Hi all,

we are relocating to Geneva from UK and bringing our 2008 VW Polo 1.4 with us. We are importing the car and will be on UK plates until we have it swiss registered. I got a full comprehensive car insurance quote of a year on UK plates for CHF 1,200. It is approximately double what I pay in UK but without insurance history in Switzerland I thought it seems a good enough deal.

I got a very good service from the insurance advisor who is fluent in Eglish and I would recommend him without hesitation for people in similar situations. I understand that only very few Swiss insurance company would cover a car on foreign plates.

Can you please comment on the cover amount?

It's not only the sze/type of car but who will drive it. Sounds not too bad but depends on your service record, accidents etc no claims bnonus.

I got my UK 4L Jeep insured by Zurich Connect for 800- 1000chuffs last year. can't remember exactly without checking.

my swiss jeep 2004.

26 years old(me) no accidents ever, full coverage 1881 per year.....

Not sure if it's an avenue you want to pursue, but for the first 12 months, whilst I still have my British license, i have insured my UK plated car with:

STUART COLLINS & CO
114 WALTER RD
SWANSEA
SA1 5QQ
PHONE 00 44 1792 655562
FAX 00 44 1792 651126


They know it lives in CH, and we have fully comp insurance for myself and hubby with no restrictions on time in europe etc... price was good, a bit more than my previous UK based policy, but certainly not double!

I have no intentions of registering the car in switzerland or changing over licenses until just before necessary, due to implications of having a Swiss license on another UK policy I am a named driver on - however if you are switching everything over quickly, this may not be of much help to you...

Sounds like a good deal! My 2008 Fiat 500 1.2 (the smallest, least powerful engine) was a smidge under 1800CHF when it was on UK plates from Zurich Connect.

Insurance is very hard to compare. If a UK insurer will accept the risk you are best off using one. I used a UK-registered car with USAA Ltd insurance for nearly 2 years in the early 1990s, and again for one year in 2008-09. But the car was driven back and forth the first time, and mainly garaged the second. (It has since been scrapped.)

While Switzerland is not in the EU, it is stuck with some anomalous EU directives, including certain aspects of the EU Third Motor Insurance Directive. You can Google that, but as I remember it from an insurance-law class at university it says that the insurance bureau country of purported registration, even if the plates are fake, has to pay up in case of an accident in another EU country.

However, a UK car may only be driven elsewhere in the EU with valid tax disc. (Swiss rules are different and Switzerland is not, of course, in the EU). There is no legal solution, but there is a practical workaround, if your MOT and tax disc expire while in Switzerland: drive (illegally) through France to Calais, take the ferry to Dover, have a prearranged MOT inspection anywhere in the UK, drive legally to the MOT station, take the insurance certificate and the MOT certificate to a post office, and renew your tax disc. Then reclaim your car from the MOT station.

I have confirmed that with the DVLA.

If you drive in Switzerland with Swiss insurance and UK plates, you will be off the register in the UK and subject to fine as having an "uninsured vehicle". You can't do a SORN legally (in practice you can) because SORNed vehicle must be garaged in the UK. You can notify the DVLA of export of the vehicle. Then you are supposed to get Swiss customs plates, but the Swiss apparently don't care if and only if you either keep the car there less than a year or use it only intermittently and spend less than 91 days in Switzerland.

The latter sentence is my personal interpretation of Swiss Government Web sites. I haven't confirmed that interpretation with anybody.

Hope that helps.

Actually andy02, I'm not sure if the bit you said about having Swiss insurance while on UK plates is correct.
When I was in this situation, all the Swiss insurance companies I spoke to said it was perfectly fine here, so long as I was still on the 1 year grace period and would switch to Swiss plates before it expired. I even drove back to the UK on UK plates and Swiss insurance, and went though a police check point at Dover (they had a couple of police cars sat at the exit with the ANPR cameras pointed at the traffic) without any problems.

I have a 1.4 Polo High Line new in December 2009 (in Switzerland). My fully comp (collision, theft, parking damage and 'various risks' including 'death', 'invalidity', 'hospital money' and 'healing costs') with Zurich Insurance is CHF1316 with full no claims. It would be CHF2653 without.

Swiss insurance is more expensive. It also covers driving in all European countries and it pays out well and promptly - I know, I've tried it...

You can drive your car on foreign plates/insurance for one year after entering the country. Then you have to either register it here, or permanently remove it out of the country. I don't think you actually need a Swiss insurance for that period.

