Gillwrayhk

Hi
I live in Hong Kong and have priced the car hire for 2 months in the UK whilst I return for the summer. It is extortionate! They want over 2K for a Mondeo estate. Does anyone know of a car insurance company that will insure us? We are both over 50, and have clean licenses and had long standing policies with Royal Sun Alliance before moving abroad, We are thinking along the lines of buying a car because it will be cheaper! I have asked our insurance company over here as they have a company in the Uk if they will insure us and they don't want to know. I find this incredible. Any help on this matter or advice would be appreciated.

johnny five

In recent years, I have noticed that insurance companies always ask if you are a permanent resident of the UK. Out of curiosity I asked for clarification of this and was told that more than six months per annum was required and that the measure had been introduced to combat high risk immigrant workers on short contract.
What we did to deal with this is simply lie and say we are permanent residents, after all, we are unlikely to have an accident in the UK vehicle while we are out of the country.
I am guessing you have done the income tax thing by becoming fully expat? We have not as we do not earn enough, so still maintain a theoretical home address there, useful for medical, state pensions, etc.
However, our insurers, Adrian Flux, offer paperless, internet dealings so we can maintain our policies where ever we are.
In the old days, you could talk to a real "broker" and get what you now need for a sensible cost, but now all vehicle insurance appears to be computer generated, even if you are talking to a person, they are just keying in as you talk. Unfortunately, the moment something is put in that the system does not like (such as non-resident status), the system just throws the application out!
The other option could be to check out small local hire companies when you arrive, as they tend to be a lot more negotiable, especially in these difficult times. The disadvatage of course is that you are unlikely to be able to book in advance as you can with the big boys!
Good luck.............

Gillwrayhk

Thanks Johnny Five. That's very helpful.