which car insurance post again

After various new quotes coming in again. i just wondered if anyone has any recommendations on car insurance for a british plate car     ( probably transfer to spanish plates within a few months )

In the past i have used abbeygate, and had good experience with them, i have had to claim with them in the past and had a good experience, although had to wait about 8 weeks for the claim to complete, ( which maybe usual im not sure). however, the accidental roadside recovery was a little poor and i had some serious issues when i broke down ( sorry abbeygate).

 i need to have a solid car insurance, with a company who provide a courtesy car in the event of a claim (on fully comp), i do get confused and at the moment various quotes are coming in, some with serious excess's too, ( about EUR 300)

are there any good companies around which are both reliable, dependenable, trustworthy and competitive.

im aaware there are various companies trading in gibraltar, if anyone has any advice id be grateful

many thanks!

We are thinking of taking a car over from UK for a few months and were wondering about getting Spanish insurance for it as UK insurance only covers for 30 days. Any recommendations would be appreciated.

Regards, Poppyseed

I have just renewed my policy with Linea Directa. I cannot vouch for their efficiency in handling claims (thank God) but have no complaints about their telephone service so far (English speaking). Neither do I know if they insure UK plated cars, or do short term policies, but I'm sure they'll be happy to answer such questions on 902 123147.

Together with my renewal came a leaflet offering a 10% discount on policies for any family or friends I refer to them. If anyone would like to be my friend, send me a pm and I will give you the info needed to claim your 10% discount! If 4 or more of you subsequently take out insurance with them, my next renewal will be FREE, and you will then be my BEST friends!

By paying for insurance by debit card (rather than direct debit) they also offer a further discount - around 5% I think.

My car's on UK plates and I insure it with Trafalgar in Gibraltar (Tel: +350 200 44628).

I've used them on various vehicles on different plates for a number of years now and haven't had any problems. I've had to use their breakdown recovery twice - both times they were very quick. The first time I had a blow out whilst I was taking my mother back to Malaga airport. I had to be towed to a garage as someone had nicked my spare wheel, so they also provided a taxi which took my mother straight to the doors at the airport. I also needed their breakdown last week when I had lost my keys . Again, very professional, I wasn't waiting long (around 30 mins) and the breakdown driver was very polite and helpful.

As far as the quotes go I found he was cheaper than both UK and Spain. The breakdown recovery is provided free in Spain and Portugal and you are given a full 12 month green card. I think the insurance is Ibex, and your no claims discounts are discounted. The policy is in English.

Give him and call - it can't hurt to get a comparison

Don't like to sound like I'm preaching, but................I'm in Manilva.........My car's on UK plates...........if you're staying in Manilva, i.e. you are resident there, you are obviously in the process of re-registering your car? I read on another forum somewhere in the last few days that Ibex have been known to pay out claims even on vehicles that are not road legal here. Personally, I'd rather not take the chance.

I have amended my profile - when I first joined this forum I simply used the location of my property in Spain! Sorry for any confusion

My vehicle is not permanently in Spain - and I tax and MOT it every year whilst I am in UK. I am not a permanent resident in Spain, I spend my time between countries.

I pay council tax on my property in UK, I am on the electoral role in the UK and I drive on my UK licence.  Therefore my car is staying on UK plates! If I become "resident" in Spain then of course I will re-register it.

Ibex are fully aware of the situation so I really don't see the problem - they issued me a 12 month green card as I spend so much time out of UK.

I was simply trying to be helpful - I'm sure that everyone is well aware of the fact that if they are resident, cars should be imported, all other vehicle should be legal in country of registration etc.

I have noticed recently however, that people are very quick to jump to the conclusion that because a car is on UK plates it is not legal! That's not always the case 

This message was last edited by buzylizzie on 4/29/2009.

Hi Buzylizzie,

Sorry if I'm being stupid and missing something here but are you saying you have just this one insurance policy to cover you in Spain and the UK?

Regards, Poppyseed

Hi Poppyseed

That's correct - the policy covers me for the whole of the EU. It is issued with a 12 month green card. It was accepted by DVLA when I taxed my car in UK.

'Hope this helps

thanks buzzy thats very kind indeed. much appreciated ! i will call them and ask and get some quotes in...\

:)

Sorry for "jumping to conclusions",  and no offence meant, but it's one of my pet hates (that and people who abandon pets). Your statement:  "I'm sure that everyone is well aware of the fact that if they are resident, cars should be imported" unfortunately simply isn't the case. There is an alarming amount of both ignorance and arrogance when it comes to the legalities of vehicle registration, tax and insurance. In the UK, people complain about foreigners, especially east Europeans, driving illegal cars, but here in Spain so many Brits are guilty of the same thing. I'm amazed at the number of un-taxed UK reg vehicles driving around. There are some around here that have been here for years - and yet the authorities do nothing. I just hope they never hit me.

