Very strange issue with Car Insurance - What do I do?

[milimelo 4,475]

We have non-owner “touring” policy for when we’re in the US (so if I drive my sister’s car or a rental I’m covered). Something about under $100 a year. Ours is through USAA but other companies have it. That way we still have history of car insurance whenever we return to the US (have another US insurance for our POV overseas). 

[mam521 2,040]

17 hours ago, Pat2021 said:

AAA took it, then a week later we receive a letter that if I'm not excluded they're going to drop the whole policy.

Went to them to find out what happened, they said they have a policy that a foreign driver has to hold a license for a minimum of 18 months before they can be insured via AAA or provide a clean driving record from the issuing foreign authority (in my case Austria).

What's stopping you from getting your driving history from Austria?  Insurance and driving history aren't the same thing.  I had to get both myself when I moved to the US.  

 

Get an insurance broker to shop rates for you.  Our broker has saved us thousands.  She does the shopping, picks the best policies, presents them to us with the differences and we choose.  Saves the headache of navigating different companies and then getting spammed for forever and ever, despite not purchasing their policy!  

[Pat2021 43]

45 minutes ago, mam521 said:

What's stopping you from getting your driving history from Austria?  Insurance and driving history aren't the same thing.  I had to get both myself when I moved to the US.  

 

Get an insurance broker to shop rates for you.  Our broker has saved us thousands.  She does the shopping, picks the best policies, presents them to us with the differences and we choose.  Saves the headache of navigating different companies and then getting spammed for forever and ever, despite not purchasing their policy!  

Austria does not really maintain a driving license record that much, as the car is insured, not the person, and all citations go through the police. So if anything, they would be recorded on a police certificate, which I have due to the visa, but when I offered it to AAA they said they won't take a police certificate, it has to be from a driving magistrate...

 

All in all it seems like AAA is just being crappy, so yeah, I think I'm going with another insurance for myself.

Thank you everyone.

[TBoneTX 45,159]

Let us know with which company you end up, and the arrangement.  This thread will be valuable to other members.

[Ewan 28]

Others have mentioned Geico. I found them really easy to deal with after moving from the UK to Tennessee in late 2021.

I rented a car for three weeks, got my Tennessee license, then bought a used car. Despite being a new immigrant with no US credit history, I immediately got car insurance with Geico without any issues - and they have reduced my payments every six months since then. Although I did have the advantage of having opened a US bank account a few weeks earlier and having an existing Social Security number through an H1B visa from many years ago.

Edited February 12, 2023 by Ewan

[seekingthetruth 1,246]

On 2/7/2023 at 10:09 PM, flicks1998 said:

We bring in thousands of medical professionals every year to work at our facilities with the majority of them brought in on immigrant visas.  We refer most of them to Progressive as the process is very easy for them with no driving record in the US.  As a 3rd party agent told us, Progressive doesnt care that you have no driving record in the US, they just want your premium.  Second on the list, may be Geico.

@flicks1998 Sent you an unrelated mail.

 

We plan to move to the US this year.  I will have only a Philippines DL, although I may get a Texas DL in a few months before we move.  When we move, my wife and step daughter will also have Philippines DL.

 

I'm 10 years out of touch with U.S. car insurance.  I suspect that I will be looking for plan with me as the principal and the other two as secondary?  Family plan?  First time for buying insurance for a family.  Hope this is not off-topic.

[TBoneTX 45,159]

3 hours ago, seekingthetruth said:

I suspect that I will be looking for plan with me as the principal and the other two as secondary?  Family plan?  First time for buying insurance for a family.

Contact some companies and ask about your options.

[flicks1998 1,044]

On 2/17/2023 at 7:24 AM, seekingthetruth said:

@flicks1998 Sent you an unrelated mail.

 

We plan to move to the US this year.  I will have only a Philippines DL, although I may get a Texas DL in a few months before we move.  When we move, my wife and step daughter will also have Philippines DL.

 

I'm 10 years out of touch with U.S. car insurance.  I suspect that I will be looking for plan with me as the principal and the other two as secondary?  Family plan?  First time for buying insurance for a family.  Hope this is not off-topic.

