Japanese import car insurance: what you need to know

You have found the car in Japan, and now a small worry creeps in: will anyone actually insure it once it gets here? They will. Japanese imports are some of the most common cars we bring into the UK, and insuring one is mostly a matter of giving the insurer the right details and the right paperwork.

This guide covers what is different about a Japanese import, when you need cover, and what to have ready. For the general picture on any import, from marine cover at sea to your first UK policy, see insuring an imported car.

Cover needed

Before it is driven on UK roads

Only trip before plates

To a pre-booked test

Test

IVA under 10 years, MOT over

Registration

Within 10 working days

What makes a Japanese import different to insure

To an insurer, a car built for the Japanese market is not quite the same risk as the UK version of the same model, even when it looks identical. A few things tend to come up.

It was never sold new in the UK

Many of the cars people import from Japan, the ones on our list of JDM cars worth importing, were never sold here at all. Others share a name with a UK model but have a different engine, trim or spec. Some insurers simply have less data on these cars, so they ask more questions or refer the quote to a person rather than pricing it straight away.

Parts

If a panel, light or trim piece for a Japanese market car has to come from Japan, a repair can take longer. Insurers think about that when they price cover, and it is worth asking how a policy handles repairs that need imported parts.

Modifications

Every Japanese import has some changes made to it for UK roads. On cars under 10 years old that means a speedometer reading in mph, and on cars of any age a rear fog light if one was not fitted at the factory. Japanese cars are no longer checked for headlight compliance, so the list is short. These changes still need declaring, along with anything a previous owner did to the engine, suspension, wheels or body.

History and mileage

A car that has spent its life in Japan has no UK MOT history until it takes its first test here. The GOV.UK MOT history service only shows tests done in the UK, so the evidence for the car's mileage and condition before that comes from the Japanese paperwork.

When you need cover

The rule from GOV.UK is plain. You can be prosecuted for using an imported vehicle on a public road before it has been through the import steps, unless you are driving it to a pre-booked MOT or vehicle approval test. GOV.UK also says to insure the vehicle before you drive it on UK roads.

So while the car is at sea, at the port and going through customs, it is not on the road and does not need a road policy in your name. Cover at sea is a separate thing, called marine insurance.

The one journey before registration is to a test that is already booked. If you have arranged the test yourself somewhere else, the car needs insurance for that trip. When we handle the import, the changes and the IVA test or MOT happen on our own site in Castle Donington, so that journey does not happen at all.

Which test, and why it matters to your insurer

The test the car takes depends on its age, and the paperwork it produces is useful to an insurer later.

We are one of only seven privately operated IVA centres in Great Britain, and the DVSA visits us weekly. More on what happens in the test is in the IVA test explained.

What insurers usually ask

Expect the questions you would get for any car, plus a few more. Insurers will typically want to know:

• That the car is an import, and that it was built for the Japanese market
• The chassis number, and the UK registration number once issued
• The exact model, engine and year of manufacture
• Every change made for UK roads, and any other modifications
• The mileage, and how you know it
• What the car is worth
• Where it is kept overnight, and how many miles you will do

Be complete with the modifications. Leaving one out can give an insurer grounds to refuse a claim later, and with an import it is easy to forget a change made before you owned it.

Agreed value for JDM classics

For an older or sought-after JDM car, a standard policy may pay out what the insurer thinks the car is worth at the time of a claim. Many owners of classic and enthusiast cars prefer an agreed value policy, where you and the insurer settle the car's value up front. It usually needs evidence, so keep the purchase invoice, the auction paperwork and good photos.

Paperwork that helps

A Japanese import comes with documents a UK car does not have, and they are your best evidence of what the car is. Keep copies of all of it together.

The export certificate is the key document from Japan. We ask for a copy before the car ships because it lets us check the technical data early, and a translated copy is just as handy when an insurer asks about the car's spec or first registration in Japan. More on what to gather before you buy is in the Japanese import checklist.

How we fit in

The policy itself is between you and your insurer, but we take care of most of what they will want to see. As HMRC CDS authorised agents we clear the car through customs, and we tell HMRC it has arrived through NOVA within 14 days. The changes, the test and the registration all happen on our site.

Our dealer-level DVLA account lets us register imported cars within 10 working days once they are ready. The car gets a registration matched to its age, so it is worth having your quotes lined up early, then buying the policy the day the number is issued. You can see what affects that timing in how long it takes to register an imported car. The whole journey from Japan is covered in importing a car from Japan.

Questions people ask

Got a car in Japan in mind? Send it over on the quote form and we will price the import, from the auction to your plates.