SA imported Citi Golf.. I need help finding an insurer! :(

Being the typical car nut, i went in all-guns-blazing and bought my South African Imported 1996 (1999 UK Registered) Citi Golf 1.3, and considered insurance after..
My current insurer (Elephant) declined the car, they seem to think there's no UK equivalent!

Can anybody give any advice with whom to ask for quotes?! I've already tried Adrian Flux.. Currently trying Tiger.
-Baring in mind, I'm 20, with 3 years driving experience and 1 years no claims (Always swapping insurers, never managed no claims as a teen).. So i'm looking for something as cheap as possible =/

I really dont want to sell this before I've started!!! It's the only rustproof mk1 I've seen under £1000!

I spoke to Yomp over the week end and he said the car has to be over here for a certain amount of time before you can register them over here, maybe its the same for insurance, is it registered over here? im with morethan could try them, specialised insures can sometimes have too many T's n C's where as a general insurer may not ask so many questions. just an idea, hope this helps mate. or not

it looks like im going to have to do that.. sort of, blag it?
even the log says its a 1298cc, which is an engine size that im sure never existed?

Just been quoted by Aviva.. £2k    haha..

Using the Reg and saying it wasnt an import got me a quote from adrimal at £900, and the chap i bought it off of was also with admiral.. but as soon as I mention its an import, nobody wants to know what it is :/


I'm thinking i can plead ignorance.. it was registered in the UK in 1999.. If i lost my reg details, what's to prove it's been imported? The insurance companies dont even seem to know what it is, and I get the impresson some dont even care..!

Headache!  

Have you spoken with HIC or Brentacre ?

Brentacre are shut now, gonna ring them tomorrow..

HIC quoted me the quote through Aviva, so god knows what happened there.. Insurance is a scam

If i put the reg online, its recognised as a 1999 (when it was registered in UK), but also a 1391cc And my Logbook says 1293cc!

Hmmmm..

bad news dude, try Chris Knott

If you lost your reg details, you'd simply need to look at the car to find the registration number and chassis number on it. Also, the DVLA would still have their copy, so I'm not sure what you're planning here?

There are a limited number of insurers who insure (and understand) imports. If it were a parallel/grey import, ie a private individual or small firm imported it at the same time the official dealer was importing them, then so long as its specification was broadly the same, most insurers would accept the car as a UK car. The key aspect is that its gained European whole vehicle type approval. But its not, VWSA continued to produce the car while the German VW had moved on to the MK3 by 1996. I don't think you'll pull the wool over anyone's eyes, especially if you needed to make a claim. However some insurers may base their premium on a broadly similar car available in the UK at the time, eg 1.4 Polo.

One thing you cant do is 'blag it'

Insurance companies aint dull and if you ever make a claim and they realise you aint been 100% truthful about the info provided then your insurance will be void.

Keep trying different insurers is all I can say.

Thanks guys, this is much appreciated

Tried compare the market, my reg came up as a 1.3 5 door Golf SE )IMPORT), white, 4 speed, 1996 manufacture (All these details are correct to the Log)..

Do i accept this quote?! It's right to all these details after all!

SteveO32 said

Thanks guys, this is much appreciated

Tried compare the market, my reg came up as a 1.3 5 door Golf SE )IMPORT), white, 4 speed, 1996 manufacture (All these details are correct to the Log)..

Do i accept this quote?! It's right to all these details after all!

Its your responsibility to make sure the details you give insurers are correct, however they won't penalise you for cases where there's genuine error or lack of information, especially if it wasn't relevant to the risk. For example if you made an error on the actual capacity of the engine and mistakenly declared 1.3 instead of 1.4 litres.

Personally I'd wait until you've had a chance to phone around 3-4 specialists, they might be able to get the quote down a little more from the current best figure you have. Another day waiting, and an hour on the phone, is good investment if you save £50-100. Also if you talk to a real person and they quote something similar but not beating the existing, often you can 'talk them down' - and when they ask what your previous best quote was, you don't need to tell them the exact amount!!!

have you tried Footman James? they had no problems insuring my imported Pajero or my Australian imported ex police Honda Pan European Motorbike also if your a paid club member you get discount as well currently due to all the cars I own and insure with FJ i save about £150 a year so membership of the club is a ( No Brainer)

You could also try asking chazsa or Dagar as they both have citi's.

i paid £120 fully comp for my citi with footman james,£3500 value too,just took photos and insured it as a classic
Bert

Try Peter Best, seriously they are coming up with some great prices at the mo, i just paid £125 for fully comp, with 3000 miles and an agrred £3500 valuation, and includes breakdown cover !

Specialists didnt want to know anyone under 21, and even some didnt want to insure an under 25!..

Best quote after shopping around was with Admiral for £950 and I've had previous insurance with them which helped.. it's stressful, as you probably know. It doesnt help i had a bump back in 2009, and I've only just gained a years no claims..

I might be jumping the gun settling for 950, but I'm happy to pay that compared to my previous premiums (205 1.9 GTi - £1600 with Elephant), and the fact it's Imported!

Cheers guys

hi mate, just come across this.
i've got a 1.3 citi golf on a p reg, i to tried to get insured on it for ages and the specialists don't want to know if you are young like mysef.
i managed to get insured with the co-op, and it did not cost me an arm and a leg.