English vehicles

Hi All,

After some info, I will be driving to Costa del Sol in my van for long term stay and was wondering if anyone could tell me what happens about road tax, mot etc? Is it ok to drive with UK road tax and valid mot and what happens when renewel comes up? Any info gratefully received.

Thanks

Hi Charlie

Welcome to the frontier where there are no laws ............and you can do what you want.......... becuase that's what everyone else does!

This topic is well covered on previous threads.

But your real concern should be insurance and what would happen if you are involved in an accident becuase most insurance policies say you must have a valid certificate of road worthiness. If it is not your intention to return to UK for MOT then you need written agreement from your insurance company (not broker) stating what they will accept in its place. So read the policy and make sure you comply with all terms. If on UK insurance you might only have limite cocer for x months etc.

The only reason I changed my car over was becuase of insurance. Because the police don't seem to care. Anyway yoyu can't re-register a van.

Faro - most insurance policies say you must have a valid certificate of road worthiness.

link, pse?

Legalities are that you can drive the vehicle over here for up to 183 days in any one year..

So far as UK Road tax and MOT are concerned for the vehicle to be legal over here, in France or anywhere in the EU for that matter the UK documentation must be current.

A Spanish ITV cert (UK MOT equivalent) has no legal standing on a UK reg vehicle. It cannot be used to renew UK road tax . Legally the vehicle has to be returned to the UK and a fresh MOT obtained in order to renew UK Road Tax.

A UK SORN declaration is not valid; The SORN is only applicable to vehicles off the road in the UK.

If the road tax expires whilst you are over here then legally you are up sh*t creek because you cannot drive it back to the UK, and the road tax contnuation peolpe will be after you for the overdue tax and the subsequent fines.

All that said, it depends on where you are as to what action the Trafficos (Guardia Civil police) may take...in some areas they will come down on you like the proverbial ton of bricks, in other areas there are hundreds if not thousands of illegal UK reg cars / vans that seem to get away with it year after year.

Insurance however as stated by Faro is an absolute must at all times. If you are involved in an accident, whether its your fault or not, if you have no insurance the police will lock you up and throw away the key, especially if God forbid someone is killed or injured. (Given the fiery nature of the Spanish people that might just be the safest place to be if the relatives come looking for you....)

As Faro also rightly point out you cannot re-register a RHD van onto Spanish plates. Cars yes, vans and other large vehicles, no.

fb

I beg to differ, but you can put RHD vans onto spanish plates. A friend of our has.

If you don't have road tax and MOT any insurance will be invalid.

A car has to be legal in the country it is registered in. You can't mix and match, unless you are in the process of re-registering. We have a car at the moment that has spanish ITV, on tuesday it will have spanish road tax both of which will be valid with it's insurance untill it gets it's spanish number plate.

Regards, Febe

I don't agree with Febe - you need insurance to obtain road tax not the other way round. There are numerous Spanish insurers who will insure your UK registered vehicle. They will accept a Spanish ITV as a certificate of roadworthyness.

The police, in my experience, do not want the hassle of dealing with untaxed foreign registered cars. If you have a current ITV and insurance certificate they don't take any action.

David,

Have you ever tried claiming under an insurance policy from one of these many companies willing to insure British plated cars illegally in Spain that do not have an MOT from their country of registration and are not up to date with their tax in their country of registration?  

I'll bet that if you were involved in an accident that involved personal injury to a third (Spanish) party while driving a car that wasn't legally entitled to be on the road in Spain, the Guardia would suddenly show a lot more interest!  And do you really believe that the insurance company would cough up when you were nicked?  I'd check the small print very carefully.

Febe

02 Feb 2011 17:25

I beg to differ, but you can put RHD vans onto spanish plates. A friend of our has.

 Yes I have posted that I'd seen rhd vans on spanish plates both on the road & for sale, mostly around Alicante. The problem is under spanish law you cannot re-matriculate any rhd van or lorry due to visibility requirements but for some reason a few have been changed. The problem is , in the event of an accident will the spanish authorities turn around & say they shouldn't have been & are not legal & strip the vehicle of it's registration ? Where would that leave you ? I wouldn't want to find out !

Jek,

No thankfully I have never had that experience but there are a lot of people out there with UK plated vehicles, Spanish ITV and insurance - hopefully someone who has had an accident can tell us about their experience.

If caught on English plates with expired MOT and Tax the authorities have the right to have your car removed from the road and crushed accompanied by an extremely hefty fine. Have heard of a few in our area.

Jek,

Have you ever tried claiming under an insurance policy from one of these many companies willing to insure British plated cars illegally in Spain that do not have an MOT from their country of registration and are not up to date with their tax in their country of registration? 

Not quite what your asking but some years ago we had a fully legal (ie.British taxed and MOT'ed) British plated car with one of these many companies insurance on it. Although I don't remember if it had been here longer than 183 days, which it could have been.

