Insurance and a long holiday out of country..

[Conor]

Hey guys,


So I moved out of the UK for a few months for various personal reasons and took my 3 cars with me. I originally didn't tell the insurance company as I was considering it a long holiday and not a permanent relocation.

My renewal is coming up for the cars this month and I am outside the country. I still have an address in the UK, and if I was in the UK, the cars would be kept at this address.

How does this work? I mean.. do I need to declare this situation or just specify my UK address as where the cars will be kept and stored. While this is normally true, I am genuinely unsure if I am being untruthful when I tell them that, knowing my cars will be abroad for another few months.

The other problem, is well... because "insurance company". I don't want to just blurt out my situation in case they start making things verry difficult (no cover/expensive) for me.

Has anybody been in this situation before?

 

[ajlsl600]

Research .some companies allow you for example to be in europe indefinitely for the time being .some have a limit.same may apply to you .so long as you maintain yr uk address. However it is often dependent on where u are considered resident.

 

[Conor]

Research .some companies allow you for example to be in europe indefinitely for the time being .some have a limit.same may apply to you .so long as you maintain yr uk address. However it is often dependent on where u are considered resident.

Thank you.

Well, when it comes to residency. I am not playing any kind of games etc. As far as I am concerned I am still resident for all purposes in UK.

Admiral for the E + SL classes says there is a 90 day limit, after which there is only 3rd party cover.

Thankfully this time around, my new address should be a welcome change to other insurers, combined with my increased NCB.

I just want to avoid any hassle. Because, well.. i've had enough hassle recently.

 

[ajlsl600]

Some companies will not have the 90 day limit. And in the uk third party basic cover is often no cheaper than fully comp.
So I put 2 of my cars on french plates. No real value and third party around 300 euro each.downside .french law. Car must be insured even if off the road ,! The idea, I pay incase some wxxxxr nicks car and damages someone.! Even if wheels off in garage ..Upside my wife passed her test,there was no loading premium because of wifes lower experience...

 

[Conor]

Some companies will not have the 90 day limit. And in the uk third party basic cover is often no cheaper than fully comp.
So I put 2 of my cars on french plates. No real value and third party around 300 euro each.downside .french law. Car must be insured even if off the road ,! The idea, I pay incase some wxxxxr nicks car and damages someone.! Even if wheels off in garage ..Upside my wife passed her test,there was no loading premium because of wifes lower experience...

Fair enough. That seems a reasonable approach, in a sense.

But.. I plan on returning to UK soon. Also, the registration tax in Ireland is massive. Along with annual road tax. I think like €3k per year for the SL and E because the engine size/emissions.

 

[ajlsl600]

Sorrio.

 

[Conor]

Sorrio.

No apologies needed

 

[Wighty]

If you are on holiday and due to be returning soon , I would leave the explanation to the insurance company as the one that is best for you .

 

[Blobcat]

If you are on holiday and due to be returning soon , I would leave the explanation to the insurance company as the one that is best for you .

Agreed, confusing them with too much information isn’t good for anyone (especially your wallet...)

 

[Srdl]

Stick to their rules, if they allow 90 days, take 90 days but be careful if you exceed that. If you have an accident over there they are going to want proof of how long you’ve been in the country. And, if you start working again soon while you are there, is it still a “holiday”?

Insurance companies will always look for an excuse not to pay out so be very careful not to give them any,

 

[Conor]

Stick to their rules, if they allow 90 days, take 90 days but be careful if you exceed that. If you have an accident over there they are going to want proof of how long you’ve been in the country. And, if you start working again soon while you are there, is it still a “holiday”?

Insurance companies will always look for an excuse not to pay out so be very careful not to give them any,

I couldn't agree more. I am always truthful and compliant when it comes to insurance.

Not sure where things end up if you are away on holiday and still working. My thinking is that holidays and work are independent. In the sense that you could temporarily move (go on holiday) for a while to enjoy a different area, re-connect with family etc and still put down some working time.

