Travel Reference
In-Depth Information
Car Insurance
W
hen we used to come to Italy for the summers, we always rented or leased a car for a
couple of months. After we decided to try living here, we knew that we would need to buy
a car since leasing on an annual basis would be horrendously expensive. Just before we left
the States, we were having dinner with our friend, Francesca, who told us that her brother in
Italy had just bought a new home. And the garage in the new house was about two inches
too short for his Volvo station wagon.
“So, what's he planning to do with the car?”
“He'll probably have to sell it and buy something smaller.”
The next day we called brother John. He was thrilled to have a buyer before even putting the
car on the market, and we were delighted to have a car waiting for us when we arrived. As
a temporary measure John kept the insurance in his name while we worked out the details
for the hand-off. Sounds simple, doesn't it? After all, we had already bought a house. How
difficult could it be to buy a car?
Actually, buying the car is easy. It's just that you can't purchase insurance for it unless
you're a resident. So, we went to the
commune
to inquire about getting a residency permit.
Theyaskedusafewsimple questions: DoyoualsoownahomeinAmerica? Isyourprimary
work based in America? Do you pay your taxes in America?
Weanswered'yes'toalloftheabovewithoutrealizingthattheseweretrickquestions.Three
strikes and we were out.
“Well, then you're not a resident here.”
“But we live here full time now.”
“That's irrelevant.”
“But we need to be residents in order to get car insurance.”
“That may be true, but I can't certify that you are a resident when you are clearly not a res-
ident.”
“So, what do we do?”
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