Car insurance for international drivers in the UK.

If you’re an international driver in the UK, you need to follow the same rules that apply to British drivers. That means you can’t get behind the wheel of a car unless you’re insured to drive it.

If you’re buying your own car, it also needs to be registered in your name, taxed and MOT’d.

Here, we explain about car insurance. What your options are. And what steps you need to take to get safely out on the road.

Insurance can sometimes be hard to understand. If you’re not sure what something means, you can take a look in our Glossary of car insurance terms.

If you want to drive in the UK, you need to make sure your car’s properly insured. The law’s the same, whether you’re an international driver or a British driver.

In short, car insurance is a legal requirement for driving on UK roads.

If you’re looking for car insurance as an international driver, you can usually choose the same types of cover as a British driver. The options are:

Each type of insurance provides a different level of cover. For example, third party will cover damage to other cars and property, but not to your own car if you're at fault.

It’s worth noting that some insurance providers don’t offer car insurance to non-UK residents at all.

The cost of your car insurance policy will be based on a number of things, including:

International drivers can be considered a higher risk, as they're less familiar with UK roads. And that can affect how much you pay for insurance.

One way to lower the cost of your insurance is to take out a policy with a No Claims Discount. This discount is based on the number of years you've spent driving without having an accident.

Many insurers will recognise the years you’ve spent driving abroad. And they’ll take this into account when calculating your premium.

If you apply for Tesco Car Insurance, we won’t accept a No Claims Discount earned in:

For more information on how a No Claims Discount works, see our guide: No Claims Discounts explained

Here’s our guide to using an international licence for driving on British roads.

If you're using a driving licence from another country, you might have to change it for a UK equivalent. To check, see the UK Government’s advice: Gov.uk - Driving in Great Britain on a non-GB licence

Usually, if you're visiting from another European country, your licence will be valid. But if you've moved to the UK from somewhere elsewhere in the world, it might not.

You can get car insurance with a non-UK driving licence in the UK, but you might have to pay a little more for it. That’s because insurers will see you as more of a risk, for things like car theft or road accidents.

There are ways to bring down the cost of your insurance though. One option is to swap your international licence for a UK one. You can do this if you’ve been a UK resident for 6 months, as long as you have a driving licence from:

To see if you can swap your home licence for a UK one, check the UK Government’s advice: Gov.uk - Exchange a non-GB driving licence

You can apply for Tesco Car Insurance if you hold an international driving licence and you’ve lived in the UK for less than 12 months.

You can choose Bronze, Silver or Gold comprehensive cover. And you can add optional extras for an additional cost if you want more protection. These include:

You’ll need to follow the rules set out by the UK Government. See: Gov.uk - Driving in Great Britain on a non-GB licence

You should also note that you can’t drive on your international licence after 12 months in the UK. And we won’t offer you a quote.

You can drive a company car on British roads with a non-UK driving licence if you’ve lived in the UK for less than 12 months.

However, it depends what sort of car insurance your employer has. Company cars are often covered by a fleet insurance policy. That can exclude drivers who don’t have a UK driving licence.

Take care not to put yourself or your employer at risk. Tell them you’ve got an international driving licence as soon as possible.

You’ll need to register and tax your car if you want to keeping using it on British roads, if either of the following applies:

You won’t need to register your car if you don’t plan to stay in the UK, providing one of the following applies:

Tesco Car Insurance is arranged and administered by Tesco Insurance and is underwritten by Tesco Underwriting Ltd.

You'll find complete details of the cover, monetary limits, exclusions, excesses and terms in our policy documents.