Import Car Insurance: Pay Less Imported Car Insurance

The obvious reason for importing a car is to save more money on your purchase, but unfortunately you can expect your import car insurance premiums to be hiked up by all insurers.

Nevertheless, Japanese imports are a good choice.  Not only because they tend to be cheaper in price, but also they usually have a higher specification.  But you have to be aware that some vehicles aren’t built to the standards as required in Europe.

How much you will eventually pay for your Import car insurance can be determined by which one of the two groups ‘grey imports’ or ‘parallel imports’ your imported car belongs to.

Any vehicle that’s not built to the European standard is classified as a grey import – these imports are not EU approved and finding a suitable insurer will be a more difficult task.  You can also expect to pay well above average for your car insurance. 

Another determining factor insurers take into consideration is the increased cost of repairs, spare parts for grey imports may not be readily available in the UK and will have to be specially imported at high cost.

The other category of imported cars are known as parallel imports.  Finding import car insurance for this group is much less of a headache as these cars have EU approval and are usually imported to the UK from within the EEC. Here are some tips to help reduce the cost of your imported car insurance premium

(1) Off road parking.  If you have a garage then keeping your car locked up overnight can save you up to 5%

(2) Stay clear of high performance and/or sporty cars.  Smaller and plainer cars are not only cheaper to run but you will also save on your insurance

(3) How many drivers do you intend to have on your policy?  Insurers will always price their premium on the youngest or least experienced driver

(4) By paying a higher excess on your vehicle you will reduce your insurance premium

(5) Don’t modify your car.  If your imported car is modified it will be both, more difficult and more costly to insure

When it comes to finding the cheapest import car insurance you really do have to shop around.  Get as many estimates as you can.  There are many comparison sites online, but don’t stop there, dig into the yellow pages and pickup the phone you might just find a local insurer who can quote you a competitive rate or at the very least point you in the right direction with some good advice.

Some insurers will refuse to insure you as they only deal with the regular mainstream of EU approved vehicles.  If this is the case, If you can’t find an insurer through the normal channels for your American classic car or Japanese import, you’ll have to do some more scouting on the internet for specialist car insurance.  They are out there, it’s just a matter of getting a competitive rate.

As a final note, and also our sixth top tip, (6) consider fitting an industry approved (and recommended) security device as this may reduce your import car insurance premium by as much as 8%.

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