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No Shoes
11-08-2011, 10:06
Hi, I don't know if this has been suggested before but it would be great to exchange knowledge with forum members who spend extended periods of time in Florida. There are lots of things that are specific to being there for 1-6 months of the year.
1. Whilst I currently use the car hire from this site, I would like to explore the possability of buying a car for our use whilst in FLorida.
2. Travel insurance for extended stays
3. Return flights v one way tickets
etc etc
I like the idea of this thread would be very useful to me.
Katys Grandad
11-08-2011, 14:38
I've never stayed for longer than about 4 weeks but it has been discussed a few times in different threads. From memory, the main issues are:
Purchasing a car isn't a problem but insurance for it is very expensive in these circumstances.
Travel insurance can also be prohibitively expensive because of the medical cover element although it's perfectly possible to find decent rates for just a few weeks stay. In the event of a claim, I think insurers would look very carefully to satisfy themselves that the stay could properly be regarded as a 'holiday'.
One-way airline tickets are usually very poor value. A flexible ticket will also be pricey but probably a better deal. If you have Frequent Flyer miles, they are the best bet.
Robert5988
11-08-2011, 20:32
I looked into buying a car and keeping it at my property(I don't rent). However the insurance was very expensive(no UK no claims bonus counted), and every company I tried insisted that I needed a USA driving licence.
Getting a licence isn't a problem, but it only lasts for the duration of the visit. New visit requires a new licence.
We go for just over three months and get insurance for about £130 for the 2 of us (annual multi trip).
We use VA airmiles for our flights.
Expenses of a car don't make it viable for us but almost every insurance company will accept a UK license now, we have 4-5 friends who do not have a US lic and get insurance with no problems, its not much dearer either than having a US lic.
Katys Grandad
12-08-2011, 03:57
We go for just over three months and get insurance for about £130 for the 2 of us (annual multi trip).
Is that a single 3 month visit? If so, then that's much less than I'd imagined for such a long stay.
Insurers being what they are, I wonder what limitations there are on people who own a property abroad and habitually spend several months a year in it using travel policies? At some point you can see a claims handler questioning whether you're actually a temporary resident rather than just another traveller.
I had a friend who lived next door to me in the U.S., he had both a car and two Harley's. This was a couple of years ago so things may have changed a little.
At that time you had to pass a U.S. car/motorcycle test to get the insurance but did NOT then have to keep it 'live' if you had a UK licence. I'm guessing that they wanted to to have passed the U.S. test so that you had knowledge of local laws.
They took payment for the whole year but whenever he left Florida he told the insurance company. They cut the cover costs to almost nothing as it was stored in the garage. At the end of the year he received a cheque back for the portion of the year when full cover was not needed. at the time the cover was about 25% more expensive than a similar policy in the UK.
You do need to find a broker that knows about non-resident car insurance otherwise you will not get a proper quote.
Regards Dave
Robert5988
12-08-2011, 07:42
I had a friend who lived next door to me in the U.S., he had both a car and two Harley's. This was a couple of years ago so things may have changed a little.
At that time you had to pass a U.S. car/motorcycle test to get the insurance but did NOT then have to keep it 'live' if you had a UK licence. I'm guessing that they wanted to to have passed the U.S. test so that you had knowledge of local laws.
They took payment for the whole year but whenever he left Florida he told the insurance company. They cut the cover costs to almost nothing as it was stored in the garage. At the end of the year he received a cheque back for the portion of the year when full cover was not needed. at the time the cover was about 25% more expensive than a similar policy in the UK.
You do need to find a broker that knows about non-resident car insurance otherwise you will not get a proper quote.
Regards Dave
That is interesting - admittedly I tried some while ago and my information will be out of date.
My brother has lived in the USA all his adult life and has a 'perfect' record for insurance purposes. He lives in California but on a visit to me in Florida got a quote from State Farm(his insurance company) to insure a car he would 'own' in Florida. To get a decent level of liability insurance iirc the cost was in the region of $,2,000 pa.
