Gummygirl Posted July 9, 2016 Share Posted July 9, 2016 Hi everyone, my hubby has just bought a car in the UK and found, to our dismay, that close to twenty years of a no claims history in Australia will not be taken into account, leaving us with a fairly hefty annual premium. Is this the case for all the car insurers? Or has anyone had a better experience on this front? Anyone able to recommend a good car insurer? Also by way of sharing information and giving an update: after my husband received his job offer in March, he started work in the UK by the end of May. My daughter and I will be joining in two weeks' time. In this time, we've: 1- put our house on the market then decided instead to rent it out so as not to burn bridges while we see how things pan out 2- confirmed a school place for our daughter 3- applied in early May for a spouse visa which was received after two months; this seems to be the standard processing time at the moment 4- shipped all our things in a container; we decided it would save time and money versus buying new things, but I guess this depends on individual circumstances. We went with Palmers and have been happy at this end but haven't received the container so can't comment on the other end yet. Thought about taking the car but decided against it. Sold the car on Carsales and was happy with the process. 5- sorted out shipping for our dog; Pet Carriers was reasonable and knowledgeable so we will likely go with them. unfortunately, contrary to many of the observations on this site, we have found it difficult to get a place that will allow pets. Maybe that's just been the places we've looked at but we are renting a no-pets place in the southeast and the dog will stay with a friend until we sort things out, either by finding a pets-allowed place or buying our own. 6- thought about taking a gbp loan out to buy the car. Had a nasty surprise when HSBC quoted a low indicative rate of 3%, then came back with an actual rate closed to 8%!! -- maybe because we have no credit history? Although we've been longtime customers in Oz and hubby has held an account with them in the UK for the last seven years. Told the story to a friend and apparently same thing happened to them in the UK (different institution) except it was for a home loan and it was something like 3% quoted and 5% actual-- a real shocker if you're talking large sums. Are banks allowed to have such a big disparity between indicative and actual rates?? Anyway thanks to Brexit, we transferred money over and saved ourselves the headache, but still...something to watch out for. Back to the car insurance thing, would appreciate referrals and an insight into how it all works in the UK. Do we accept the hit to the premium or are there companies we should look at? My hubby got quotes from Churchill and Directline and neither cared about our no-claims record in Australia. Hope some of the info I've shared is of use and likewise hoping to hear back from some of you, thanks Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
amibovered Posted July 9, 2016 Share Posted July 9, 2016 Aviva accepts Australian no cliaims. Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
rammygirl Posted July 9, 2016 Share Posted July 9, 2016 Definately shop around you should get the no claims recognised. Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
bristolman Posted July 10, 2016 Share Posted July 10, 2016 Lots of insurers accept the no claims here, Aviva, Admiral, LV are just a few. Just as with any format of insurance some choose not to insure certain risks. Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Guest Posted July 10, 2016 Share Posted July 10, 2016 Shop around. Plenty of insurers will accept the no claims although I think there may be a cap on the number of years. Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Gummygirl Posted July 10, 2016 Author Share Posted July 10, 2016 Shop around. Plenty of insurers will accept the no claims although I think there may be a cap on the number of years. Thanks to all who've responded. I'll look into various insurers further. Guess we just hadn't hit the right ones. Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Lass81 Posted July 10, 2016 Share Posted July 10, 2016 Hi Gummy Girl we are currently trying to sort this out too, had a massive quote from Aviva which included our six years no claims from Australia. But now they have emailed us to say that the document I sent them with our NCD from Allianz is not suitable and can we have it amended! The document from Allianz states a NCD in % not years so they can't accept it, a pain in the rear really with just another thing to sort out. Really hoping we can get it fixed as the premium is already massive. We did shop around and they were the cheapest some like direct line wouldn't even look at us, didn't try Admiral though. Good luck with your search Thanks to all who've responded. I'll look into various insurers further. Guess we just hadn't hit the right ones. Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Gummygirl Posted July 12, 2016 Author Share Posted July 12, 2016 Oh wow! Thanks Lass81. Will keep this in mind. May have to chalk this one up to the cost of moving. Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
