slappywhite

Hello we are a family of four who are moving from the UK to Orange county California in January, we will have our conditional green cards by then. Can anyone recommend good health care insurance and also car insurance? Also any tips on the two will be handy.

Thanks

sir_eccles

www.healthcare.gov unless you have a job offering insurance of course.

slappywhite

Sorry forgot to mention no work insurance.

SanDiegogirl

Hope you have budgeted for a few hundred dollars a month then for premiums.

petitefrancaise

You mention elsewhere that you already have a house - if you contact the house insurers they can give you a quote for the car insurance as well, you normally get a discount if you bundle insurances with one company.

It's mentioned on BE quite a bit - AIG US Inbound do an expat package which costs about $450 for a year - we used them to get our car insurances for both cars and we saved the membership fee on 6 months' insurance quotes.

Don't forget to get something from your UK insurers showing no-claims status. Initial car insurance premiums are fairly pricey here and anything to get them down will help.

Did you get the high school thing sorted out? or shouldn't I ask???

I know that in Texas, the schools are forbidden from asking about the immigration status of students.

scrubbedexpat099

California has its own exchange.

slappywhite

Hello again.

Yes we have budgeted for 2 cars. I will contact our building insurance company and try and get a bundle quote thanks.

Re the school, my son has just finished his GCSEs. We tried our best to get him in to the local high school in time for the new school year beginning of Sep but looks like we won't get our green cards by then so we have decided on January. You're right about the high school asking about immigration, they can't ask about status and seem they don't really care, they said they would take him whenever regardless of status but unfortunately its a question that will be asked at our up coming consular interview and a lie is an instant denial. We have however enrolled our son in an online high school to study American History and Politics, which one of the members on here suggested. He should be able to complete this course before we leave and he will also gain credit for it too.

Disenchanted

So, these vehicles that you will be insuring, are they new or used? Will you be purchasing them cash or taking out a loan? If it's on a loan then there may be requirements to have higher coverage than the minimum you can get away which in turn will be more expensive, especially if it's new. My UK fully comprehensive premium was way less than my "third party, fire & theft" coverage here was.

I have medical coverage with my job thankfully, but "affordable healthcare" is a misnomer as far as I'm concerned, it's basically a half arsed attempt at a socialized medical system with tax penalties if you don't participate. Yes, many low income families and singles now have so called inexpensive healthcare, but they are subsidized by higher income persons now paying more for medical insurance, so get ready for a hefty monthly medical premium with a large deductible for a family of four.

Sorry to be so down but just want you to be prepared for the "sticker shock" effect that you'll be subject to.

slappywhite

Hello the cars will be new with no loan. I would like to lease , but no social security numbers yet. I've had a car insurance quote from the same company as my building insurance which looks Ok but I've yet to got through the small print. The same broker has given me a quote for health insurance and it is high $800+ per month. They too have said to avoid the Obamacare route as it can complicate the care. I will also have a long look at this, but if anyone has an insight please share.

Thanks

sir_eccles

Find another broker, this guy is an idiot who clearly has a chip on his shoulder. Probably lost a lot of clients when they realized they were getting ripped off and could get better coverage through healthcare.gov.

Unless they are short term plans that don't meet minimum essential coverage, all plans whether sold on the marketplace or directly off marketplace must be ACA/obamacare compliant. The main difference is that if you don't use the marketplace you will not be able to claim assistance in paying your premium based on your income.

Once you have signed up for a plan whether you end up using the marketplace or not, you are dealing directly with the insurer. It does not "complicate care".

username.exe

Presumably the broker makes a commission on sales that go through him, so if you go via the 'Obamacare' route he won't be making anything off of it.
It's difficult to separate his advice from his personal interests.

slappywhite

Agreed and as we qualify for it I will have a good look.

Pulaski

Contact International Autosource and you can lease. I used them to finance a purchase and recommended them highly. The lack of SSNs is not an issue.

slappywhite

Ok cheers I will have a look.

kins

$800 a month for health insurance for a family is not particularly expensive. I'd be surprised if you could find a reasonable policy for less. We have a high deductible policy and pay about that, and that's with my husband's premium subsidised by his employer.