Car insurance for driving overseas

The prospect of driving with the top down through the wine-growing valleys of Western France or jostling with the rush-hour traffic alongside the Colesseum in Rome, is all too tempting for many a British holidaymaker, and understandably so.

Once the matter of driving on the right rather than on the left has been dealt with, it's usually simply a matter of getting to grips with the strange road signs and differing customs of the European drivers.

However, though a UK driving licence is valid throughout the European Union, there is a danger that holidaying drivers, whether they take their own car across the English Channel or pick up a hire car at their destination, neglect to ensure that they have adequate car insurance.

While people are covered to the minimum legal level throughout the EU – meaning, for example, a driver could hop on the ferry on a whim and be driving through rural France perfectly legally later that afternoon – there are some significant discrepancies between rival insurance policies when it come to what extras are covered.

In fact, according to recent research conducted by Zurich, around 43 per cent of British motorists who have got behind the wheel abroad do not check what their car insurance policy actually covers, thereby putting themselves in financial jeopardy in the event of theft or even a breakdown.

Malcolm Tarling, a spokesman for the Association of British Insurers(ABI) has explained that the cost of an insurance policy and the eventualities it covers will depend on "where you're going and when you're going and how long you're going for".

"For those countries where there’s a high accident rate, such as some of the Mediterranean countries – Greece or Portugal for example – you may pay more than if you were driving in France or Germany or Holland," he added.

Among the car insurance grey areas are provisions for stolen vehicles, break-ins, accidental damage and even a hire car breaking down.

Though some policies do automatically cover customers to the same level within the EU as they do within the UK, particularly over short periods of time, as will all types of insurance, it could pay to fully research the provisions of a policy while planning a trip, with even the worst-case scenario guarded against.

If in any doubt, the ABI added, it's best to opt for one of the 'big name' insurers or car hire firms rather than trying to save a few pounds and cut corners.