Driving to Europe - how to insure ?

[e-yes]

Hi,

I am planning to drive to France in summer.

However, my insurer doesn't provide a fully comprehensive cover outside the U.K.

I have tried other brokers like Tempcover or Dayinsure but even their policy wording states "provide only the minimum cover required for that country". Dayinsure did allow me to add a fully comprehensive EU cover at an additional cost however the policy wording still didn't change !

Any ideas on how I can get a fully comprehensive cover for about a week of driving in France ?

(Oh and also, any general tips for using a Right Hand Drive car in France. I have driven in Europe and US before but those were local rental cars)

Thanks,

--E

[NemesisUK]

Clearly states fully comprehensive cover on their website

https://www.dayinsure.com/guides/temporary-european-car-insurance/?gclid=Cj0KCQjwpPKiBhDvARIsACn-gzBH6lvgo5RfXBuN8M3HM7ZZc56FPWZmC_hGX1nWEAZP1wv7EPa0DjUaAmZBEALw_wcB

[Dippo]

Are you sure your insurer doesn't provide cover outside the UK? Most insurers may include minimum cover as standard, but will upgrade on request (and for an extra premium) - it used to be called a Green Card.

[cdmaskell]

Driving tip, make sure you are are driving near to the kerb,  don’t drift to the centre of the road. Extra caution at roundabouts and of fuel stations exits etc.  Have a great safe holiday all the best.

[Sandandlime]

 

Quote

Oh and also, any general tips for using a Right Hand Drive car in France. I have driven in Europe and US before but those were local rental cars

I live in SW France, and have done so for 15 years, so should know all the tips but don't think there's much to be aware of these days. Apart from the exception of 'priorité à droite' which can catch you out unexpectedly. It is still the norm in town centres that vehicles coming at you from the rhs have priority if there aren't any signs to say otherwise. On the outskirts of towns there's usually signage but in the old parts probably not. On main/departmentale routes it's very rare to encounter unsigned junctions (I can't recall any in recent years but they probably still exist). Junctions on rural roads are also 'priorité à droite' but most people don't push it as they're accustomed to the main road having right of way.

My advice is to drive slower than you would in the UK and to treat all junctions with caution but there really isn't anything to be concerned about.

MY ES is LHD, obviously, but I also drive my RHD TR4 and Alvis here too and, other than having to look past the passenger at junctions, there really isn't any difference.

[Sandandlime]

PS: Depending on where you're going and the route you plan on taking, a télépéage badge is well worth having.

https://ulys.vinci-autoroutes.com

[e-yes]

42 minutes ago, Dippo said:

Are you sure your insurer doesn't provide cover outside the UK? Most insurers may include minimum cover as standard, but will upgrade on request (and for an extra premium) - it used to be called a Green Card.

My insurer does provide the minimum cover. I contacted them to get additional comprehensive cover for the holiday period but they said they can only do that at beginning of the cover.

[e-yes]

48 minutes ago, NemesisUK said:

Clearly states fully comprehensive cover on their website

https://www.dayinsure.com/guides/temporary-european-car-insurance/?gclid=Cj0KCQjwpPKiBhDvARIsACn-gzBH6lvgo5RfXBuN8M3HM7ZZc56FPWZmC_hGX1nWEAZP1wv7EPa0DjUaAmZBEALw_wcB

Yes that is true... but even after going through with the process of adding all the details and specifically adding comprehensive European cover, the policy wording downloaded from the quote generation page still states "minimum cover". That's why I didn't go ahead with making the payment.

Asking the question here seemed like better thing to do before I bought the cover 🙂

--E

[e-yes]

5 minutes ago, Sandandlime said:

PS: Depending on where you're going and the route you plan on taking, a télépéage badge is well worth having.

https://ulys.vinci-autoroutes.com

The driving plan is a bit boring tbh.

Drive to Folkestone Eurotunnel, get on the transporter train, then drive to Versaille and then no driving locally until drive back to U.K.

[Sandandlime]

2 hours ago, e-yes said:

The driving plan is a bit boring tbh.

Drive to Folkestone Eurotunnel, get on the transporter train, then drive to Versaille and then no driving locally until drive back to U.K.

In that case there's nothing to stress over: 3 hours down the autoroute and you're done. The only troublesome part will be manoeuvring an ES into space that's too small for a Clio!

Enjoy your trip!

[Herbie]

Many years ago we used to have to apply for a "Green Card" which extended comprehensive cover for driving in Europe.

Then the EU made a ruling and no green card was necessary, you only had to notify your insurers that you were going and that was it - comprehensive cover in the EU.

Then the UK left the EU and a Green Card became necessary again.

All I have to do is ring my brokers, tell them when and where I'll be going, and they issue said Green Card, which is usually valid for up to 30 days.

We often spend time in France, Belgium and Germany as we drive through to our main destinations of Czechia, Poland and Slovakia.

We use A-plan Brokers and I think the policy this year is with LV or Ageas; I can't remember which, but I can say that we never have a problem getting comprehensive cover for where we want to go.

[Sandandlime]

As an aside, I'm going the opposite way and am off to the UK in my ES next week, only my second trip since 2007, and my MMA insurance provides the same cover in Blighty as it does in France - despite Brexit!

