Ok, so I promised you a post on car / van insurance for Europe and here it is!
Please remember that this is only my own findings, if you have been told something different to what I have written here then please let me know – It might be something I have missed out on!
So – you have your van bought and you want to drive around Europe.
First of all don’t think you can get away with not being insured. You will be picked up somewhere. Almost all countries in Europe talk to each other and will share details about insurance / road tax or anything else. Being uninsured could lead to a fine, confiscation of your vehicle or a prison sentence and if you have an accident the consequences are severe.
It just isn’t worth travelling without insurance.
UK Insurance Policies
If you have bought your van in the UK then you will need to have insurance from the UK. In the UK both the driver and the vehicle is to be insured. If you want other people to share the driving you will have to add them to your insurance policy as a “named driver“. Also note that you are not normally insured to drive any other vehicles, unless stated in your policy.
Once you have got all this confusing mess then you will want to go out and look for an insurance policy that includes European travel. As I stated in a previous post most UK insurance policies only include cover for driving on UK roads, to be able to drive outside of the island you must make sure your policy allows you to do this.
Travelling Abroad
Some UK policies already allow for a certain amount of time for driving abroad, most of these though will only cover up to 180 days of European travel. To get one that includes more cover then you will need to look for a specialised insurance policy.
The only one I have found to date is a “walkabout” policy from Herts Insurance. If you know of, or have used, any others then please let me know!
Two Europes
Again though be careful of which countries you want to visit. “Old Europe” will cost you less whereas the “New Europe” countries will cost you more.
New Europe covers most European countries that are to the East of Germany. Estonia, Croatia, Romania, Hungary and others at or past this latitude are usually classed as New Europe. Best thing to do though is, of course, ask your insurer!
So there we go another confusing mess slightly explained. I will post more on insurance soon as I am about to try to find my own policy for my soon to be LDV campervan!
As usual please post any questions in the comments and I will try to get back to you as soon as possible.
Happy Travelling
Overland Si
