[Candidate]

Hi there,

We won a diversity visa and arrived in the USA on the 11th January. We need to find medical insurance, buy a car, and then insure it. Any advice on these subjects would be just great.

Thanks so much
Kathie

This post has been edited by Candidate: 21 January 2012 - 06:36 AM

[Dolphie]

Hi there,
If you can buy a car with cash you should be fine. You will be paying through your teeth for insurance though. We paid over a grand for 6 months car insurance. It goes down every 6 months, but it is still astronomical.

Quite a few places won't insure you if you have been here for less than a year. Sometimes it is 3 years.
There is insurance available to Immigrants. If you look up Immigrant Insurance online you should see a few options. We are in Florida and have found medical insurance to be terribly expensive. It might be a good idea to research the terms for insurance here, it's very difficult to navigate if you can't understand it.
Quite a few places won't insure you if you have been here for less than a year. Sometimes it is 3 years.

Everything in the US is linked to your (non-existant) credit score.

Hope this helps.

[Candidate]

Thank you, I will see what I can find. I appreciate your response. Yes I realise our non-existant credit score is an issue! We are trying to rent an apartment home and shew that is testing us too. The sad thing is, we are such good clients, but I understand the issues and the challenges, but we will get there in the end!

[Eileen]

Hi Kathie, Welcome to the U.S. and hopefully you will settle in quickly. Just keep posting any questions you might have as I am sure there will be folks on the forum who will be able to help and advise you as to best options etc., I find the forum is quiet over the weekends so don't be put off if you don't get any immediate responses.. come Monday everyone will be back on board! I am in Louisiana. Where will you be settling?

[Candidate]

Chapel Hill, Raleigh for now. Just waiting to hear if we are going to be accepted as tenants.. all a challenge, but we will get there. Thanks, I will check regularly. Have a happy week-end..

[Spokie]

Check out: Ehealthinsurance/ for medical insurance quotes. They compare different companies to give you a better idea.
Individual medical insurance is very expensive. Hopefully you'll be able to get medical insurance through a job soon.

Car insurance is also very expensive. Check out AAA insurance. You can also search online for car insurance and get quotes online.

To build your credit score, try getting a Capital One credit card. But use it as a debit card, (pay as you go) so you don't pay fees.

[Superkruz]

A few questions.... can I get a lower car insurance premium if I:

• Get a reference letter from my current car insurance company that shows how long I've been with them and that I have a good claims record, or
• If I pay the annual insurance premium in advance?

As far as health insurance goes, I am taking travel insurance that will cover me for the first 6 months.

[Boer08]

Superkruz, on 21 January 2012 - 07:57 PM, said:

A few questions.... can I get a lower car insurance premium if I:

• Get a reference letter from my current car insurance company that shows how long I've been with them and that I have a good claims record, or
• If I pay the annual insurance premium in advance?

As far as health insurance goes, I am taking travel insurance that will cover me for the first 6 months.

Unfortunately, a reference letter won't work. Well it didn't in my case. I bought my first motorcycle 3 months after I arrived in the US, the cheapest insrance I could get was $10000 a year. Yep $10000. I asked if my insurance company in SA can fax them a reference letter to show that I have a clean record, and I was told that they don't except it, and it can only be lowered after having a driving record in the US for 3 years. I ended up insuring my car and motorcycle through a friend till I had a good credit score and driving record...

It won't hurt to try it though. All insurance companies are different.

Good luck with the move and everything.

This post has been edited by Boer08: 21 January 2012 - 11:00 PM

[Superkruz]

Boer08, on 21 January 2012 - 10:58 PM, said:

the cheapest insrance I could get was $10000 a year. Yep $10000.

$10k pa is ridiculous!! I guess I should start checking out public transport options.

[gmdbn]

Boer08, on 21 January 2012 - 10:58 PM, said:

Unfortunately, a reference letter won't work. Well it didn't in my case. I bought my first motorcycle 3 months after I arrived in the US, the cheapest insrance I could get was $10000 a year. Yep $10000. I asked if my insurance company in SA can fax them a reference letter to show that I have a clean record, and I was told that they don't except it, and it can only be lowered after having a driving record in the US for 3 years. I ended up insuring my car and motorcycle through a friend till I had a good credit score and driving record...

It won't hurt to try it though. All insurance companies are different.

Good luck with the move and everything.

You say you insured your vehicle through a 3rd party, is that acceptable. My thoughts were to drive smaller cheaper cars, hopefully having a lower premium. Could someone clarify if one vehicle is driven by a husband and wife do both stand to gain lower premiums a year later or would the principal insured only benefit. Does a credit rating really influence driving ability.

This post has been edited by gmdbn: 22 January 2012 - 07:32 AM

[Dolphie]

It's not so much the credit rating as the lack of driving record in the US. What you did elsewhere doesn't count. We were asked if we could show an insurance history - so it might well help. Our cars were business cars so we had no individual insurance so it didn't help us.

If you look up Immigrant Medical Insurance there are some pretty good rates. At least compared to what anyone else will offer you!

We didn't get yearly car insurance, we did it 6 monthly and each time we renewed the premium went down. I don't think it really matters what size the car is. Here what will count is your lack of driving record.

As for the husband and wife thing. As long as your wife/husband has a driving record in the US - i.a. a US lisence - their premium should reduce too over time. Three years is the magical number when looking for a driving record.

[Boer08]

gmdbn, on 22 January 2012 - 07:32 AM, said:

You say you insured your vehicle through a 3rd party, is that acceptable. My thoughts were to drive smaller cheaper cars, hopefully having a lower premium. Could someone clarify if one vehicle is driven by a husband and wife do both stand to gain lower premiums a year later or would the principal insured only benefit. Does a credit rating really influence driving ability.

They don't make it easy for us in the US. I bought my first motorcycle cash, and then I tried to insure it, but as I mentioned I couldn't get some one to help me without asking me a ridiculous amount. Credit score does not influence your driving record, but you can't finance anything or get a credit card without a credit score. So I bought a new car and motorcycle, and added a friends name to the title. He insured the vehicles on both our names. That way I got low insurance and I started building my credit score. Anotehr way to start your credit score is to get a sucure credit card. M&T wouldn't help me, but Wells Fargo was very helpful.

[treverly]

Candidate, on 21 January 2012 - 06:29 AM, said:

Chapel Hill, Raleigh for now. Just waiting to hear if we are going to be accepted as tenants.. all a challenge, but we will get there. Thanks, I will check regularly. Have a happy week-end..

There is quite a large SA community in NC.
Contact DebB, a member of this forum and see if she knows of anyone that can help you.
Good luck!
Bev

[Candidate]

Thanks everyone will check those out.

[Graeme]

Hey there I'm looking for someone to take over my car lease, it's a 2011 Ford Fiesta and it's $322.76 a month so let me know if you are interested, we do the paperwork through Ford, it's pretty simple, where are you based?