Hi,

I am intending to buy a new car from an offical UK tax free dealer.
The exchange rate allows big saving compared to CH prices.

The main thing I am struggling with is to get an insurance for driving the car over to Switzerland as I am a non UK resident with no UK address.

Anyone could advise on an insurance company who offers cover?
Vehicle will be UK registered initially.

Totally happy with the swiss side of things as Imported from Germany before, but would be good to get some advise who has done it from the UK also. E.g. VAT410, EUR1, COC, any other documents? Main concern is timing or any unforseen pitfalls which could arise.

Many thank!

Glider Pilot

Look up, and at 1 o'clock high, you can see a box marked Search. Please use it. The reason is you aren't the first with this question and we are tired of typing out the same old shit every week.

Excuse the rudeness there, but this question has come up quite a bit and I can understand why one gets frustrated. I've answered it a couple of times already. Yes, there are insurance companies (not many though) that will provide temp cover for your UK registered car. Have a look at http://www.nvc.ch/ for example.

well ignoring others rudeness, i did this last weekend. I can assure you that all the other posts are actually not very accurate. I could not get swiss insurance and all the UK companies that claim to insure you actually ask for a uk address, ie they insure you as if you are resident in the uk. I Think it's a scam. I got my own insurance from the manufacturer valid for 1 week(using my uk address that i do not live at) and used that to bring the car back, got the car checked out and imported the next day and got it insured quickly using swiss insurer. I have done this twice now and looked into this - ultimately i think it is nigh on impossible to get genuine insurance, so i recommend you get the car delivered here on a truck or something.
Amazing savings to be made and I have just ordered another car!

Good luck

all the documents were privided by the manufacturer and i took these and the car with my i.d. to the internal customs place at Chavornay (30km north of Lausanne). All very simple. Next I have to take this all to Blecherette for number plates etc - not forgetting the ridiculous pollution test I need before i GO TO Blecherette)

Good luck with the insurance company if anything ever happens.

there is no other solution. What can I do?
All I was doing was getting the same cover as through these so called 'helpful' copmanies that charge anything between 100 and 300 sterling for up to a months cover.

someone suggested Zurich connect provided this service but we tried them to no avail

Did you try calling the insurance company I suggested?

no, sorry, I wasnt aware of this company at the time of my importation but i am making a note of them and will give them a call

Zurich connect did it for me when I moved over. The day I arrived the car became insured by them (despite being on UK plates). The condition was that the car was put onto Z-plates (the car had been puchased with 3mths).

I did. They did. No problems

but it wasnt a new car purchased for export by a resident of switzerland. You had a UK address at the time of purchase of the car?

At the time of purchase I was UK resident - and could get UK insurance.

HOWEVER at the point of leaving the UK I was no longer UK resident as I was moving permenently to Switzerland. AA would do non-resident insurance (at the time) but it was 2.5* the price of my original insurance. I spoke (in advance) to Zurich connect - and they were happy to insure me on the day I travelled to Switzerland to become resident.

They sent me copies of all the paperwork I needed - including green card so that if I had problems I had the information. Once the Z-plate was issued then re-issued the documents.

They were incredibly helpful.

Germany and Switzerland have Export plates - which you buy from the STVA and are valid for 30 days - and include insurance. I have never worked out whether that is possible for the UK

ah ok thanks dodgyken, that's interesting. I am helping someone else import at some stage int he next few months and the info I got here today ahs been very useful

The UK link

It explains what happens - but it doesn't explain how you insure or plate a car. My understanding is that it is transported to the destination. In light of the tax saved etc - it might be worth doing that.

well my dealer said he wouldnt offer me that option - he said i had to collect the vehicle personally!

Change dealers. You'll need to do a direct export - and delivery.

mmm there is only one bmw international dealer?

@ digg. Thanks for the insurance. They do it. so very very helpful!!
I actually found one in the UK as well. With AXA through a broker. You need a UK adress, but this is no problem as you could give e.g. the one from a hotel you are "staying" at.

@ Ittigen. No offence taken but if you look at all the topics and putting several search options in at one o'clock you don t find any good advice from anyone.

I have imported from Germany before, but first time from England, so I was looking for info like this:
http://www.mueller24.info/autoexport.php
This guy has imported a car from Germany and explains it step by step with all relevant documents you need, where to go, what to look out for etc.
I was hoping to find something like this for importing a NEW car from the UK to CH.
Surley many people on this forum have done this before!

Once I have made my experience I will put it down like mueller24 for the benefit of everyone.

Regards

I don't have an answer to your main question but I am in the process of registering a 2010 VW car in Switzerland and it has cost me CHF 1200 so far to get the local test cert and to get new headlights, the registration vehicle test will cost another 200. I suppose it's not too bad but just a cost to bear in mind when deciding whether to import.