We usually stay for 6 months and we own a car. It costs us $1100 for the 6 months we are using it and $500 for the 6 month 'vacation package' and we pay quarterly. The vacation cover could be a little cheaper, but as we only have a car port rather than a garage (and we have guests when we're not there), we pay a little extra for accidental damage. We do have Fl licenses, but our insurance is done on our UK licenses because to have insurance on a US license, you have to have held the license for 3 consecutive years or more, which is impossible for those on visa's.
Our insurance is an extended stay policy which last year cost us around £400 for the two of us for 7 months cover. There are no issues with cover for longer periods, the company we use will insure us for a maximum of 18 months if required. As we don't live in the UK, we are very limited to which insurance company we can use, so I have no idea if this is a good price or not as I am not able to 'shop around'. We have used the same company for the last 5 years but, touch wood, have never had to claim so cannot speak from that point of view.
With regards to one way flights, as we are only allowed to stay in the US for 6 months, we wanted to extend elsewhere for an additional month on our next trip, so we did look into one way flights, but as mentioned above it's not cost effective at all. In the end we booked with Virgin to Orlando with a return from Barbados 7 months later. It worked out exactly the same cost as a return from Orlando.
No Shoes
12-08-2011, 09:44
This is exactly the sort of useful information I was hoping to get from a Snowbirds forum - thanks!
I am keen to buy a car but on every website I go to to get a quote for insurance they want either social security number or other information that I dont have. I was told State Farm would insure UK nationals but it is impossible to get a quote online.
Looks like this sort of forum would be useful? :-)
I am keen to buy a car but on every website I go to to get a quote for insurance they want either social security number or other information that I dont have. I was told State Farm would insure UK nationals but it is impossible to get a quote online.
We found not many of the insurance companies would deal with overseas visitors online or over the phone, so as mentioned above, you are far better finding an agent/broker who is used to dealing with overseas visitors. Let me know if you would like details of the agents we use.
We did initially get a policy by going direct to State Farm, but they wrote to us after a month and said they had made a mistake as they didn't deal with overseas license holders and cancelled our policy.
We have our own car in USA and have been insured with State Farm for the past 18 years. When the car is not in use (we normally visit 4 times a year for a month or so) it goes onto 'vacation' insurance. We have always had US Licenses but of course it has been a pain since 911 as we have to renew them quite frequently which is costly. We can drive on our UK licence for 30 days with State Farm, but I am going to ask them about this when over next time as I want to confirm if this is correct after learning of others who don't have this restriction. It is not a cheap option to have your own car in Florida but it depends on each persons circumstances.
Robert5988
12-08-2011, 19:00
Another consideration for myself is that my place is 60 miles from Orlando, and getting to and from the airport when arriving/leaving is a pain. It would be OK to ask friends one or twice a year - but not more. It is even a consideration for those living some way from MCO - taxis are expensive.
As said earlier, my brother who lives in the USA could 'own' my car and insure it with State Farm, and I could drive on a UK licence all the time(so the agent stated); which makes a nonsense of your restrictions.
Is that a single 3 month visit? If so, then that's much less than I'd imagined for such a long stay.
Insurers being what they are, I wonder what limitations there are on people who own a property abroad and habitually spend several months a year in it using travel policies? At some point you can see a claims handler questioning whether you're actually a temporary resident rather than just another traveller.
We are insured for upto 100 days on a single visit.
This thread seems to be turning into the advantages/disadvantages of owning a car in Florida. This would be a perfect thread within a forum for Snow Birds/Extended stays, which was the original suggestion by No Shoes.
We have been snowbirds for a few years now - spending 5-6 months in Florida.
