police stopping uk cars at malaga airport

finkies

Johnzx

What I actually wote, if you read my Posting a little more carefully, was

"Yet still I see UK cars on UK Plates here which I know for a fact have been here for one year+ - I know of at least two where I live, with no UK road fund licence: no MOT, not even Insurance" - so no "wild allegations" there..

In one other case, it does have a UK RF (it's too new for MOT) but I wouldn't like to stake my pension on the UK insurers being aware that the vehicle is permanently resident in Spain.

The first 2 vehicles are illegal to drive on roads iin UK, and equally illegal in Spain.

There are UK registered vehicles in Spain: there are UK registered vehicles with long out-date-dare road fund licenses, or no UK RFL and no Spanish ITV stickers.  That means that they certainly do not have a valid UK MOT (and obviously not a Spanish ITV), so why should these vehicles carry valid insurance.

I can only repeat what my UK Insurance Company told me when I was trying to pay them in excess of £500 for an insurance premium for bringing, and then using. my car to Spain..   So they were turning down  £500+ for no obvious reason??

Perhaps "someone" out there may be able to give a definitive answer?      I personally felt more happy to accept the authoritive word from my previous insurers.

In passing, I also had a (Irish) neighbour who was obliged to renew his car insurance with an Irish Ins. Co. on a 3 monthly basis, as he wouldn't pay the €1,000+ necessary to have his car put through the Spanish ITV system - new headlights being the major cost., but it was also in need of considerable work to make it roadworthy. 

Equally, I can think of at least one owner where I live, who tries to make a living by ferrying holiday makers to/from the airports.   I keep my car well away from him as well, but if he had accident when ferrying people without a licence?????????

johnzx:

Any foreign registered cars  in Spain have to be road legal in their own Country, that means for UK registered cars you have to have a current MOT (if over 3 years old), current road tax & insurance.

I don't understand your point about the MOT not being proof of roadworthiness, that's the case in the UK & anywhere else that has a similar test. It doesn't matter, It's the LAW!

You may well be able to buy an insurance certificate in Spain but if the car isn't road legal in the UK all you have is a piece of paper NOT insurance cover! & that's before we get into the time restrictions on UK cars in Spain.

Intersting you choose to ignore my point about being legal in the UK to be legal in Spain.

You state that a UK car in Spain doesn't need an MOT for insurance purposes, well, you are wrong, it does.

I do agree however that any-one who is aware of an illegal car in Spain or for that matter in the UK should inform the Police.

I rang around  several brokers in Spain re UK reg vehicles, they all said no MOT was necessary to ensure cover, however, if the cover included 'right off' with an MOT or an ITV (which can be obtained on a UK Reg) market value would be paid,  without  MOT / ITV then trade value.

Re Roadworthy.  Please read my post again it really is very simple to understand how a vehicle that has passed a test, can become unroadworhy. 

However as I have Spanish registered vehicles, Spanish D/L, Insurance etc  ' I'm alight Jack.'

And although I was a police officer in UK I am very satisfied now to allow the Spanish police to enforce the law in Spain, as they understand it.

I suggest you contact the British Embassy & ask if you require an MOT & road tax, if you do you will find out that your UK car HAS TO BE ROAD LEGAL IN THE UK for you to drive it in Spain.

I do understand that an MOT is not a guarantee of roadworthiness, but since it's the LAW have an MOT!

I'm sure you can find insurance brokers in Spain who will happily assure that you don't need an MOT or road tax & will take your premium & promise you that you are insured. YOU ARE NOT!

Of course, let the Police enforce the Law, that's their job.

Rob 

'Calm down dear'

Oh I'm very calm! It just amazes me how Brits, once they get to Spain think the law doesn't apply to them & they can do what they like.

They are also the same people who complain most about foreigners in the UK breaking the law!

for those of you think that a U.K. plated car is over here without the full documentation as stated here ad nausium not only inform the police here but also inform DVLA. If a car is over here without U.K. road fund licence one must assume that the owner has not informed the  DVLA that they have exported the car. Or maybe they have got a SORN and mistakenly thought that if it is not on a UK road then its ok to drive abroad, WRONG. I am certain that the British police will liaise with their Spanish counterparts to rid our roads here of illegal and UNINSURED cars. An insurance company will always take your money but if you read the policy it states that the car has to be "street legal" and if you do not have an up to date M.o.T. and RFL then you are not insured, period.

Hi everyone who's taking such an active interest.

I didn't intend to put the gato amongst the palomas to this extent, simply that I am conditioned to living within the law, and even though it costs me, I do so.    If  received incorrect information about UK insurance being valid in Spain, then incorrect info it was - but my company were adamant that Green Cards were only valid for 3 months providing the vehicle was to return to UK, and if I had no registered permanent UK adddress (which I then wouldn't) my insurance would be invalid.

Thinking about it, insurance companies do have certain stipulations about vehicles they insure falling strictly within the letter of the law (at least if they're called on to pay out), and how would they know whether a car, once removed from the DVLA control, would indeed have a current MOT etc.

It makes sense to me, and whilst I know that one can obatin insurance which, on the face of it, would be "adequate", it's not the same as being 100% legal in the country where used.                I also know people who live permanently in Spain, but use an "accomodation address" in UK, so that they're still regarded as being under the NHS umbrella. If one is sneaky (or unprincipled) enough, anything is possible.     But come the day of reckoning, then..........................

