Japanese Motor Car Import Insurance At Crowthorne insurance we have specialised in Japanese import car insurance, also known as grey import insurance, for over 10 years. Having found that a lot of insurance companies were not willing to offer insurance for grey imports, and that the number of vehicles being imported into the country was increasing, we contacted a panel of insurers and negotiated competitive premiums for all types of vehicles ranging from Toyota Estimas to Subaru Imprezas. Having insured these types of vehicles for over a decade, we have a wealth of experience when quoting for Japanese import vehicles so we are able to offer policies that fit each customer’s needs, whether it’s a Mitsubishi Pajero or a Mitsubishi FTO. All our staff understand the Japanese import market so will know your vehicle and can place it with the correct insurer at a competitive price.   Click here for a grey import quote As an insurance intermediary we operate many different schemes for car insurance, Japanese import cars being one of them. Car insurance for Japanese imports can be a headache, spending hours on the phone only to find that companies are unable to insure your vehicle; we can offer a policy that removes this problem and give you the service that you require. When searching for an imported car to buy you may come across many different terms such as “parallel import” and “grey import”, these are both common terms in insurance; this basically refer to cars imported into the UK. Parallel imports refer to cars that have a UK equivalent, such as Opels and Vauxhall. The term Grey import refers to cars manufactured outside the UK, then imported due to the vehicle not being available on the UK market. When purchasing a Japanese import car the first thing to find out is if the vehicle has passed its SVA TEST. If it hasn’t then this will limit the number of insurers that will cover the vehicle (if not make the vehicle uninsurable until such time that it has passed) as the imported car will only have a chassis number. In order to comply with new regulations regarding the motor insurance database most insurers require a UK registration number at inception of cover. The second question to ask when purchasing a Japanese import is what, if any, security is fitted to the vehicle. When first imported into the UK the vehicle will only have the manufacturers standard security system fitted this, however would not be classified in the UK by what is known as a Thatcham rating. Some imported vehicles such as Toyota Townace, Mazda Eunos and Toyota Estima may not require any security for the insurers to offer a quote. Whereas vehicles such as Subaru Impreza, Mitsubishi Evo and Nissan Skyline may require a top end security system. The insurers will require a copy of the fitting certificate by an approved company so always ask for this if the car you has had an alarm fitted post-import.