Your UK insurance should be absolutely sufficient. The insurer has no means to know whether you live abroad permanently or were out on a holiday trip. Unless your insurance rules state clearly that insurance is ineffective for prolonged stays abroad, you have no reasons to worry. The civil responsibility insurance will be effective anywhere in Europe, including Switzerland.
You might want to buy an European "assistance" package though. This is in case you wreck your car and need it transported back to the UK for insurance claims.

UK car insurance, unlike here, only covers driving in the UK and a green card needs to be bought to be insured above the basic third party cover to travel out side the UK. This is not cheap and usually is limited to 14 days, or the length of your trip. This a 365-day green card would be a bit of a give away....

The thorny issue or residency rains on that parade, your advice is a little dubious, and in the event of an accident (in CH) would most likey lead to the insurer walking away for a none disclosure of material fact ie they are no longer UK resident.

Insurance is expensive here, I was quoted by Zurich CHF2,200 for an '06 1.9 Laguna.... and that didn't cover it being eaten by weaselly type things or someone hitting it in a car park (which has happend 4 times now). I just got my all risk (even beating eaten by rodents, and sh1tty car park drivers) renewal in from France at €336. I wanted to keep it as it covers the whole of Europe and includes recovery, but the Swissie control won't accept it for registration purposes here, so I'm looking for a better price than the CHF1,466 more Zurich want to charge for inferior cover if anyone has any tips.

This can be an individual issue, but I didn't give up my home address back in Poland, where I come from. I checked with the insurer and they do not care if I'm out of the country 300 days throughout the year. Insurance is valid, including the casco, but not the Assistance which only covered Poland.

It's a matter of being aware what you can and what you cannot legally. Insurers have different rules, and there's a lot of money to be saved here, especially in the first months in a foreign country. In my case a full insurance back at home was approximately 5 times cheaper and was far more advantageous (no "franchise" etc.).

Poland is not the UK so what has Polish cover got do with anything? Many companies on this side of the channel will offer fully euro' cover (although it won't work for registration) the UK doesn't, it operate the 'green card' system.

Can you not bring your no-claims bonus with you? I know my wife did when we 1st insured a car here.

"Poland" has nothing to do with this, but so does the "UK". Insurance rules are typically company specific and not country specific. I could easily find an insurer with very strict limitations back in Poland, but it's always worth to do some research when 4 digit numbers are at stake. Sorry if my experience proves useless to you, but I would doubt that all UK insurance companies operate the same.

The question relates to UK -CH, and concerned the cost of the CH quote. You replied based on Polish info' which is both irrelevant (in this instance), and inaccurate as you clearly have little knowledge of the UK system. Advising to stay with 'home' insurer leaves the OP exposed should they have an accident (8 years with Lloyds gives me and idea). Why would the OP want cover in Poland, when they simply wanted to know if the quote they had was reasonable.

Fiesta 1.4, UK plates, 600 odd francs per year with Zurich Connect

You may have lucked out. If you have UK plates, you need a UK certificate of motor insurance to drive in the UK (roving cameras can pick you up) and to renew your tax disc. I have insurance with a USA insurer and pay in dollars, but they issue the certificate through their UK subsidiary.

The fact is there is now a central computer of MOT and insurance. I tried to renew my tax disc while my car was at the MOT shop and it didn't work, because they'd rejected the car; until they fixed it and entered it into the computer I couldn't renew the disc online.

Of course it's quite possible that your Swiss insurer, like my American one, puts its data on the DVLA's Motor Insurance Database. Stuff on that here, on the offiicial DVLA site: http://www.direct.gov.uk/en/Motoring...icle/DG_069671

A green card or (as I have) insurance that covers any car I drive or anybody who drives my car anywhere in Europe is not enough: only the specific car mentioned on the Certificate is relevant. (On the other hand, for years our car was registered in my wife's name; recently our Council stopped accepting her Swiss driving licence for renewing our parking permit so I went through the Calvary of passing the UK driving test, and put the logbook in my name. Third time lucky, as they say, on the test.)

I have read most of the reply and I have to say that after living in 6 EU countries the worse one for car insurance is UK indeed.

- most "continental" insurance companies cover you with a 365 days "Green Card". UK only 14 days

- only in UK you have to call the insurance company asking (?) them the permission to bring your "own" car abroad.

- only in UK you need a "MOT certificate" to pay both the insurance and road tax

- only in UK your "own" insurance pays you if a third party damages your car