H-E-L-P!! Can You Insure EU Registerd Car in UK ??

Hi everyone..

Been losing sleep over the fact i am having serious problems trying to insure my Austrian Registerd car here in the UK.
I have contacted several insurers like elephant/sainsburys etc. but they are all saying that they DO NOT insure foriegn registerd cars.

There is this guy who lives two doors down from me and who also drives a German (EU) registerd car. He told me that he was able to get insurance for his car online without having to transfer to UK registation .

He suggested i try First Alternative but when i called them they said you have to have UK registration, i dont know if there is something he is not telling me but i still see him driving with German EU plates.

The main problem for me is i have to renew my street parking permit in a couple months..the council only gives a one-time 6 months permit to foriegn registerd cars. After that, you will need to provide proof of local insurance before they issue you another parking permit.

All i know is that this guy has got his parking permit renewed but STILL has german plates....the only logical conclusion i can come up with is that he failed to mention his car was foriegn registerd when he bought the insurance online.

If anyone has suggestions please drop me a line

Thanks
Zu
PS i know as a last resort i can try and get the car to be registerd locally..but i know that will be a big hassle.

I've never tried it myself, but I do know that people have done so.  You might need to try one of specialist-type brokers -- The same sort of place for insuring U.S. or Australian imports, kit cars, etc. 

Legally, insurance from any EU country covers you here automatically though.

The main problem for me is i have to renew my street parking permit in a couple months..the council only gives a one-time 6 months permit to foriegn registerd cars. After that, you will need to provide proof of local insurance before they issue you another parking permit.

I'd challenge them on that. 

With all the EU laws about the "free market" and so on, surely there must be something to cover this?     I can't see why the council should be the slightest bit concerned about insurance anyway.        

Hi Paul_1966

Thanks for the quick response..

Well Hackney Council Says you MUST be UK-Insured to have a street parking permit, and they only issue a guest or visitor permit one time, for a period of 6 months.

Our 6 months is almost up...i am certain that they will not budge unless we provide them with local insurance , they clearly state this in their application forms.

I will try to google for specialist brokers..so far no luck..will be plugging away for most of the night tonight.

Cheers
Zu
PS the reason why we are not re-newing our insurance in Austria is that, that wont help us in getting a Hackney parking permit ...sounds ridiculous but they(Hackney Council) wont accept foriegn insurance.

Oh... Hackney Council.        I've had no dealings with them myself, but they've had a bad reputation for many years.    Mind you, almost all local councils seem to have their share of little dictators who need to be challenged.  I've had a good few arguments with my local lot! 

I can't understand why Hackney Council insists on U.K. insurance when -- presumably -- they're not insisting on your vehicle being U.K. registered.     I tried to find some information on the Europa website, but their factsheets are often not very helpful.  This is the one relating to automobile insurance:

http://europa.eu.int/youreurope/nav/en/citizens/factsheets/uk/car/insurance/en.html

I'm always ready for a good fight with local bureaucrats, so I'd be inclined to write them along the lines I mentioned before:  EU single market, you are entitled to have insurance from any EU country and that's all that's legally required, etc. 

If they insist you must have U.K. insurance for a permit, ask them to quote the law which says so.

If you still want to look into U.K. possibilities, try Adrian Flux insurance.  They cover non run-of-the-mill situations through their network.

I see that the hackney website only mentions needing proof of insurance for a recently purchased vehicle:   

http://www.hackney.gov.uk/index/council/departments/environment/env-plan/parking/parking-permits/parking-residents-permits.htm

Oh yes, and there's :

the overall length should not exceed 5.25 metres (17.3”).

I guess the Lincoln Mark IV is out of the question then?   

tehehe..you crack me up, just what i needed today, a good laugh after a horrible day.

Today is a day i'd soon forget, in additon to my insurance dilema, i was a victim of a hit and run just this afternoon.

My parked car got side swiped...just when i thought about giving up on this place, a good samaritan neighbour came out of his flat while i was re-examining my car, and told me he witnessed the whole incident and gave me a description of the car and license plates of the offender.

So, needless to say, i will be at the local police station filing a claim/filling out forms tomorrow.

I will look into the insurance you suggested and try confronting Hackney Council over the phone and see what they say ( over the phone because i dont want to spend all day waiting on line ) .

Again thanks for all the bright ideas and tips...i really need to look into this matter much more, now that you have pointed out some interesting things.

Cheers
Zu.

BTW here is where the problem is...the same Hackney Parking webpage you sent me also states the following.

" You will need to produce a copy of the vehicle registration document(logbook) showing your name and address.  This address must match theCPZ address " .

Since we are insured through my father's insurance in Austria, it will not have our Hackney address on it .

" You will need to produce a copy of the vehicle registration document(logbook) showing your name and address.  This address must match theCPZ address " .

Hmm.....    I assume that the Austrian DMV won't put a British address on the registration (DVLA here certainly won't put a non-U.K. address on one).   

I guess if they enforce this requirement, you'd have to get the vehicle re-registered here too. 

I'd still query this though.   

will do...maybe i might run into a more enlightend person this time around .


Zu.

i might run into a more enlightend person this time around .

It's definitely worth a try.   You should make it a principle to never accept what the first person tells you when dealing with any of these government departments.   It's quite possible to ask five different people about something and get five completely different answers!