Import Car Insurance

Import car insurance is a type of insurance policy that specifically offers coverage to drivers owning imported vehicles. While imported cars may be less expensive than domestically available vehicles, insuring these vehicles may be two or three times as expensive as insuring a vehicle manufactured domestically. This is because these cars and their parts may not be available locally, and are therefore more expensive to upkeep and repair.

Grey and Parallel Import Car Insurance:

A “grey” import is one that must be imported, as it is not sold by any local distributor. Because it is not sold locally, domestic auto dealers will not be able to supply replacement parts, making repairs very costly. Additionally, grey imports have not been tested by the European New Car Assessment Programme, which means that they are not eligible for EU Certification. Both of these characteristics make insuring a grey import very costly.

A “parallel” import is a vehicle that may or may not have been imported. These vehicles are sometimes purchased through an oversees distributor, but are also sold locally and are EU approved. Because replacement parts will be sold by domestic distributors and these vehicles receive EU Certification, the cost of parallel insurances is often less than grey import insurance.

How To Find Affordable Import Car Insurance:

Japanese imports are the most commonly imported vehicles. These vehicles are known to be well made, are held to very strict regulation. Because of their high quality and commonality, many insurance providers specialize in offering import insurance to those owning a Japanese import. This will make it easier for drivers to obtain import car insurance for their Japanese vehicle, than a vehicle imported from another country.

While import car insurance can be expensive, there are ways to lower insurance premiums. The first way that drivers can obtain affordable insurance is to avoid making any modifications to their vehicle. If a vehicle has been modified, it may be difficult to find an insurer. Once the driver does find a company willing to insure the vehicle, their premiums will be higher than if their car had not been modified.

Import car insurance will also be cheaper if a driver does not park their car on the road overnight. This will limit the risk of the vehicle being hit overnight, which will lower the price of insurance premiums. Drivers should also limit the number of people on their insurance policy. Policies are more expensive if they cover young, inexperienced drivers. Insurance policies for sports vehicles are also more expensive than small, conservative vehicles. When shopping for import car insurance, drivers should be sure to shop around and compare the price of a few different providers, in order to get the most beneficial deal on their policy.