stacrat

Hi all,

I moved here a couple of weeks ago from UK to join my husband who moved 3 months before me. Therefore he has a SS number and a bank account. I don't yet. We both still have UK licenses.

I'm finding life hard without a car so we are looking into getting one for me. He has a company car. Based on a 2005 4x4 costing $6K, I was quoted $2500 for a year. The quote went down to $1700 if we already had US licenses.

That quote was with Amica. I am hoping to find cheaper insurance obviously, and would love to hear if any of you got better rates and can recommend any other companies.

We will try to get our US licenses as quickly as poss before we buy the car, but is there anything else we can do to lower the costs? I have 7 years no claims from UK and my husband has around 20 years.

Thanks

jjmb

Seems about right but I am sure there will be others along who will give you advice on how to reduce it. We paid about that when we bought our first car in 2001, so with inflation that seems like a good rate. Dropped down considerable once we had insurance for a year or so. If this is an online quote, a insurance broker might be a better option.

GeoffM

That's double my rate when I was a newbie. I had a temporary license then, not a full CA license. Just keep shopping around, local brokers especially. Make sure you get more than the minimums - there was a thread about that a month or two ago, though the search is broken at the moment. A broker might be more willing to look at your no-claims from the UK than an a big call center - it certainly cut my rates.

Obviously tons of variables with insurance like age, location, nickability of the car, where you store it overnight, etc, etc. Hard to compare without much information really.

Sally Redux

I think the first year is always high.

We use Liberty Mutual, and I couldn't get a better rate last time I tried.

MMcD

And add to Geoffs etceteras the BIG one: Zip Code...at least here in LA it's one of the factors which - with everything else remaining the same - seems to have the biggest impact on the rates offered by the SAME company to the SAME person. (And it's for that reason I don't think you can compare rates with someone living elsewhere.)
You don't say where you are - but if in Southern California - I'd suggest you get a quote from AAA (Automobile Club of Southern Ca.) I've been with them for centuries and found that at least within my zip code - they're very competitive.
And if not - what about Geico?
Progressive?

Phoodilicious

We were warned about the high car insurance costs before we arrived two years ago and I had done some phoning around from the UK to Geico, Progressive etc. In the end it was suggested by a British couple we knew who had done the same relocation 6 months previous to us to the same area, that we use a broker rather than try and go it alone. In our case it was good advice as I was taken aback at how different insurance is over here and knowing what the State minimum requirements are but you wouldn't want to only have that little cover when you witness how the average person drives here! So we went with a local broker and gave him copies of our UK no claims bonuses etc and we ended up paying around $800 for the first 6 months (on UK driving licenses) and around $600 for the following 6 months (on TX drivers licenses) and with good cover. Moving to CA, our insurance actually went down fractionally which was a surprise as most everything else went up (pet insurance literally doubled with the same pets, same cover and same insurer - just a change of address mid term!). I continue to use a broker here too and she has done well for me.

HarryTheSpider

We sorted out our car, US bank & credit cards, and car insurance all through AIG's Expat Inbound scheme. We paid about $90 a month for the first 6 months, with no US credit history. Then we used a broker. The car was a brand new VW 2011 Tiguan S. Mind you, we're in AZ. Don't know about your neck of the woods...

Bob

You don't say where you live, so any recommendations will be general and pretty pointless if they're not in your state.

But the ball park figure is $1K per 6 months on a new/decent car, so anything less is a bonus.

Get a proper beater, get the horridly low state minimum cover (you don't want to do this) and depending on the state, might see a reduction with off street and covered parking, doing low mileage (less than 5K a year, impossible really), stuff like that.

You're basically a spotty 16 year old and become a spotty 18 year old until you get a local license as previous history doesn't count for anything.

Once you've built up some credit history and a years driving history, you'll find your rates getting a lot better....ish.

matbow

I echo the poster that mentioned using a broker.

I received a crazy quote from Geico in the region of $4k for a Jeep 4x4 when I lived in Boston (Back Bay). A friend recommended that I speak to her insurance agent (a Horace Mann agent); after talking with him and explaining my situation he requested a copy of my license history (you need to request this from the DVLA) - he managed to get my full 10+ year UK record taken into account on my policy and my quote was only $900 for the full year, which was for full coverage.

Hope this helps!

richbogle84

So this could be a dumb question but what evidence did you provide of your UK no-claims bonus? Do I just need to call my most recent UK insurance provider and ask for a letter?

Many Thanks,

Rich.

stacrat

Thanks for your replies.

I'm in Rhode Island and supposed to be in one of the safest areas. The car will be kept in a locked garage.

I've been driving for 18 years, but lived in another country before getting a UK license 7 years ago.

I will be doing low mileage, only really driving kids to activities and local shopping. On weekends we would mainly use the company car for trips out.

My hubby heard from colleagues that Geiko take a long time to pay out and deny lots of claims. Have any of you had experiences to the contrary?

I will look into a broker, thanks.

Guindalf

I recently switched from Allstate to eSurance. Same parent company, but within $1, half the cost!

Insurance, as has been explained, I think, is linked to credit score and as you have no credit history, yours will be high. Also the lack of a recorded US driving history works against you.

The secret is to shop around. Most companies have online quotes and there are multi-site quote websites out there too so you can enter all your details once and get several responses. Progressive will tell you the price of several competitors so you can see how they measure up.

If you really need to minimize the cost, buy a cheaper vehicle outright and get liability insurance (3rd party) for a while. Work your way up to something newer and, once established, you'll get a better loan rate as well as a better insurance quote.

I pay under $400/6 months for a 2007 Honda CR-V and a 2011 Ford Edge Limited now.

Bob

Your UK no claims is just a marketing sales pitch, it doesn't really have much effect.

The clean drivers license in some states elevates you above a first time driver though, which it does in ME and MA that I know of. Basically in real simple terms, there's a rate based on under 18, then from 18-25 and then there after and if you can show having a clean license for 3 years, you go into that pile. In MA, it's basically a $400 surcharge for anyone with no clean history that the insurance company can tack on as a extra fee to the regular rate.

You get your drivers license history from the DVLA, about a fiver I think it costs.

matbow

As Bob said, it wasn't proof of a no claims bonus, it was a full copy of my drivers history from the DVLA which has details of the date I received my license, any penalty points, disqualifications etc...

Right at the bottom of the page on the following link tells you how to get it:

http://www.dft.gov.uk/dvla/data/reli...torequest.aspx

Phoodilicious

In our case, we did get a bit of an advantage being able to show the broker the two letters from my and my husband's car insurers as he was able to get us the slightly better rate rather than the same rate as a brand new driver would get. We simply called our insurers in the UK and asked them to send a "proof of no claims" letter stating the number of years no claims. Both did this with no problems.