WAFO?

[DAN@ADRIAN FLUX]

Hi.

Please feel free to give us a try for insurance if you haven't done so already.

Regards,

Dan.

[serbarry]

On 5/11/2023 at 8:22 PM, Herbie said:

 

We often spend time in France, Belgium and Germany as we drive through to our main destinations of Czechia, Poland and Slovakia.

 

Where do you go in Slovakia Herbs? I am curious because I go every summer to Slovakia for 2 weeks as my wife is Slovak. 

[Linas.P]

The policy wording should not change if you just getting add on for fully comp. However, there should be some sort of T&C's for that add-on.

As for general driving in Europe... not much to say, most Lexus cars (with Xenon/LED) don't need stickers so that is sorted, you will need GB sticker on the back as number-plate country no longer works as we outside of EU. If you could get Eurotunnel, then it is much more reliable than ferry, but I guess that is nothing new. When it comes to driving, not much to say - just enjoy! Europeans are much more competent if a little bit less friendly drivers, so driving everywhere is a breeze, lane discipline actually exists, people pay attention to the road and everything is just much nicer and more organised. Yes - that means making mistakes are more embarrassing and harder to get away compared to UK, where it is chaos and nobody knows who is right and who is wrong so just let's you pass regardless. Obviously having RHD vehicle makes it slightly more difficult to overtake, but on the flip side European roads much cleaner, hedges cleaned out and visibility generally better, so I still find driving in Europe much easier even in RHD car. On motorways there is no difference, just look at your mirrors, move over after overtaking and expect cars to overtake you at quite high speed - nobody drives there at slow British 70MPH, which is ~110 in kilometres. I think more common speed in outside lane is 140-160 in most of Europe, whereas posted speed is usually 130 (to be fair even in UK 90MPH is not rare, but in UK it is speeding driver issue, in Europe it is your issue to move out of the way, so you will be flashed and beeped at if you do "speedlimit" in outside lane), obviously Germany is exception where I would say outside lane speed is often 200+, so again just be careful overtaking as the car behind you may be closing the gap much faster than you would expect. In cities... again not much issue, Italy/Spain/Portugal/Greece do have some very narrow streets in the cities, but to be fair so does Britain, rest of the Europe actually has less traffic and wider roads, clearer signs and road markings so no issues there... and parking is plentiful and cheap... and to be fair in British car they can't do much even if you overstayed, so often they don't even bother issuing the ticket. Even pedestrians seems to care and look where they are going and appreciate that 2 ton metal object moving at speed probably should take priority over them just randomly wondering into the road. 

In short diving in Europe is breeze, every time I do I dread to come back to UK and be stuck in outside lane behind hoggers barely moving at 63MPH and then brake checking you if you flash them to move over, all nonsensical roundabouts where anyone can exit from any lane and it is somehow 50/50 fault as there are no clearly defined rules and all the other standard British issues. 

[serbarry]

I would not be sure that parking is plentiful in Italy especially in big cities, maybe cheaper compared to UK. Driving is ok until Florence even though I think in UK you are more disciplined. From Rome to the south of Italy I think only India can be worse.

[Dippo]

You now need a UK sticker, not GB.

I have to say I don't recognise a lot of Linas' description of driving in Europe.

[Herbie]

22 hours ago, serbarry said:

Where do you go in Slovakia Herbs? I am curious because I go every summer to Slovakia for 2 weeks as my wife is Slovak. 

The way we do our holidays is not to plan anything and just go wherever the wind takes us. In the past we've stayed in Bratislava, Piestany, Banska Bystrica, Kosice, and others. We love that part of the world (including Czechia and Poland) and we've found some amazing places with such lovely and friendly people.

[serbarry]

I also believe that Slovakia is a really beautiful country and often underestimated by tourists. We go every summer to Zilina, about 200 kms north of Bratislava. Last year from Zilina we drove to Auschwitz which is not far away. 

[Thackeray]

As Herbie pointed out, it used to be the case that you needed a Green Card to take your car to Europe. This provided the evidence that you had insurance. Then the EU, including the UK when it was a member, decided that Green Cards were no longer needed.

Then Britain left the EU, which meant that Green Cards were necessary again.

But this only lasted a few months until a new agreement was reached in August 2021. This means that you again don't need a Green Card. See this page from the AA. You do need your insurance documents, though, to confirm that you are insured.

It also used to be the case that you needed a GB sticker or GB designation on the number plate. This has changed, too. Now the sticker or the number plate should say UK. (Apparently, this was Britain's decision - nothing to do with the EU.)

For driving in France, you also used to have to carry an alcohol breath test device. But the French couldn't sort out how this might work. So eventually, they dropped the requirement after breath test makers had made loads of money selling unnecessary test devices to tourists. (The French, of course, had taken no notice of the rule while it was in place, which is their usual approach to any sort of new regulation.)

I seem to remember that Versaille has a nice market. As in most French markets the French still take no notice of decimalisation (even though they invented it) and you can buy, for example,  une livre de pommes (a pound of apples).  The British used to worry about such things when they were in the EU but the French didn't bother about what the EU rules said.

As for tips on driving in France, here's a brief video