 

[davemercedes]

Just fyi regarding the length of foreign trips, Connor:
I changed insurer on two cars this year (to get better rates using a comparison site). But of those offers that gave "small print" details, it seems they've all limited foreign use to 90 day trips. It doesn't bother me because we're unlikely to want to go for longer nowadays.

 

[Conor]

Just fyi regarding the length of foreign trips, Connor:
I changed insurer on two cars this year (to get better rates using a comparison site). But of those offers that gave "small print" details, it seems they've all limited foreign use to 90 day trips. It doesn't bother me because we're unlikely to want to go for longer nowadays.

Interesting thanks. Is the limit meaning that uour are not covered at all after 90 days or the cover is downgraded to the minimum legal requirement by the destination country.

Its the latter with admiral.

 

[Conor]

Stick to their rules, if they allow 90 days, take 90 days but be careful if you exceed that. If you have an accident over there they are going to want proof of how long you’ve been in the country. And, if you start working again soon while you are there, is it still a “holiday”?

Insurance companies will always look for an excuse not to pay out so be very careful not to give them any,

Just thinking about this a bit more. To be clear, I am talking about picking up work that is still based in England i.e. Normal place of residence. And just being remote for a while, as opposed to picking up a job here in Ireland.

 

[Srdl]

Just thinking about this a bit more. To be clear, I am talking about picking up work that is still based in England i.e. Normal place of residence. And just being remote for a while, as opposed to picking up a job here in Ireland.

It’s not me you need to convince me, young man!

 

[davemercedes]

A few years ago, car insurers were quite laid back about residency to the point that I considered renting somewhere convenient in Europe because I guess like you the only essential need was good/fast internet which would provide fairly instantaneous connection to clients' systems... Unfortunately, like a lot of plans conceived on a fag packet everything was positive until it fell through for other reasons!

But the idea was perfect and so was the plan! I even had SWMBO convinced that she could flit in and out of our "second home" because at that time EU flights were costing next to nothing - she joined me in Europe twice for 99p each way (the time of day didn't matter to her and the cheapo airlines just wanted bums on seats)!

 

[Blobcat]

A few years ago, car insurers were quite laid back about residency to the point that I considered renting somewhere convenient in Europe because I guess like you the only essential need was good/fast internet which would provide fairly instantaneous connection to clients' systems... Unfortunately, like a lot of plans conceived on a fag packet everything was positive until it fell through for other reasons!

But the idea was perfect and so was the plan! I even had SWMBO convinced that she could flit in and out of our "second home" because at that time EU flights were costing next to nothing - she joined me in Europe twice for 99p each way (the time of day didn't matter to her and the cheapo airlines just wanted bums on seats)!

Quite a few have bought places because of cheap airline tickets. All good until the airline decides the route isn’t viable anymore...

 

[aaron13W]

Research .some companies allow you for example to be in europe indefinitely for the time being .some have a limit.same may apply to you .so long as you maintain yr uk address. However it is often dependent on where u are considered resident.

Why is it so important about your "resident" status?

 

[Blobcat]

Why is it so important about your "resident" status?

Different countries have different laws and practices, insurance companies don’t like different.
Try being a North American National and getting insurance in the UK. They’ll load the premiums as they are scared of the litigation culture in North America.

 

[Conor]

Different countries have different laws and practices, insurance companies don’t like different.
Try being a North American National and getting insurance in the UK. They’ll load the premiums as they are scared of the litigation culture in North America.

Yes an also, Ireland has a very strict regime on foreign vehicles that might be driven by normal Irish residents. The registration tax and annual road tax is quite ridiculously high here so they want to stamp out people avoiding it.

It's not uncommon to have your car seized if they aren't happy with your answer.. Then you face all sorts of penalties. That's an aside from separate question but also significant as I need to be able to prove maintenance of my "normally resident" status in the UK.