Foreign drivers can get temporary car insurance now

For a long time, people coming to visit the UK were unable to find car insurance because they held driving licences from countries not in the EU. Citizens of South Africa, Australia, USA, New Zealand and Canada were gutted that they could not drive their family or friend’s car whilst on holiday in England and were either forced to hire a car or not drive at all but this has all changed now.

It is undoubtedly cheaper to explore the UK by car and more convenient as well. You only have to pay for fuel rather than finding money to rent a car on a daily basis on top of petrol. However all insurers refused to provide cover for people coming from abroad especially if they were citizens of countries mentioned above. The reason was simple – foreign drivers are a great risk because after their vacation, there was no way to sue them or it was very difficult to trace them back. For example, if an international licence holder was involved in an accident which was their fault, they would have to pay an excess which is usually greater than what we, residents of the UK, pay but if they just leave the country without settling the costs, then it would be nearly impossible to get back the money. Actually the costs in trying to get back the money would be more than what they owe and since many outsiders have done that in the past, insurers were not willing to take that risk again, hence they were not eligible for car insurance coverage.

Of course, this is not to say that all tourists are bad people but as a business you want to make profits and taking on people in a risk group profile is not very sensible. It is worth mentioning that foreign drivers were able to get standard car insurance though, that is, coverage for a whole year (12 months) without much hassle but it was short term policies which were difficult to obtain if not impossible.

To the rescue

UPDATE: The walkabout policy has been discontinued now but you can get temporary insurance instead.

Fortunately, Herts Insurance Consultants (HIC) has designed a new scheme for backpackers and travellers which is called Walkabout Insurance. This new policy is perfect for those who are coming to stay in the UK for a short while and want to take advantage of driving the car of someone they know. Here are the main facilities of this car insurance policy:

• Driving licences from South Africa, Australia, USA, New Zealand, Canada and other countries accepted
• Cover is available on a temporary basis (from 14 days upwards) up to a year
• EU coverage included in the policy as well as some other countries
• You don’t need to have a permanent address and your documents can be sent by email
• Cover for campers including vans available

This is really great news for drivers with overseas licences as they will now be able to get insured and make the most of their stay in the UK. The quotes are really attractive as well but it’s pointless to mention any figure as the quotes are directly related to your own circumstances and therefore you should obtain a quote from them to get an idea of how much premiums are going to be for you.