Whilst parked with on one in it, it was hit by a 4x4. Pushed into the wall in frount of it! Smashed at both ends. The insurance payed out in full.

(edited because it was the other drivers insurance that payed, point being that if it had been considered illegal I don't think they would not have payed.)

So doesn't really answer the question. Like you I would love to hear from any one that has been in that situation.

I won't drive a car thatI know to be illegal.

David,

I think you miss-read my post.

Gus,

All very confusing!

Take care, Febe

Febe -

If you don't have road tax and MOT any insurance will be invalid.

Febe, this is rubbish. Lack of MOT does not invalidate insurance.

Febe

I did mis read your post - sorry!

Clearly if you have a UK reg car with UK MOT & valid insurance it is legal. Equally if you have a Spanish reg car with ITV and valid insurance it is legal.

It is also clear if you have a UK reg car with no MOT, Tax or insurance it is illegal. I have heard of such cars being impounded.

The grey area is a UK reg car with a Spanish ITV and insurance. To me it is a bit like Sky - it is not  strictly legal but is accepted. The valid question raised by Jek is: In the event of an accident will the insurance pay out?

Is there anyone with direct experience of this situation who can help? It is an important issue for a lot of people!

Someone ran into the back of me when my car was on UK plates but had Spanish insurance (Liberty Seguro).

Mapfre argued becuase my car was UK plated I was outside the convenio (agreement) that exists between insurance companies.

It took a lot of arguing for them to agree to repair my car and 2 perito inspections. They refused the Liberty perito report and wanted their own perito to re-inspect my car.

Only when I threatened legal proceedings did they finally agree to pay out.

The accident was in no way my fault. The driver of the other car fully admited liability but Mapfre did not want to pay out.

I dread to think what would have happened if I had been at fault.

It was for that reason I decided to put my car on Spanish plates.

If a UK plated car runs into me I will try my best to have his car impounded and the driver held in custody until he pays for my car just in case his insurance company declines and especially so if he lives in rented accommodation.

I never had any problem with police and have never met anyone that has - I'm convinced the stories of problems with the police are circulated by the ex-pats involved in re-registering Uk plated cars!

With UK cars there are many grey areas or half-way houses. But my real concern is insurance

If a UK plated car runs into me I will try my best to have his car impounded and the driver held in custody until he pays for my car just in case his insurance company declines and especially so if he lives in rented accommodation.

Good advice Faro.  I've often wondered what would happen if an illegal UK-plated car hit my car.  The vast majority of the UK plated cars on the Costa del Sol at least are illegal.

I would definitely want to get the Guardia Civil involved.

** EDITED - Irrelevant **

Sanchez1

I will definitely call out the Guardia Civil and will not be slow in pointing out the car is probably illegal with no ITV/MOT and no road tax - so call the grua and let's get the driver arrested until we find out where he resides etc.

I also know you can get the police to do their job with a push.

This problem is not unique to Spain and in east end of london you have a lot of asian/black youths dring around uninsured and then when they do a runner and there goes your no claims bonus.

I could get started on moped/bikes next who tear around the towns and they've hit you and gone before you know it!!!

A guy I know got Spanish looking plates made for his UK plated car. They had the "E" for Espania which he thought was for Europe . He had never had any problems around CDS but he drove up to Madrid and was stopped by the police. They regarded the car as having a false registration and impounded it and arrested him and his passanger who spent an uncomforable night in a cell. It went to court where the judge was told the full story and threw out the case. He had insurance and an ITV and the judge regarded the incorrect use of the "E" as an innocent mistake.

The point of this story is that while I appreciate the warning and will try to avoid crashing into you guys I wouldn't be to confident about being able to have an English plated car impounded if it has an ITV and is insured even though it is not taxed.

There has been much talk and speculation on this topic over the years!

However, I cannot understand how you can get an ITV on a UK registered car!

During the process of re-registering a UK car you can have an ITV inspector pre-inspect the car, but they won't give you an actual ITV certificate until it is on Spanish plates!

Quite ironic really, I was actually talking about this problem with EU cars on EU roads earlier today!

If the EU can have a single market, and a single currency, and allow members from EU countries to live and work in fellow EU countries for long periods of time without naturalising to another country, and these EU Citizens can own and drive EU registered cars on EU roads, why is there no EU Stanard Road Safty Test - you could even call it an SRS Test!

All cars made in the EU are made to the same specification, use the same components and are identical other than being either LHD or RHD!

New cars also carry an EU Homologation number, to show that it conforms to all EU legislation - so why no EU MOT Standard?

It defies this posters beliefs that those Bureaucrats in Brussels still haven't done this!

However, I cannot understand how you can get an ITV on a UK registered car!

Technoape I agree it shouldn't be possible but it is. ITVs on UK registered cars are called "voluntary ITVs". I know a guy who makes a living taking other people's cars through the test.