newjez Posted July 12, 2016 Share Posted July 12, 2016 After brexit you may want to reconsider selling your Australian house and buying in the UK, as things are moving in your favour. Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Zack Posted July 13, 2016 Share Posted July 13, 2016 Hi everyone, my hubby has just bought a car in the UK and found, to our dismay, that close to twenty years of a no claims history in Australia will not be taken into account, leaving us with a fairly hefty annual premium. Is this the case for all the car insurers? Or has anyone had a better experience on this front? Anyone able to recommend a good car insurer? Also by way of sharing information and giving an update: after my husband received his job offer in March, he started work in the UK by the end of May. My daughter and I will be joining in two weeks' time. In this time, we've: 1- put our house on the market then decided instead to rent it out so as not to burn bridges while we see how things pan out 2- confirmed a school place for our daughter 3- applied in early May for a spouse visa which was received after two months; this seems to be the standard processing time at the moment 4- shipped all our things in a container; we decided it would save time and money versus buying new things, but I guess this depends on individual circumstances. We went with Palmers and have been happy at this end but haven't received the container so can't comment on the other end yet. Thought about taking the car but decided against it. Sold the car on Carsales and was happy with the process. 5- sorted out shipping for our dog; Pet Carriers was reasonable and knowledgeable so we will likely go with them. unfortunately, contrary to many of the observations on this site, we have found it difficult to get a place that will allow pets. Maybe that's just been the places we've looked at but we are renting a no-pets place in the southeast and the dog will stay with a friend until we sort things out, either by finding a pets-allowed place or buying our own. 6- thought about taking a gbp loan out to buy the car. Had a nasty surprise when HSBC quoted a low indicative rate of 3%, then came back with an actual rate closed to 8%!! -- maybe because we have no credit history? Although we've been longtime customers in Oz and hubby has held an account with them in the UK for the last seven years. Told the story to a friend and apparently same thing happened to them in the UK (different institution) except it was for a home loan and it was something like 3% quoted and 5% actual-- a real shocker if you're talking large sums. Are banks allowed to have such a big disparity between indicative and actual rates?? Anyway thanks to Brexit, we transferred money over and saved ourselves the headache, but still...something to watch out for. Back to the car insurance thing, would appreciate referrals and an insight into how it all works in the UK. Do we accept the hit to the premium or are there companies we should look at? My hubby got quotes from Churchill and Directline and neither cared about our no-claims record in Australia. Hope some of the info I've shared is of use and likewise hoping to hear back from some of you, thanks Skippy accepts Australian Discounts as long as you have paper work. Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Gummygirl Posted July 14, 2016 Author Share Posted July 14, 2016 After brexit you may want to reconsider selling your Australian house and buying in the UK, as things are moving in your favour. Indeed, and we're certainly keeping an eye on the market. Aside from exchange rates though,there are a few boxes still to tick before making the commitment to buy, eg hubby happy with job, daughter happy with school and friends, me happy, as well as getting a sense of which location would work for us. Hopefully we'll work all these out quickly enough to take advantage. Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
ruthwin Posted August 26, 2016 Share Posted August 26, 2016 We insure with RAC, they accepted no claims but I needed a letter from our Oz insurers stating how many years we had insurance and how many claim free years. Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
bristolman Posted August 26, 2016 Share Posted August 26, 2016 Did you find the RAC competitive ? They were really expensive for us. Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
ruthwin Posted August 26, 2016 Share Posted August 26, 2016 Did you find the RAC competitive ? They were really expensive for us. They were the cheapest for us, in the end they wouldn't accept my letter for no claims as NRMA had listed we had made a claim although, we apparently rating one for life! Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
bristolman Posted August 26, 2016 Share Posted August 26, 2016 They were the cheapest for us, in the end they wouldn't accept my letter for no claims as NRMA had listed we had made a claim although, we apparently rating one for life! That's a shame, I never had to show my letter to Admiral but said I may need to produce it in event of a claim. Yes rating 1 for life is OK as long as you stay with the same insurer otherwise claims are taken into account. Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
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