Import Car Insurance

Grey import insurancecovers cars that have been imported from outside the EU. If you are looking for Japanese orAmerican import car insurancespecifically, these will come under this category.

These cars can be left-hand drive and are often not built to UK specifications. This means you could need to make modifications or get additional documentation to drive and insure these cars in the UK.

Parallel imports are cars that are imported from within the EU. Importantly, these can include cars from Japanese or US car companies that are manufactured within Europe for the European market.

This is because they will still be made to meet the minimum requirements and specifications needed to be driven in the UK without car modification. Therefore, parallel import cars will usually have lower insurance costs.

These are cars that are imported without the involvement of a dealer or car import service. There will be more paperwork involved for the individual importing the vehicle. But for insurance purposes, these can be either parallel or grey imports.

You might also consider classic car insurance options if the car is a particularly old model like a Cadillac Escalade or Chevrolet Camaro.

Q-plates are issued by the DVLA when a vehicle’s age or original identity cannot be verified, often older Japanese imports without clear build records. Cars on Q-plates can be harder to insure and sit in different insurance groups, as insurers treat them as non-standard until the chassis and import paperwork are confirmed. Providing the original shipping manifest, Japanese export certificate or an engineer’s report can help keep premiums down. See GOV.UK guidance on registering a vehicle with no papers.

Using a comparison site simplifies the process of finding UK import insurance for a car. You only enter your details once but will get personalised quotes from several providers who can provide policies tailored to your vehicle’s specific needs.

Not all car insurers cover imported cars, so providers can be more difficult to find. We work with a vast network of over 130 insurance providers, so you don’t have to hunt down the specialists alone.

Insuring an imported car can be a little more tricky than getting your standard insurance. When comparing insurance for import cars with us, we ask for all the right information so you can avoid mistakes like underinsuring, or invalidating coverage by not declaring things like modifications.