Just out of interest, does your insurance give you the same cover when abroad, and is there a time limit per trip specified?

how true roberto, the sad way a lot of english moan and constantly complain about polish drivers in the uk. ( which is bordering on racism at times) - mostly foreign drivers in the uk seem to be highly competenet and sound drivers.

I have a family member who literally hates the polish, he constantly says " why dont they go home"...i then try to make him see that i have lived in various EU countires in my life, the danes / swedes and spanish treted me so well, and was hospitible towards me,

Im so glad i didnt come across a spanish version of my brother who hates the english.

its the EU now, and i keep telling my brother to get used to it.

Im proud that i can travel around the EU, make friends with the spanish and the swedish, learn there wonderful culture, seek and broaden my mind, im fortunate im not ignorant.  and most of my uk born friends who live in spain are of the same kind. there are cultured and well travelled thankfully. integration is key, ( but im not saying i find it easy, but meeting spanish women helps :)

I have noticed a few UK cars in spain with no tax. and no doubt mot, I wonder how the wheel bearings and hub assembley units are!

Its always best to be safe and legal.

anyway back to topic,

as long as my car is legal in its country of origin and then insured im content.

its both important and right.

Thanks Buzylizzie, this could be our solution. My daughter is teaching abroad and her fully legal taxed and insured car is sitting outside the house doing nothing so we thought we'd drive it to Spain for the summer.

Regards, Poppyseed

Saga insurance policies have no restrictions on how long you can drive your car out of UK. They know that oldies are likely to want to spend months on end on the continent.

As regards the number of illegal Brit vehicles on the road in Spain I feel the UK/EU have largely brought this on themselves. The bugbear is the unreasonable MOT requirement and most illegality flows from that...no MOT, no taxation, no insurance.

There is no reason that bears examination why the UK can't licence a handful of garages in Spain to do MOTs. If it was argued that it would cost disproportionally to inspect them, etc then the cost could be recouped by charging more for the MOT. I imagine that a lot of people wouldn't mind paying £100 or more for an MOT if it meant they didn't have to go back to UK or drive without insurance. Or there could be an EU MOT recognised by all EU countries just like they recognise driving licences, etc.

It is quite lawful for me to want to spend five months in Spain with my car. I might then want to leave the car behind in my garage (in Spain) and go and spend seven months somewhere else before returning to Spain. This is  my business and no-one elses. Why should this perfectly legitimate lifestyle be stymied by a requirement to drive the car back to UK for an MOT. In my case I  own a newish car and won't need an MOT for a couple of years by which time I'll have bought a new one. So it discriminates against the less well off.

Rant over. Time to study the menu del dia.

Jeffcoo and Poppyseed - you're welcome and I hope the information turns out to be of some use to you.

Roberto - I have checked my policy and as far as I can see there is no time limit per trip, and I get the same cover anywhere in the EU.

I understand what you say about illegal UK cars, but I cannot understand how a person could ever plead lack of knowledge or ignorance if the vehicle hasn't any tax or MOT. Clearly this wouldn't be legal in the UK so for sure it can't be legal anywhere else in the world - and every driver knows this. Some people just don't care about breaking the law. I too hope that I never have an accident with such a vehicle. 

Edited to add: GuyT - well said!

Thanks Buzy.

I' ve just used Ibex to insure our car that we are brining over, We brought a used LHD BMW that had spare headlights and speedo for  use in europe, compared to the used car prices in Spain I seem to have got a bargain.

Cheers Derek

Guy, I actually agree totally with you - it's a stupid situation brought about by needless red tape bureacracy. There are many such examples of rules and regs introduced by idiots in Brussels with no practical thought processes. But, until these things are sorted out, we have to abide by them.

Lizzie, I agree with you too - ignorance of the law is no excuse. But even now, with so many more sources of information available (such as tv shows and yes, internet forums) than just a few years ago, there are still a large number of Brits (not just Brits, by the way) who think that Spain is a banana republic where they can basically do whatever they like and forget all the tenets by which they lived their lives "back home". Can you imagine going into a pub in England and hearing the landlord saying he doesn't bother with "all that licence stuff"? Believe me, there are still plenty of bar owners here who don't think they have to bother with such trivialities. And you can be sure the UK reg car parked outside hasn't seen an MoT station or valid tax disk in years!

What really aggravates me, is that invariably these people get away with it, avoid the stress and hassle that us law abiding citizens go through to ensure we do things by the book, and live their lives in blissful ignorance.

P.S. rant over, and all present company excluded, 'cos EOS members are all nice people!

Hi Roberto

"forget all the tenets by which they lived their lives "back home".  How true, we've found  that with some of the Brits on our urb they accept behaviour from the Spanish president (ie illegal behaviour) as OK, something these supposidly sound upright citizens would never tolerate in their home country I'm sure, the hypocrisy is breathtaking.

Regards, Poppyseed