# Spanish car headache - any ideas?



## jonnnyboy (Apr 29, 2013)

A friend of mine moved to Australia and leant me his Spanish car whilst he's away. He recently informed me that he is travelling through South East Asia and may never come back!

I have been driving the car around registered to and insured by him (any driver) but the car has now run out of ITV and insurance.

What would you say my best plan of action is now?

1. Can I re-register the car in my name without his being here? I'm not even sure if I can get hold of his NIE.

2. Can I reinsure and tax the car in his name without changing the paperwork?

As the car is in his name, I would rather avoid my friend running up fines for an untaxed / uninsured vehicle. If no other options are available, can I scrap the car if it is not in my name?

I would be most grateful for any ideas (but please try to avoid telling me what I should have done but cannot do now as that is of no use to me and a waste of your time. ).

Many thanks in advance.

Jonnny


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## snikpoh (Nov 19, 2007)

jonnnyboy said:


> A friend of mine moved to Australia and leant me his Spanish car whilst he's away. He recently informed me that he is travelling through South East Asia and may never come back!
> 
> I have been driving the car around registered to and insured by him (any driver) but the car has now run out of ITV and insurance.
> 
> ...


As I understand it, only the owner can insure the vehicle. Without insurance, you can't get an ITV.

So, it would seem that your first step is to get it transferred to you. This will require copies of his NIE/Passport at the very least. It will also cost!

I think you should look into these issues before deciding what to do with it.

No you can't scrap a vehicle that you don't own - your best bet (if this is your preferred route) is to simply 'dump' the vehicle somewhere sensible - I'm not advocating fly tipping. 

At the end of the day, the problem is not yours.


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## lidgey (Apr 28, 2013)

Hi, what car is it, and where abouts are you??...


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## jimenato (Nov 21, 2009)

I don't think you would have too much trouble getting an ITV - I've done it dozens of times and never been asked for insurance. Getting insurance is a different matter.

You need to get a form from a gestor - I don't know what it's called but it's needed to transfer a vehicle. You need to send the form to him and get him to sign it and send it back. A gestor should be able to deal with the rest. I went through this process when a friend unexpectedly went back to the UK leaving his van for me to sell. I merely gave the signed form to the new owner and they did the rest.


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## gus-lopez (Jan 4, 2010)

Why didn't you just renew the original insurance ? car tax , as said, is no problem.

Insuring it in friends name wouldn't be a problem up here. If you are holding the car documents it would be assumed that you are the owner as stated on the documents. No one has ever asked me who I am , just insured the vehicles as per details on car documents , & assuming that I am the same person ! lol


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## tonyinspain (Jul 18, 2011)

You can insure the car in your name and itv it also in spain the insurance is on the car not the person 
And as i know from a friend his wife/ partner has done this a few days ago it appears their car is embargoed and he is a bad debtor spanish so thats the way round it
But the yearly tax will still come to your friend make an arrangement to pay this at your local base office and everything should be ok
Good luck and hope this helps


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## snikpoh (Nov 19, 2007)

tonyinspain said:


> You can insure the car in your name and itv it also in spain the insurance is on the car not the person
> And as i know from a friend his wife/ partner has done this a few days ago it appears their car is embargoed and he is a bad debtor spanish so thats the way round it
> But the yearly tax will still come to your friend make an arrangement to pay this at your local base office and everything should be ok
> Good luck and hope this helps


Just out of interest, won't he have to show the vehicle documents to get insurance -I did? Won't they have to be in his name?

Having said that, I assume all the documentation is in the car as it has to be by law.


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## CapnBilly (Jun 7, 2011)

snikpoh said:


> Just out of interest, won't he have to show the vehicle documents to get insurance -I did? Won't they have to be in his name?
> 
> Having said that, I assume all the documentation is in the car as it has to be by law.


I've never shown my documents to insure my car. I'm with Linea Directa, and it's all done online


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## malagaman2005 (Apr 23, 2008)

I've just insured a moto which has yet to be transferred into my name and did it in the brokers office who took details from the vehicle docs and there was no issue with it not being in my name. As previously stated it's the vehicle that's insured in Spain and not the person hence most insurance covers any driver over 26yrs old


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## jonnnyboy (Apr 29, 2013)

Thanks for all your help. 

I think insuring the vehicle in his name will be difficult as I don't have access to the address where he lived which I guess is where the paperwork would be sent, so I might try to insure and itv the car in mine. 

I live in a different area now, so it might be difficult to pay for the tax, which is also overdue now. How likely is it that police in a different area will check the tax on the vehicle and what would happen if they do (bearing in mind it's not my car and the car will be insured and itv'd)?


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## tonyinspain (Jul 18, 2011)

jonnnyboy said:


> Thanks for all your help.
> 
> I think insuring the vehicle in his name will be difficult as I don't have access to the address where he lived which I guess is where the paperwork would be sent, so I might try to insure and itv the car in mine.
> 
> I live in a different area now, so it might be difficult to pay for the tax, which is also overdue now. How likely is it that police in a different area will check the tax on the vehicle and what would happen if they do (bearing in mind it's not my car and the car will be insured and itv'd)?


What will happen is he will continually get tax debt on the car until as such time it becomes a expensive bill and they embargo the car i would if hes thinking of returning go into your local BASE office ask what taxes is due on the registration of the car and pay them that way hes no debt and you still have a good friend and the use of a car 
They will let you pay it in his name they are not bothered as long as its paid 
Good luck


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