Imported Car Insurance

There are so many cars on the roads today it is impossible to imagine the time when people had to walk everywhere or catch the tram or bus. People rely on their cars so much these days to get them to work and back, do the weekly shopping, drop the kids off at school and visiting friends and family. Most people use their cars for days out and when they go on holiday as well as having the convenience of getting somewhere quickly. However, buying a new car can be very expensive and owning your own car does not come cheaply. The price of petrol alone keeps rising and the price of motor car insurance is not cheap. Everyone who owns a car must have at least third party insurance cover. This will cover the owner if they have an accident or an accident that involves someone else. Third party fire and theft insurance covers for if the car sets on fire or sets some other person's car on fire. Fully comprehensive car insurance covers for almost everything such as a broken windscreen and usually covers the no claim bonus. Cheap car insurance is easy to find by checking out the comparison websites where it is possible to get a number of quotes. It can be difficult to find a good deal as many cheap insurance quotes will not cover all the essential aspects that you might be wanting. Before making any decision always check the small print and make sure you are buying the right cover for you. Taking time and having the patience will usually pay off and everyone should be able to get a good deal on their car insurance.

However, when it comes to insuring a car that has been imported it is not so easy. The reason for this is that many imported cars will not be built to European standard. Cars that are bought from abroad usually cost much less than the cars for sale in the UK as the pre-tax will be much lower. Cars such as the Mitsubishi Pajero, the Toyota Estima and the Eunos Roadster are all very good Japanese imports that have better specification levels and cheaper than cars bought in the UK. Although people can save a lot of money by importing a car from abroad they will probably have to pay a much bigger premium for car insurance. Insuring a car imported from abroad is a bigger risk to any Insurance Company because parts will probably be more costly, the repairs to such a car could be expensive and also the car might not be suitable for driving on the UK roads. Like always the premium to be paid will depend upon the car you are driving and there are a number of Insurance Companies that specialise in import car insurance. It is always better to get as many quotes as you can and read the small print to see what you are being covered for. Vehicles that are not built to European standard are classed as Grey imports and it will be more difficult to get insurance for such a vehicle. Vehicles that have been imported from Europe are usually built to UK specification and will have right hand drive. These are classed as Parallel imports and finding car insurance should not be difficult.

There are a number of Insurance Companies that will not insure imported cars at all while others are more flexible and will insure left-hand drive cars so long as there are no additional changes. The more changes the car has the more difficult it will be to insure. Insurance premiums may be lower if the car is fitted with a Thatcham security device which is well worth considering.

Summary

Although importing a car from abroad can be a good way to save money it might be difficult to get car insurance for an imported car. Always shop around and get as many quotes possible before making any decision. A car classed as a Parallel import will be easier to insure than one classed as a Grey import as these imports are not built to European standard and therefore not EU approved.