I'm shortly leaving the UK to work in California for a couple of years.
Whilst the thought of cheap cars and even cheaper petrol is nice, I'm having nightmares about insurance.
Will my fourteen years of incident free motoring in the UK be considered by US insurers or am I going to be in the same risk category as a newly qualified sixteen year old who only had to drive round the block once to get his license?
Anyone here have any relevant experience?
Thanks,
Grum.
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Firstly, here in AZ i had to sit a US driving test. Admittedly, the test was a joke, but I have heard in some states, they will just look at your UK license and give you one of theirs. Anyway, insurance; They dont care a hang for your UK driving experience, they only consider US driving experience. For the first 6 months I ended up paying $600 for liability. This is like third pary insurance, but it is not unlimited coverage, the limits i had were $15000 for bodily injury and $20000 for property damage. You can imagine that $15000 for bodily injury is not a lot given the cost of medical treatment here. Now I have about 3 yrs of US driving experinece, and Im age 25, it has come down to about $300 for double the level of coverage i mentioned.
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I forgot to mention though; From talking to other people in similar situations to me, it appears that age is the primary factor in the price. Driving experience is important, but not nearly so much.
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I had pretty much the same experience. Although my insurer didn't insist that I change my licence any quicker than the DMV wanted me to - which was a year, I think.
They rated me as a new driver with no experience, ignoring any driign elsewhere in the world.
2 years after I had a US licence it dropped considerably.
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Oh, and one of my Brit friends was 10 years younger than me and whilst his insurance was more expensive, it wasn't dramatically so - I'd take from that that the "issues" were the car and the driving experience rather than age, so that is different from uk2usa's experience.
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I go along with all said above and would add you have no credit rating either - you can own property worth $1M and have that sum in a US bank and you still have no credit rating. Its best to borrow and pay back on time and then you can build up a record.
Thus with no driving experience and no credit record you are a financial 'leper'. I have property in the USA and with my 'leper'
status I had trouble even getting a telephone installed and electricity services in my name. The quote for car insurance for me was silly.
Taking Mark's point about the "issues" being the car and driving experience. Certainly agree with the driving experience but would qualify his point about the car. It seems that it is the value of your car rather than the power/type of car that determines the premium. Thus with 2 cars worth, say, $10K one a new 4 cyl 80bhp 'cooking' saloon and the other an older 200bhp sporting saloon, there would be little difference in the premium.
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On the credit reference stuff, go and get a Sears card or similar (just about anyone can have one of those), then spend up to its limit (likely to be about $100) every month and pay it off every month.
That and a phone will sort out your credit reference within 6 months.
I'm surprised at, although not doubting, Cardew's difficulties with utilities. I used PG&E and PacBell and had no problems at all.
Cardew's comment about car value rather than power makes sense, although I'd never realised that before.
Whereabouts in California ? I still have a house up in the Bay Area in San Mateo county - love it there.
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I built up credit using a Citibank secured credit card. You pay them $1,000 which they put in a CD, that gives you a $1,000 credit limit. The application form was in Spanish but other than that, it was fine, and a year later I now have a normal unsecured credit card!
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Lot of good advice given here. I had a ford focus then changed to V6 Audi a4, and actually saw a reduction in my premium...Go figure....Definitely get a gredit card and use it for absolutely everything, even to buy a $0.50 can of coke. It will build up your credit rating. Some of the credit cards have very good rewards programs like free flights etc.
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I'm surprised at, although not doubting, Cardew's difficulties with utilities. I used PG&E and PacBell and had no problems at all.
My problem was that I did not have a mortgage on the(new) property. I have a Citibank (UK) US$ account which I used and use now and, crucially I did not have a Social Security number or USA driving licence.
My telephone is with BellSouth and I had to put down a $100 deposit - No problem thought I. However anyone deemed to be so 'untrustworthy'(usually defaulting customers who have been disconnected) that a deposit is necessary cannot pay by credit/debit card or cheque(the computer system will not accept it). I ended up driving 20 miles to a drug store and standing in line, with the some patently less affluent American Citizens, to pay my 100 Bucks cash.
Ditto for Electricity. AOL were fine as long as I paid up front as were Cingular for a mobile.
Now I pay my huge property taxes promptly, and have had my utility deposits returned - I still haven't got a credit rating - cos I ain't borrowed.
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Thanks for all the advice folks.
I was aware credit history would be an issue but with my wife in tow it shouldn't be too much of an issue to soon sort that out :-)
Looks like we'll just have to accept the pain of insurance.
Cheers,
Grum
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Ditto the above advice.
Get a Social Security number and then an ID-card or drivers license straight away. Even Blockbuster won't entertain you without one.
You have no US. driving record so you will be treated as a newly qualified driver. No amount of NCB certificates or testimonials from non-US insurers will change that.
Be aware that when you ask for a quote some agents will quote for a 6 month period not 12 months. Make sure you understand what you're getting.
Expect to pay at least double what you would pay in the UK for insurance (for the first year.)
The driving test is relatively easy. It includes an eyesight test, computerised theory test and then a short practical test. You'll need to get the booklet from your local Dept. of Public Safety to understand local regulations.
If you are going for a fixed period of two years consider leasing a car instead of buying. Weigh this against the fact that you can bring a vehicle back to the UK without paying import duty if you've owned it for more than a year.
See if your employer has an agreement with a local bank or even their own Credit Union. It really helps with credit ratings and at the moment, it could work out cheaper to take a loan and keep your cash in a UK account.
Kevin...
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Bellsouth ? So that would be Atlanta/Miami or similar ?
I did have a SocSec number. That one thing made a huge difference pretty much beyond anything else. Strange really, because they're not difficult to get.
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Bellsouth ? So that would be Atlanta/Miami or similar ?
Indian Harbour Beach near Melbourne in Florida. On the Atlantic Coast about 20 mies South of the Kennedy Space Centre at Cape Canaveral.
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Age is a major factor in US insurance premiums (as is gender) and you will find that at age 25 premiums can sometimes halve, or other insurance companies (who offer more affordable policies) will take you on. After age 65 you can expect the premiums to start creeping up again so enjoy that golden 40 year insurance gap.
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>I did have a SocSec number. That one thing made a huge difference pretty much beyond
>anything else. Strange really, because they're not difficult to get.
I can't remember what documentation they asked for but you're right, it took less than 15 minutes to get SS numbers for myself and the wife at an out-of-town SS office (the queues at downtown offices can be quite long.) US bureaucracy revolves around them so once you've got one it makes opening bank accounts, getting phones/cable etc. much easier.
A drivers license or ID card is even easier to obtain and is virtually impossible to live without.
Want to join a video rental store? - No way without US ID.
Want to hire a car? - Passport and foreign license needed.
Want to get an internal flight? - Passport required.
Proof of age to buy liquor in a store or bar - Passport required.
Even Border Patrol have accepted mine as proof of residence when I've nipped over to Mexico for a night out.
Kevin...
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