Car Insurance

I have no clue if this is the right place for this, so mods feel free to move it.

I haven't seen anything on car insurance around these forums, but I could have completely overlooked it. And this might be a totally off the wall question.

So I'm insured on my car, here, but when I move I'm planning on selling my car, so I was planning on canceling my car insurance too. But can I even drive over there without? Should I keep my insurance, even though I plan on eventually getting a UK license? What has everyone else done as far as car insurance?

I was wondering the same thing, just the other day! So, thanks for asking, Arica! Hopefully someone has an answer to this..

Additionally, if we return to the US to visit, will we be able to rent a car without being insured in the US? Would I have to drive on my US or UK driver's license?

Thanks!

You can rent a car without insurance no problem. Its probably a good idea to get the extra insurance they offer though. You can drive on either license.

The new search engine is rubbish for finding what you're looking for on the forum.     So not off the wall at all.

If you want your own policy not joint with your OH (of if OH doesn't drive / have a license) you may want to look at an insurance agent to find the best deal for you.  A while back a thread came up with a poster saying their Insurance Agent in the UK found an insurer for them that was willing to give them a "no claims" record in the UK if her US insurer wrote a letter of recommendation / history for them.

I got added onto DH's insurance policy without a problem once I had my full UK license.

Additionally, if we return to the US to visit, will we be able to rent a car without being insured in the US? Would I have to drive on my US or UK driver's license?

You can rent a car, but you won't have any insurance on the car...  (Unless your travel insurance policy covers rental cars.)  You might want to look into taking out the rental company's insurance policy.

As for driving on your US / UK license you'll need to check with the company you book your rental car with as to what their policy is.  Usually if you book through a UK booking agent (ie eBooker, Hertz etc) you will have to use your UK License for the booking to be valid and honoured (and same for a US bookings).  But this will be stated in the fine print of your agreement.  If you have both licenses you're covered either way.   

Good luck!

 your OH

Off-topic, but what does OH stand for?

Off-topic, but what does OH stand for?

Other half. 

Other half. 

Thanks!

We sold our car in the US and cancelled our insurance.  We do not have a car in Sheffield and are able to rent all the time with our US licence.  We get insurance from the rental car company (Enterprise).  When we return to the US we have rented a car and purchased insurance and when we were with my parents they contacted their US insurance company (Nationwide) that said on their policy we were able to drive their car under their insurance if we had valid US licences.

One thing to note we have been told by UK and US insurance companies we will have to start with higher new driver premiums as we have never had a UK licence and if we return tot he US it will appear that we had a lapse in coverage.  I did talk to my agent before leaving and he left a note in our file and he claims that if we go back to him in the US he will use our good driving record (so that would remain to be seen 10 years from now).

The new search engine is rubbish for finding what you're looking for on the forum.     So not off the wall at all.

Check the "advance search" to get your information. I did and came up with "insurance" under Travel and Transportation. There is loads of good information there from our posters about car insurance.

Good Luck.

Thank you!

Thank you!