Vernons

Hi
We are off to OZ in 4 weeks!!! Thinking about the logistics of things when we ger there. We are going to hire a car for a couple of days but are then hoping to buy our own car. At this stage we wont have an address and will be staying in different hotels/motels as we drive up the coast. Can we get car insurance and register the car(like with the DVLA) if we don't have an address?
Sorry if this is a daft question but just wondering whether we can't buy a car until we are renting and have an address.

The Bloke

You are required to have a residential address to registar a vehicle in Qld. It is also a requirement to have one for insurance, so that they can use a sliding-scale to calculate how much your premiums will cost. Premiums vary from area to area.

Alternatively please telephone Qld Transport when you get here or email them via thier website.

www.transport.qld.gov.au

Pollyana

I'm just wondering how backpackers get round this - lots of them buy vehicles and just travel.
Maybe someone out there has done just that????

chels

If I remember rightly (it's a few years - hmmm - since I backpacked) we used a hostel address as an official residential address for everything from car rego to TFNs, then used poste restante (I think that's what it's called) to send post around the country - we'd arrive in a new town and head for the Post Office to collect our mail. And accepted that a lot of mail would never get to us.

Insurance though - I think that wasn't a prime concern at the time... (young, foolish, don't yell at me anyone). Probably why they have CTP etc these days!

For the OP, your premiums may be quite high if you have to use a hotel address but I'm sure you can change your details (for a small fee!) once you are based somewhere.

pete jackson

If you find out I would like to know as well, we will hire for the first 2-3 days but want to buy as soon as possible as dont want to waste money on a hire car but will will be staying in a holiday rental for a couple of weeks first and this subject crossed my mind aswell!! Pete

wannabauzzienurse

Just wondering is there still some insurance included in the rego..I think it used to be third party or something??

The Bloke

It is still included but you would be better to take out some other form of insurance, as it is far easier if there is a legal problem arising form an incident, to let the coys' lawyers fight it on your behalf than you having to outlay for one yourself. Plus it is easier and cheaper to get your car back on the road quicker if you are with an insurance co.

stevemich

we bought our car whilst staying in a hotel for 2 weeks and gave the hotel details (after we checked they were ok with it). The insurance co (AAMI) were happy for this, then we changed it when we found a place to live.

Do not know how this would work if you are in multiple hotels though..

Is there a backpacker type insurance out there? Maybe worth contacting a few insurance cos to ask..

Good luck

selina

we did exactly the same and gave the address of our holiday rental and just rang them with the new address when we moved. we had no problems with it. get a letter from your UK insurer confirming your no claims bonus as you have to send the OZ insurer this within 2 weeks on the insurance starting or they will up your premium. CTP insurance is included in the rego but this just covers the hospital/compensation claims for someone you injur. it does not cover damage to their car or your car. selina xx

The Bloke

Why would I need backpackers type insurance?

That's AAMI, never dealt with them as I don't see many AAMI logos on the front of smash repairers. Told by a repairer once, that they were difficult to deal with when there was a repair claim.