You were in the same situation as myself when I came back.  Once you come back, you will need to get a state DL.  Each state is different, some states may issue you a new license without a written exam and road test and others will not.  You will need to check with Texas on their requirements.  Also, the insurance will be for the specific car you have, then you can add authorized drivers to that.  Its likely all 3 of you will be considered new drivers so expect some sticker shock as its not nearly as cheap as in the Philippines.  

 

We have been lucky as we have relatively good public transportation.  I have a non-owners car insurance policy through Geico which gives coverage whenever we rent a car.  Its cheaper than selecting the car rental insurance at Enterprise, Hertz, etc etc.  We then use a combination of Uber/Lyft, the Tram, and Zipcar.  The only problem is public transportation in the US is horrible, except for very few cities so this may not be an option.

[top_secret 2,388]

On 2/17/2023 at 4:24 AM, seekingthetruth said:

We plan to move to the US this year.  I will have only a Philippines DL, although I may get a Texas DL in a few months before we move.  When we move, my wife and step daughter will also have Philippines DL.

 

I'm 10 years out of touch with U.S. car insurance.  I suspect that I will be looking for plan with me as the principal and the other two as secondary?  Family plan?  First time for buying insurance for a family.  Hope this is not off-topic.

 

Generally you insure the car and all the drivers in the household will be listed on the policy and included.  Having the step-daughter driving will likely be much more expensive. (assuming she is a young driver)

 

When you first arrive, here is one really cool thing we discovered about renting cars with a Philippine drivers license.   When renting from Avis, when you select Philippine residency online (defined by Avis as renting with a Philippine DL), all of the usually ridiculously overpriced optional rental insurance is INCLUDED FREE.  You can start a dummy reservation on https://www.avis.com/ to see this astonishing benefit to renting with a PH license.  Just select residency Philippines, pick a car.  You can toggle from PHP back to dollars.  It takes you to "RENTAL OPTIONS".  Skip all the insurance on the "Discount Packages" tab and go to the "Protection & Coverages" tab and voila, FREE rental insurance is preselected at no extra cost..  Maybe Avis figures it may be prudent to pre-emptively load up on insurance when renting to Philippine drivers license holders.🤣

 

We discovered this quite by accident when my wife rented a car with her Philippine license when she first arrived.  It really comes out on the rental contract that way.

 

 

[seekingthetruth 1,246]

1 hour ago, top_secret said:

When you first arrive, here is one really cool thing we discovered about renting cars with a Philippine drivers license.   When renting from Avis, when you select Philippine residency online (defined by Avis as renting with a Philippine DL), all of the usually ridiculously overpriced optional rental insurance is INCLUDED FREE. 

Thanks, I'm going to the U.S. for a few weeks in May and I will need to rent a few times.  Last trip to U.S. in 2017 I rented from Avis for a month and paid $421 for insurance.  I remember that all the rental companies made the insurance mandatory when I put in PH residency.  I've done a bit of shopping on sites like rental cars.com and rental car prices are very high.  I will make sure to check the Avis website!

[seekingthetruth 1,246]

3 hours ago, top_secret said:

(defined by Avis as renting with a Philippine DL), all of the usually ridiculously overpriced optional rental insurance is INCLUDED FREE. 

Actually this is not correct.  Do it both ways and compare.  If you put Philippine residency, the rate is way higher because the insurance is mandatory and included.

[top_secret 2,388]

35 minutes ago, seekingthetruth said:

Actually this is not correct.  Do it both ways and compare.  If you put Philippine residency, the rate is way higher because the insurance is mandatory and included.

Yea, I ran a few and it is consistently more so I guess there is no such thing as free😞, although it's still nowhere even near what a US driver would be paying if they included the same insurance.

[seekingthetruth 1,246]

52 minutes ago, seekingthetruth said:

Actually this is not correct.  Do it both ways and compare.  If you put Philippine residency, the rate is way higher because the insurance is mandatory and included.

Yes, but a foreign driver has to pay it, whereas a U.S. driver has a choice.  I used to always just use the insurance provided by my Mastercard.  Need to look into that.