We have our own car there, and also a Florida Driving Licence. We insure the car through GEICO and it costs around $600 for the 6 months we are there and $200 for the 6 months when it's tucked away in the garage and unused. To that you need to add the cost of the Florida Driving Licence - about $60 per person - but as long as the combined total is less than the cost of insuring with your UK licence (which we think it is) then it's worth the hassle of getting the licence renewed each time we go out. We haven't had any problem achieving this despite the Florida licence only lasting for the length of our stay each time.
We have travel insurance through Insure and Go, and that comes to about £260 (for two of us) for a 5 month stay. There aren't many companies who insure for such a long stay, but there are a few. It's important for the medical cover, much more than any other reason.
Happy to help with any further questions. Please PM me if you would like any further details.
No Shoes
14-08-2011, 09:59
We have been snowbirds for a few years now - spending 5-6 months in Florida.
We have our own car there, and also a Florida Driving Licence. We insure the car through GEICO and it costs around $600 for the 6 months we are there and $200 for the 6 months when it's tucked away in the garage and unused. To that you need to add the cost of the Florida Driving Licence - about $60 per person - but as long as the combined total is less than the cost of insuring with your UK licence (which we think it is) then it's worth the hassle of getting the licence renewed each time we go out. We haven't had any problem achieving this despite the Florida licence only lasting for the length of our stay each time.
We have travel insurance through Insure and Go, and that comes to about £260 (for two of us) for a 5 month stay. There aren't many companies who insure for such a long stay, but there are a few. It's important for the medical cover, much more than any other reason.
Happy to help with any further questions. Please PM me if you would like any further details.
Thank you very much for this. We also use Insure and Go and are happy with them and the cost.
Re: the car situation. Did you approach Geico direct or via a broker?
Thanks for all your help
No Shoes
14-08-2011, 10:00
This thread seems to be turning into the advantages/disadvantages of owning a car in Florida. This would be a perfect thread within a forum for Snow Birds/Extended stays, which was the original suggestion by No Shoes.
Thanks for the support. I assume 'the powers that be' will let us know if they feel it is a suitable idea for a new Forum?
We approached GEICO directly and didn't use a broker.
Shirley, is this a policy you have had for some time and just renew, or a new policy you took out recently? When we were looking last winter, every insurance company (including Geico) told us you had to have had the FL License for a minimum of 3 consecutive years which, as a visa holder, is impossible for us. We've had our licenses since 2007, but not consecutively.
It will be interesting to speak to other insurance companies when we get back in November if you have managed to get a policy fairly recently so any info appreciated.
Sarah, we've had the GEICO policy for 2 years now. All they asked us to do when we took it out was to get a Florida Licence within a month of taking the policy out. What a shame if they've stopped being so accommodating!
Hmm, it seems policies may have changed quite recently then. We bought our car last November and all the companies we spoke to then mentioned the 3 consecutive year thing, so we had to insure under our UK license. However, I will try again when we get back in a few months and will report back.
I said earlier in this thread that we did get a policy with State Farm under our US licenses but they cancelled it. I just checked back emails and it was actually GEICO that cancelled, not State Farm.
Mo Green
15-08-2011, 10:06
Just out of interest has anyone looked at the cost of hiring a car for a 6 month period compared to depreciation, servicing, insurance on their own vehicle?
No Shoes
15-08-2011, 11:13
Just out of interest has anyone looked at the cost of hiring a car for a 6 month period compared to depreciation, servicing, insurance on their own vehicle?
I keep doing this comparison but its difficult to be exact with no definite figures to work on. When I used figures offered in the US car magazines (available online) the break even was around the 3 month mark. Obviously it depends on many factors, such as whether you have to borrow the money to buy the car, your insurance record, how many miles you drive a year etc
I would be interested in any findings that others have.
Robert5988
15-08-2011, 21:15
I keep doing this comparison but its difficult to be exact with no definite figures to work on. When I used figures offered in the US car magazines (available online) the break even was around the 3 month mark. Obviously it depends on many factors, such as whether you have to borrow the money to buy the car, your insurance record, how many miles you drive a year etc
I would be interested in any findings that others have.
