I am driving from the UK to Switzerland, as we aremoving there and importing our car
We are taking 3 days/2 nights to get from Watford UK to Zurich in Switzerland. However I can't seem to find a UK company that will insure me for the journey, as I am not coming back!!
HELP! I need to find out how I can insure my car for this 3 day period - can anyone tell me how to do it? Do I need French cover for 3 days, and Swiss cover the moment I cross the border, or can I get European cover from the day I leave the UK?
Or is there a company somewhere that will insure me for getting to Switzerland until I have arranged insurance locally (which I can probably only do once I have my residents permit etc.?)
Please can someone get back to me if they have experience of this??
Car insurance in one EU country is valid for all EU countries plus a few others including Switzerland, so if you insure through the UK you should be okay until you get to Switzerland. If your current company won't do this, there are companies in the UK which specialize in short term insurance. Just google "temporary insurance UK" and you'll see them. These policies are designed for holidays etc so if you leave the UK permanently and have an accident it may provide an excuse for them to wriggle out if you haven't been honest about what you're doing. Once in Switzerland some insurance companies will insure a foreign registered car until you re-register the car in Switzerland but they won't do it indefintely. I don't know if they'll insure you before your official arrival but you could ask. Many have English speaking customer service desks.
I've heard this company insures UK registered cars: http://www.nvc.ch/ - they speak English no problems. I've also met John Dickson, a Scot who works there. Are you sure you don't have a UK address that you could temporarily register your car (and insurance) to? You have a year to drive on foreign plates here, but if you no longer have a UK address then you "may" (I don't know for sure) have to import your car earlier. If you are to import your car, there's plenty of discussion here on that one. Basically the usual, drive to the canton 'DVLA' equivalent and initiate the process with them.
Having a UK address may make the transition process easier like bank accounts, etc. Messing around with car insurance, etc. is probably the last thing you want to do in this life changing move.
One other thing, 3 days/2 nights. I mean you may have kids... or you like the scenery, but it can be done in a day (especially if you're young and drive an Alfa Romeo ). A cruising speed of 70-80 mph from Calais via the French motorways through Reims/Metz/Strasbourg/Basel takes around 8.5 hours. It's about 520 miles from Calais to Zürich and will cost around EUR 40 in French motorway tolls and CHF 40 for Vignette to drive on Swiss motorways (which can be bought from a Swiss service station/border guard valid until Jan 2010).
Also if you have a full car of stuff I would be dubious about parking it overnight/throughout the day on random streets en route. Hotels with enclosed (or near enclosed) car parks are obviously best.
Maybe you aren't suggesting this but I'd be careful about registering a car to a mailbox of convenience in the UK. If de facto it's been exported and you have a serious accident abroad then your insurance could be invalidated.
Stuart Collins insurance has arranged my insurance. I move to switzerland next week and have a years cover with a green card etc. I'll do the "import" bit at a later date to save the hassle.
Based on previous responses, it sounds like you will be OK with UK-based insurance. I wish my problem was that easy... I am in the process of shipping a car from Newark, NJ for drop-off in Antwerp before driving back to Zurich. My USA-based insurance will provide comprehensive/collision, but NOT liability. Zurich-based insurance companies will only provide liability once the the car is in Switzerland (having been declared at a border). Problem is... it is illegal to drive in Europe without liability insurance. Ouch. Looks like I will have to ship the car on the back of a truck to Zurich. So much for taking the cheap route... All the books I've read about roll-on/roll-off (Ro/Ro) fail to mention this little fact.
Hi! My husband and I have just moved to Staefa, ZH (3 days ago infact) and we drove our car from the UK (Cambridgeshire) here with one overnight stop in Reims.
We have our vehicle insured with Stuart Collins in the UK. They were really efficient, although seem to do everything by post rather than internet or phone, but very prompt all the same.
Premium was higher than we had previously paid, but I guess to be expected when living outside the UK.