Does anyone know of an agency that will issue Swiss car insurance for an imported vehicle with US foreign plates?
The US is not a "green-card-agreement-state", so I think the Swiss insurance companies can insure my car with foreign plates. The insurance companies I've called have said I can buy insurance, but I'm only allowed to drive my car if I'm on my way to the MKF test. I need to get the spray washers installed on the Xenon headlights, and a couple other fixes before I do the MKF test but I wouldn't be able to drive to the shop to have this done without insurance.
Here's the background, if anyone is looking for information about importing a car from the US:
I imported my car, a 3-series BMW from California, US to Switzerland. The shipping company set up temporary liability car insurance for me that covers most of Europe (including Switzerland.) I picked up the car from Rotterdam and drove it back to Zurich. I was able to declare it as a household item so I didn't have to pay import taxes (owned the car for a few years.) I had to go to customs in Rotterdam and get a release stamp, and then I declared the car at the Swiss boarder. I got the Form 13.20 with a Stammnummer issued. At customs they said it was fine to drive for up to a year with the US plates, and said to just get insurance next month after the temporary insurance expired.
The temporary insurance I have is from a Dutch company called Rialto Verzekeringen (+31 70 340 81 02). It cost 400 Euros for one month, 600 Euros for two. Liability car insurance from a Swiss company for my car is CHF800-1000 for one year.
Hi I am in the same boat. I need to transfer car from New Jersey to Basel. My shipping company recommends Green-card insurance. That said, I cannot find info if this insurance will be valid in Switzerland. From a price point, the cost of green-card insurance is resealable for 180 days, until car is ready for Swiss inspection.
Did you consider to use Green-card insurance while getting ready to pass inspection?
I'm not sure how to get the green card insurance. I've read that green card insurance is something that you buy from your current insurance company that allows you to drive in the EU, UK and Switzerland. The US insurance companies don't offer this though. Geico has some partner offices in Germany & Belgium, but they won't sell insurance for Switzerland because of some laws here.
When your car gets here you can take the train to the Swiss border and buy an import liability car insurance policy from the border agent/customs office. It's CHF250 for 1 month. This is a guaranteed option for you.
Try to get all the Swiss conversion repairs done in the US if you can. It will be much cheaper, and easier to communicate.
I see now that the green card insurance is the "international motor insurance card" that is the proof of your liability insurance allowing you to drive in all of the countries in Europe. You get the green card along with a regular insurance policy here in Switzerland, too.
Getting your car converted at a shop would cost $100's in the US and $1000's here in Switzerland. There are some big hoops to jump through if your car isn't a model sold in Switzerland.
Now you see how green card insurance could be a good option, provided it is working in our situation. I am somewhat lucky, I have Lexus CT200H that is sold in Switzerland, I just need to change headlights to get complient
I haven't had the conversion done yet. I'm enjoying my year of driving on the US plates before I have the work done.
I'm thinking I'll bring it to Stuttgart for the conversion because I have some friends that live there (stuttgartmotorslex.com). The problem all the shops are only open Monday-Friday so I'd have to take some time off work to deal with it.
I'm on the same boat - moving from NJ to Switzerland and importing my car. May I ask you to share the name of the insurer who can insure car with US plates? Thanks!
I'm guessing you haven't taken the car for the technical inspection yet. If the car doesn't have washer jets for the xenons then I guess it also doesn't have a European certificate of conformity, even though it's a BMW, which will make it more difficult or almost impossible to register in Switzerland, unless they offer you a partial conformity plus inspection at the MFK. Technically, finding the parts for a BMW for a retrofit should be really easy.
PS, when you get that form 13.20 there's a "Stammnummer" on it and that's what you use as the ID for your car when you get Swiss insurance. You don't have to give them the number plate, er, number. As for whether the insurance is valid without an MFK/Swiss plates I do not know.