebody not from the UK, why is this necessary? Are in the UK the car insurances named insurances? In many countries that I know of, a visitor or friend can drive the car, provided the regular driver is the one in the insurance papers.

[Mosha]

As somebody not from the UK, why is this necessary? Are in the UK the car insurances named insurances? In many countries that I know of, a visitor or friend can drive the car, provided the regular driver is the one in the insurance papers.

You can insure:-

A Any driver

B Named driver

C Owner only

[stevenl]

As somebody not from the UK, why is this necessary? Are in the UK the car insurances named insurances? In many countries that I know of, a visitor or friend can drive the car, provided the regular driver is the one in the insurance papers.

You can insure:-

A Any driver

B Named driver

C Owner only

So why not just change to 'any driver'?

[7by7]

Because the small print probably excludes drivers who do not hold a GB licence.

Mine did when I was an instructor, even though it was a specialist instructor's policy! Which meant even though most of my foreign pupils had not been in the UK for 12 months and so could still legally drive with their foreign licence, I could not let them drive my car until they had obtained their GB provisional.

Before anyone asks, obtaining a GB provisional for a visitor would not work as in order to get one you have to be a GB resident.

N.B. I say 'GB licence' but, of course, if living in Northern Ireland, the Isle of Man or the Channel Islands then you would need the appropriate licence from their equivalent of the DVLA.