A major factor for me in insuring a car was the level of the liability insurance. A death or injury claim at the level of expenses that can be awarded in the USA needs to be covered.
However for me it was the sheer hassle of owning a car that made me conclude that hire cars were the way to go. 20 weeks for around £2500 for the smallest car( compact is the smallest in Florida). That gets you to and from airport each time, no worries about repairs, insurance, registering car etc
Mo Green
16-08-2011, 11:37
Thanks for the information. We are not in the position to look at staying 3 or 6 months at the moment but think we would agree with Robert that the hassle and concern over insurance would make us choose hiring over owning. We have been very pleased with the cars from this site and would be quite happy to drive any of them for a few months.
No Shoes
20-08-2011, 11:16
Returning to my original post ........
Any decision on whether a Snow Bird thread is a possability?
:)
Think this would be a great thread, from the replies on hear it would seem to be a much needed thread.
We have had a car for 10 years in Florida, we usually stay for two periods of around 7/8 weeks at a time, but have stayed for 3 months. We have Fl driving licences and yes you do have to renew each time as you only get them now for the period of your visa - which if you have a B1/B2 visa will be for 6 months. We have our car insurance with State Farm and we only pay full comprehensive for the period we are in Florida and then just pay the minimum legal insurance while we are away, which works out at around $30/40 per month. While it is on full comprehensive we pay about $90 per month.
Travel insurance is from Lloyds TSB with our Gold Current account which cost us £12 per month and of course includes all the other extras with the account. Annual insurance is only for up to 31 days per trip, but for about £60 you can increase this to 45 days and for £90 to 3 months. We have never had problems with either our car or travel insurance.
We do have a Social Security number which thankfully we got before 9/11 when it became almost impossible to get this.
We have not tried single one way flights, but we usually get flights that we can change for a small charge if we decide to stay longer. We know friends who use re-positioning cruises to and from the UK rather than fly, it gives you an extra holiday. We are thinking of trying it, but perhaps only one way and use loyalty points for the other leg of the journey.
Andrena
No Shoes
25-08-2011, 18:05
Another subject to add to what I hope will become a new forum..........[:)]
Has anyone looked into having a subsciption to satelite radio in a car - hire or otherwise? I would love to be able to listen to Radio Margaritaville when we are stateside but dont want to have to pay a full year and only use less than half of it!
Would have thought a decision on the SNOW BIRDS thread would have been made by now, one way or the other.
caroline
25-08-2011, 20:35
Sorry I'm confused, this is a Snow Bird thread... what decision are you asking for?
The original posting was to suggest a new Forum for snowbirrds so that people who stay for extended periods could ask questions relevant to them.
caroline
25-08-2011, 22:07
Do you mean for guest snowbirds or owners that stay for extended periods?
No Shoes
26-08-2011, 10:11
Do you mean for guest snowbirds or owners that stay for extended periods?
Both!
I am not yet an owner but am now spending extended periods in Florida. I understand that it is not exactly what this forum was developed to cover, but I purchase my car hire and park tickets from here and feel there is a section of users that would directly benefit from a Snowbirds/extended stay forum.
Katys Grandad
26-08-2011, 10:36
I would like to see a new category for this type of stay.
A minor point - I believe the term 'Snowbirds' specifically refers to those people who spend winter months in Florida to avoid the very cold weather in other parts (particularly the North East of the USA & Canada).
If it does happen, I think "Extended Stay Questions' might be a better title because a lot of old and new members might want to spend long periods in Florida all months of the year rather than just the winter months and might not be familiar with the Snowbirds term.
caroline
26-08-2011, 10:39
I'll bring this to the attention of John and Roger and see what they think.
floridadreamvilla.co.uk
26-08-2011, 10:50
Our apologies as we'd totally missed the suggestion. We've now created a new area at http://www.orlando-guide.info/forums/forumdisplay.php/119-Extended-Stay-Questions for such discussions.