So, you’ve bought an import car and need to look for import car insurance. Having an import car can lead to much higher policy rates, so buying import car insurance requires some effort to help minimize your costs. The majority of mainstream insurance providers prefer not to extend their coverage to certain imports, and that leaves you to finding a specialist insurer for your car. Understanding the factors that affect the costs of coverage for import vehicles as well as some ways to minimize your costs will help you in your search.
Import coverage is broken into two categories. Coverage for “grey” imports for cars that do not come from domestic distributors and neither does any parts for replacement, which increases the cost of any repairs. The term “grey” is used because they have not been certified by the European NCAP. This is not to say that they are inferior, only that they’ve never undergone evaluation by the NCAP (New Car Assessment Program), but instead whatever regulations their home country has. More often than not, the imports are Japanese in origin and their production specifications are more rigid than Australia or the United Kingdom’s.
The other major category is Parallel Import coverage. They’re considered parallel because that while some are imported, many are available through local distributors. Should yours be locally acquired, there is the possibility that you won’t need specialist coverage at all. As long as modifications are minimal, this should bring your costs down to a level equivalent to domestic coverage. Policy coverage for modified cars is more costly whether it’s an import or came through a domestic distributor.
There are several key ways to reduce the costs of your import insurance premium. Doing research over the internet is an easy way to get quotes on insurance costs. however, if your vehicle is modified, you will have to speak directly to an insurance agent to get a quote. Once you’ve shopped around, sending an introductory letter with the quotes you’ve found (via email or fax) is the first step. Once that’s done, you’ll want to call the agent and ask them if they can offer you a better rate than the ones you’ve found.
Another key way to keep costs of coverage down is keep any underage drivers off of the policy, and away from the wheel. The younger the driver, the higher the baseline of the policy.
If you have a garage, be sure that the agent knows this, keeping a car in a garage at night can reduce your premiums by as much as five percent. As discussed earlier, keep any modifications to the bare minimum, especially if its an import. Security devices such as alarms and locks on the wheel are also ways to reduce policy costs. All of these are taken into consideration in the structuring of your policy.