In these days of compensation culture, having an accident and then being sued and discovering that one's apparent insurance is worthless, doesn't bear thinking about.   If one was unfortunate to have an accident where injury was involved, not to mention a potentially huge compensation claim, I cannot really see any UK insurance company signing a colossal cheque to settle an accident in say, Spain, without making at least some discreet enquiries.         They're not universally known for settling up with a smile on their faces when every aspect is indisputably legal - I cannot see them not doing it for a claim abroad.

And as a aside, although under EU rules (& Spanish, come to that) a UK driving licence is legally acceptable when permanently living in Spain, the DVLA insist that a UK driving licnce must carry a UK address. For anyone who's sceptical, you try changing the address of a UK driving licence to an address on the Costa Bongo.

Having said that, I wouldn't dream of putting the finger on someone who was dodging the column, that's between them and their consciences - but approve, No!

GREAT COMMENT, Rob!

finkies

Just to correct a small mistake in your posting regarding the N.H.S. When I moved to Spain a few years ago I spoke to, I believe, Newcastle and asked what the position was regarding the NHS. I was told, at that time, I had a choice as I spent most of my time in Spain but visited U.K. about 4 or 5 times a year for 2 or 3 weeks a time  I could opt to remain under the NHS and use an EHIC FOR EMERGENCIES ONLY when in Spain or join the Spanish health service and use an (U.K.) EHIC in the U.K.again ONLY for "emergencies". The choice was NOT irrevocable but I should not keep changing "frequently". They were informed that my U.K. address was "temporary" but that did not matter. This information was corrrect about 3 years ago when I last enquired for a friend.

Also as said by you Insurance companies are always willing to take your money but seek each and every way not to pay out if you need them. I understand that if one is using a U.K. plated car and there is a "big" claim the Insurance Company does check with DVLA to make certain that the insured is the owner as stated on the proposal. Otherwise this opens up the chance of massive fraud within the UK but this is not the thread to discuss this.

YOU HAVE BEEN ADVISED. 

Also for those of us who bury our heads in the sand and say " its not my problem if people dont have insurance" WRONG. In the U.K. I believe that everyone who pays insurance is subsiding those who do not have it by about £75 every year. Who do you think is going to pay for YOUR car when it is involved with a non insured vehicle?  As my little meerkat friend says  SIMPLES.... its YOU.

Maybe the point here is; if there were not so many illegal cars (from England or any other country) then the police would not be laying in wait for foriegn registered cars ????

Hi steone,

Re. the NHS, it's not so much a mistake, as totally different circumstances.

You, as you state, are at least partially resident in UK, whereas I (& the people I mentioned) live permanently in Spain.  I would think the criteria is for just how long you are out of the UK before returning, or if you still own a property in UK.

I was told by the NHS in Newcastle, and in the most unequivocal of terms, that I was removing myself from the UK: had no permanent UK address, and therefore I could not avail myself of the NHS system in the UK.        It sounded totally reasonable and ethical to me, and I had no issues with the decision.   I'm now comfortably in the Spanish system.    Very comfortably in fact, as the Spanish NHS health system does not automatically reject requests, or zero in on the cheapest medication available

.I rate the Spanish healtth care system extremely highly.

I was advised (rigfhtly or wrongly) that Spain bills the UK NHS for all treatment supplied to ex-UK nationals, so as they're not paying, "give them what is best likely to cure them".

However, there are regular adverts from the NHS in the local"freebies" asking people to report those ex Pats who are guilty of milking the system, so I would have considerable reservations about the NHS telling people who are mainly resident in Spain, that they are eligible to utilise the NHS system in UK.        If it was indeed just so easy,why should these exPats use accomodations addresses with their children, or periodically return to UK just  to collect prescriptions.   Why should they look a tad "shifty" when justifying and rationalising their connection with the NHS?    It just doesn't add up to me.

Perhaps I am misinformed again, but people who I do know to be abusing the system (mainly early retirees) can always justify keeping their foot on the ground  and their connections with the UK NHS, alive.

Someone reading this Forum will know the definitive answer, rather than an "answer" that appeals to the people who the NHS are periodically targetting.

Abyss_Rover is quite correct.    There are huge number of illegal vehicles here: there are huge numbers of people fraudulently sheltering under the NHS umbrella.  It is not right.

But whilst citizens "could" (and perhaps should) tip the Black Spot on motoring/NHS offenders, dedicated informers was the trend in Nazi Germany, and Stalin's USSR.     "Brits" as a race, don't really fall in to the role of serial informers - thank the Good Lord.

To me, it's all part and parcel of the same thread - we're speaking about people "shortcutting/ignoring" the law, and the pitfalls & repercussions for other law-abiding people than can result. 

Most readers probably have more than sufficient intelligence to be able to discriminate between the two, and to assimilate the lessons to be learned  from them.

.Johnzx, apart from you, no-one (including the moderators) seem to be particularly concerned if one thread gardually merges into another - :they're all indicative of the mentality of some people - breaking the law in Spain regarding vehicle requirements: : breaking the law in UK regarding NHS stipulations:: quite happily breaking the law in both Countries