Yes, I agree, but the dictionary definition (rather than the tax man's definition) of residence is somewhere that you live. If you live there for a short period every year and if mail sent there will reach you, I would say that it counts as a residence. Certainly, whenever you will be driving the car you will be living in the UK and that makes you resident (in the dictionary sense).

If you are uncomfortable, you should ask the insurer for their definition of a UK resident. Some insurers require that the policy holder has at some point lived in the UK for 6 months or more. This is not the same as the tax man's definition.

My opinion is that you should not tell them that your situation is in any significant way different to most other drivers and you should try not to have any accidents.

You should get a discount because the car wont be in use for most of the year but that wont happen.

I suggested this to the insurance companies, and they said that would make no difference. The refusal is because I am not a UK resident. Direct Line even told me that if my father insured the car, he could not put me on the policy as a named driver for the same reason. Policy holders and named drivers must be UK residents. A broker told my dad that this requirement is in place to stop immigrants driving uninsured! It makes no sense to me.

My guess is that they just need you to have a UK address through which they can contact you. If you register the car at, and give your address at, your father's house you shouldn't have too much problem. You will need to ask your father so that he knows to pass any mail on to you. You will, however, be unlikely to get any no claims bonus as this tends to expire after a couple of years.

I am a UK citizen and have held a full UK licence since 1976. In 2001 my wife & I retired to Lanzarote. To make visiting family and friends easier and less expensive, we are purchasing a car in the UK which will be left at my father's address. I am, however, finding it impossible to get insurance on the car.

Is there anywhere that I can go to insure my new car? I find it very strange that a UK citizen can buy a car but not insure it just because I live abroad at present. I am a named driver on my father's policy for his car and his company are aware that I am domiciled in Lanzarote, so why can't they insure me directly on my own UK vehicle.