CAR INSURANCE IN THE USA WITH UK DRIVING LICENSE?
 

Hi all,

Can anyone help I have recently moved to the Colorado on a H1B and and have been hiring cars for over 3 months now but have been paying a small fortune for insurance etc. So I have decided to buy a car, but now I am struggling to get insurance at a fair price based upon the fact that I do not have a Colorado driving license. Despite the fact that i have a clean UK license and have held it for over 15 years.

I am planning to get a license over the next few months but it wasn't really the top of my priority list as I had to find a home to live in furnish it bank accounts, SSN etc.

Does anyone else have experience with this same problem? At the moment I am getting rates of line 3000 dollars for 6 months.

If you have, what did you do?

Can you recommend any insurance providers?

I really appreciate any assistance with this, as at the moment the cost of monthly insurance is as much as my car payment.

I look forward to your responses.

Thanks

Re: CAR INSURANCE IN THE USA WITH UK DRIVING LICENSE?
 

Is it not easier just to call or use the webpages of a bunch of insurers and get quotes? Mercury, AIG, State Farm etc...

I do think though the fact that you're a new driver without a State license could be the contributing factor to the high cost. Therefore maybe you should attend to that rapidly. The test is really easy.

I'm sure Pulaski will be along to weigh in.

Re: CAR INSURANCE IN THE USA WITH UK DRIVING LICENSE?
 

A few months may be an acceptable time line to you. It is not acceptable to the State however. Every new Colorado resident must apply for a Colorado driver's license within 30 days of residency in the state. The Insurance premiums may pale in comparison to the tickets you can rack up. Get a CO license.

Re: CAR INSURANCE IN THE USA WITH UK DRIVING LICENSE?
 

Er, quite! ..... What Mr Observer said. :rolleyes:

Re: CAR INSURANCE IN THE USA WITH UK DRIVING LICENSE?
 

30 days is generous - AZ is 'immediately you start acting like a resident rather than like a tourist, i.e., start work or place the kids in school'; hubby had to sort this out in the first week once the jet lag wore off. I did my test about a month in, once the kids started school, as I didn't fancy their back-seat driver comments during it :)

State Farm let my insure my car for a few weeks on my UK license, but I think they fudged it at an office level as they were pretty pleased once I had a real number to give their underwriters. It didn't make a jot of difference to my premium, which is based on completely discounting your driving experience prior to the day you get a US license. I pay about $950 for six months on a 2012 Jeep Wrangler; the agent tells me it should drop by about 20-30% after I've had my license 3 years.

Re: CAR INSURANCE IN THE USA WITH UK DRIVING LICENSE?
 

We had insurance via Geiko on our UK driving licenses. We pay $293 a month for a leased 2014 VW Jetta and a 2000 Mazda MPV.

Re: CAR INSURANCE IN THE USA WITH UK DRIVING LICENSE?
 

We pay $100 per month for a 2007 Ford Edge and used our UK licenses at a State Farm office, no problems. We have since obtained our KS license but this has made no difference to our premiums as we are still classed as new drivers.

Re: CAR INSURANCE IN THE USA WITH UK DRIVING LICENSE?
 

The insurance payments are probably a waste of money...as the OP may find out that the insurance policy is not valid as he isn't using a valid DL.

Re: CAR INSURANCE IN THE USA WITH UK DRIVING LICENSE?
 

AS has been said get a valid DL.

Re: CAR INSURANCE IN THE USA WITH UK DRIVING LICENSE?
 

Even with a Colorado licence it is not likely to reduce your premiums by much.

The fact is you are a new driver as far as the States is concerned. Yes, you have been driving for 15 years (I had been driving for 30 years when I arrived) but you have no history in the US so they treat you like an 18 year old.

Once you have history of driving here your premiums will go down - however until then its just another high cost of moving to the US.

Go on line to find out quotes - Geico is a good company.

Re: CAR INSURANCE IN THE USA WITH UK DRIVING LICENSE?
 

Federal and most state law only allows you to drive on a EU or GB licence for 30 day's so you are in fact breaking the law already. Most police will turn a blind eye if you are on a 90 waiver or Visa but the law does state 30 day's quite clearly.

Re: CAR INSURANCE IN THE USA WITH UK DRIVING LICENSE?
 

Colorado is a year for visitors.

Re: CAR INSURANCE IN THE USA WITH UK DRIVING LICENSE?
 

"Moved to CO on an H1B" <> "visitor". :thumbdown:

Re: CAR INSURANCE IN THE USA WITH UK DRIVING LICENSE?
 

I don't understand why you haven't done your driving test yet. If you managed to pass a UK test, I'm sure the CO one will be no problem. I didn't even need to take lessons. I don't believe you would fall under the 'visitor' classification on the H1B visa, you should have already obtained a US license.

Re: CAR INSURANCE IN THE USA WITH UK DRIVING LICENSE?
 

Per JG, above, after three months in CO and no CO licence, you may find your insurance is void if you were to try to claim on it. In the event of a major wreck with injured thirdparties, you run the risk of personal bankruptcy. Insurance for new drivers is extremely expensive in the US, deal with it! :rolleyes: