Insuring a GB plated car in france

[71]

yep you can do I have, no probs, full cover, no excess for wheel being on the right, and way cheaper than england. But not all will do this.. shop around and dont fall for the 'temp' numberplates or the time limited plate changes I have heard about, costs a fortune and is a nightmare.

Car has also passed a french CT (MOT) and no one seemed bothered about the GB plates.

Insurance however did peeve me right off when they would not issue me with longer than monthly extendable ins for my french car coz I have not yet got the right dept plates on (well it has been 3 yrs) but for the English car "no matter" strange.


Licence, conflicting perhaps someone could rattify?? Totally valid no need to change. commit an offence you have to change it.

then;

stopped by police for routine etcs.... permit not valid, you been here more than 2yrs. I contact my insurance they had no idea what I was talking about???


I dont really feel the urge to wait french weeks(months) to change the permit, and fill in a catalogue sized form. So next time i'll lie say i've been here only a few weeks live normally in england

[jackthelad]

Hi

I read your comments and also have a UK car in france - my difficulty is that it is currently insured in the UK with a green card to drive here - the MOT has run out and apparantly UK insurers do not accept a CT instead of an MOT - I am not gonna drive 2000 miles to UK and back just for an MOT so can you or anyone give me the names of some french insurers who would cover me - also what do you guys do about road tax - do you SORN the vehicle in the UK (Statutory Off Road Notice).

The DVLA want me to continue to pay road tax as the car is registered in the UK even though it is not being driven on uk roads (anything to collect taxes ) hahahaha!!!!!

cheers

[kenlarkins]

[quote="71"]yep you can do :) I have, no probs, full cover, no excess for wheel being on the right, and way cheaper than england. But not all will do this.. shop around and dont fall for the 'temp' numberplates or the time limited plate changes I have heard about, costs a fortune and is a nightmare.

Car has also passed a french CT (MOT) and no one seemed bothered about the GB plates.

Insurance however did peeve me right off when they would not issue me with longer than monthly extendable ins for my french car coz I have not yet got the right dept plates on :roll: (well it has been 3 yrs) but for the English car "no matter" strange.


Licence, conflicting perhaps someone could rattify?? Totally valid no need to change. commit an offence you have to change it.

then;

stopped by police for routine etcs.... permit not valid, you been here more than 2yrs. I contact my insurance they had no idea what I was talking about???


I dont really feel the urge to wait french weeks(months) to change the permit, and fill in a catalogue sized form. So next time i'll lie say i've been here only a few weeks live normally in england :)[/quote][quote][b][i][/i][/b][/quote][quote]

do you know of any insurance comp-anies that will do it ?[/quote]

[jackthelad]

Ok this is confusing - I post a reply and get your original text back again - have i missed the point here???

[Kay]

Hi JacktheLad

Welcome, BTW. It looks to me like kenlarkins joined up and tried to reply to you but didn't know how to use all the functions such as "quote". It's against our guidelines to post previous messages in their entirety anyway as it's a pain in the bum for people to have to wade through it.

Ken - if you read this, please just try to reply to Jack without all the fancy quoting and bold and italics and stuff. It's not necessary. On the rare occasions where it is necessary so that people understand, you can use the preview function to see how it's going to look before you hit "submit".

Sure, everyone has to learn but you'd be better keeping it simple to start with. Maybe I've got the wrong end of the stick but I couldn't make head nor tail of that posting either.

Cheers

Kay

[jackthelad]

Kay - many thanks for that - I am sure you are right - Ken am waiting your reply as my MOT has run out and I am currently risking negotiating roundabouts with the French (who really don't have a clue about how to go round one) -

waiting to hear from you

[Victor]

Hi Guys,

You should be aware that you could be letting yourselfs get into serious problems by having a UK registered car outside the UK for extended periods. EU law allows upto 6 months, after that legally speaking you are breaking the law, which would lead to your insurance being invalid as well.

Take a look at European Commission factsheet on car registration

[jackthelad]

Hi Thanks for the advice - as I am taking the car backwards and forwards it is not out of the uk permanantly and so i dont think i have to worry about exporting it - what I do need is a company in france that will insure a uk plated right hand drive car - can anyone help please

[Victor]

Ok so long as the car is not in the country for more than 6 months in the year. I know people who have been prosecuted. Your risk.

[jackthelad]

Fine - so now we have that established - do you know anyone who can insure the car

[ruggie]

If you have a French bank account, start by asking them. Otherwise, try any of the big insurance companies in your local Yellow Pages.

[richardwhatever]

Hi,

I inuserd my right hand drive car no problem. British plates.

Reading this forum though i've realised i might have got myself into a fair bit of trouble... i've taken the car off the road in the UK, about 1.5 years ago, and am driving it over here without it being registered. i guess i just shyed away from all the paperwork etc as my French is poor. Anyway, what do you reckon is the best tactic? SHould i go back home and put it back on the road... or just try and register it here... what are the risks/issues? I assume my insurance is probably invalid as its stands at the moment.

Regards,

Richard.

[71]

[Quote deleted. No need to quote previous posts in their entirety.]

Thanx Victor

that 6 month rule still applies then? I'm insured all risks, no excesses and no mention to change the plate (btw) with MAAF. Are the insurance companies just cashing in on the amount of other EU cars in france????

I'd be more than upset to find out they sold be invalid insurance! But they did tell me you can insure any EU car in any EU country now! So shop around EUROPE for the cheapest quotes?

oh and the car has a CT too, no questions asked, and it passed with only prob being 'slightly' dim... dipped beam on the lights. Mentioned its coz they actually look about 2cm to the left "oh yes no prob forget it then"!!

I been stopped 'periodic' police stops, insurance, licence all poured over no questions nothing.

[tonyspencer]

The rules on all this are changing fast, so not everyone is up to date, including gendarmes!

There is no need to change your licence over, unless you commit an offence, when it is then compulsory, so that can apply points, bans etc. However being able to check is going Europe wide next year I believe, so you will no longer be able to escape things like parking tickets either.

I think the 6 months rule still exists, but since there is no passport stamp, impossible to tell how many times you go back. I also see plenty of French people who have not changed their departmental registration.

You can now insure any plated car in the EU, but again not everyone knows this. However the car must be legal according to it's country of registration, which means for UK cars, valid MoT and tax disc. You can't use an off road disc just because you're not using it on UK roads! A CT may be okay with local police, but will almost certainly invalidate insurance if it's not an MoT, ditto with not having a tax disk. Certainly pretty much all UK insurance would be invalidated, and probably EU insurance too.

There's no easy way on this. You either take the car back once a year and get an MoT and tax disc, or you register it in France. Most modern cars are easy to change, as the type approval process is common. In the UK they can now fine you automatically for not having a tax disc, abroad or not. They assume you need a renewal even if you don't.

Basically there is no way to cheat the system, and they are going to be increasingly able to catch and pursue you across Europe.

An exception to easy French registration is camper vans, where the rules are different (largely designed to make sure you buy French camper vans as far as I can see), but then again it's assumed if you have a camper van that you are travelling...

[opfholiday]

I have been driving in France on holiday whilst resident in the UK for nearly forty years. ILLEGALLY. I am moving permanently to France in April and wanted to check with my insurance as it is due for renewal at end of March. The rules vary from company to company but you MUST advise your company before going abroad, even on holiday, and they will issue a Green Card. HOWEVER, all insurance companies have rules and in my case it is that you can only be insured abroad for up to 93 days in any one insurance year. And only then if you are returning to live in the UK. They have given me permission to be insured but my total insurance will run out after the 93 days and I will then be uninsured.