bjf

Hi. I've just moved to Charlotte, North Carolina and I have been shocked by the premiums that I am being quoted for Car Insurance. For a not at all flash car I've been quoted around $1500 for 6 months- liability only. I've been told by brokers this is because they do not recognise my foreign driving experience.
Has anyone else encountered this & found any cheaper providers?

TruBrit

hi and welcome to BE

yep it's pretty pricey but like in the uk best to shop around. maybe there will be some others from your state that could recommend some local companies but i'm telling you it ain't cheap, not over here, nothing is

kins

We're paying about $100 a month for a Honda Odyssey and about $70 a month for a Subaru Legacy - we got this deal shortly after arriving here in the US. We're with Geico if that's any help?

Ray

It will go down once you pass the test ......
Thats pretty normal

sangiano

We're moving to Delaware in late January 2008 and have been investigating insurance quotes.

$1500 / 6 months for liability only seems very high, unless you are very young.

Progressive quoted us $1900 for good liability cover, collision, comprehensive and PIP for 2 drivers on a brand new VW Golf GTi. This was including a surcharge for using UK driving licences. We could reduce that by a further $200 by taking a high deductible on the collision element. They said that Delaware was a relatively expensive State to insure in.

State Minimum liability cover was $557 and decent Liability cover only was $804.

I think we will wait until we have our Delaware licences and save a further 10% by taking the defensive drivers course ($28 each I think).

I think the answer, as others have said, is to shop around.

lisag8070

Hi were in Greeensboro, NC and we're paying about 1200 (for the year) on 2 cars and thats with Geico, when we first moved here we already had a FL driving licence so we didn't have the problem of the UK driving licence.....I do remember though that we had to prove that we had over 3 yrs driving experience, and unfortunately we only had a US driving licence for 2 yrs so we asked our ins company in the UK to send us a letter to confirm how long we'd had ins with them (we were lucky we'd been with them for 9 yrs) and Geico was happy with that....
But definately shop around, I know its time consuming but its worth it in the end...
Good luck

lapin_windstar

There seems to be a lot of variation between companies (and different branches of companies) about whether they recognize overseas driving experience.

katesbackagain

I think ours is pretty reasonable, considering. We're with Progressive and pay $158 per month for full coverage for 2 people (collision, roadside assist, etc) on a 2.4 engine (I think!) 2006 car. My eyes nearly fell out of my head when I first got here and found out how much the insurance was, though. In the UK, I was paying 18 quid a month for fully comp.

sangiano

bjf,

You don't say whether you have your State driving licence yet, but for us, it makes a huge difference!!!

I've been playing around with the figures and found that solely for having a foreign licence the surcharge is around 45%.

Our $1,700 / 6 months quote would drop to $1,170 just for having a State licence and to $1,080 if we take the defensive driving course as well!!

If we start with a foreign licence, the surcharge stays on for one year, so it's a complete no-brainer, as additional car rental to allow time to take the test wouldn't be even come close to the savings we'd make.

tamms_1965

Try State Farm. You also get discounts if you carry your home insurance/renter's insurancee with them.

BritGuyTN

likewise with farm bureau

Big D

we originally went with Allstate who (despite no supposed to be able to) took into account our UK no claims! We paid at most about $450 per six months. Just moved to GEICO and now pay a little over $300. That is with fully loaded levels of coverage too.

Dan725

Only thing to do is really shop around. Unless they live in your same area, people giving quotes is meaningless, it varies wildly around the country. Do plenty of research and get a quote from each and every company you can find, like for like cover.

As has been said chances are it'll go down a lot when you get your license and that will also increas the number of insurers who will do business with you.

Bob

shop around, but it's pretty normal, no driving history and no credit history will be the main issues, but it's worth shopping around depending on the state...it's not in Mass as the rates are set by the state, so none of the big companies want to bother with this state

NC Penguin

I feel your pain. I assume you hold a full British driving licence? I didn't when I moved to NC which means I had to get my first full driving license in the US. In NC for the first three years of holding a full driving license, you're considered an "inexperienced driver". Age and gender are ignored. So, for the first year auto insurance for me and my spouse was over $3000! It dropped every six months (you pay for six months coverage at a time).

I was with Nationwide for the first two years. The agent was trying to pull a fast one on me and refused to lower the premium when she should have (because of some NC Dept of Insurance ruling) so I switched to GEICO and that's whom I've been with since then.

Be aware of all the minimum coverage that the state of NC imposes on auto insurance. Do not drive under-insured. There a lot of crappy drivers in NC. Are you the only person on the policy? Do you have a USC spouse? Maybe his/her driving record isn't so good and that's one reason why you've been quoted higher premiums.