# Minibus Insurance In spain



## Robin McLaughlin (Sep 14, 2009)

Hi

is there eanybody who could please help me with my situation?
I am trying to find Insurance for a 16 seater minibus in spain but to no avail and i am constantly hitting a brick wall. so can any body please point me in the right direction to help me obtain it.
i have contacted several insurance agents in spain for a quote but nobody can help me, surely somebody must know of a broker or insurance company that offers this facility.
please all help would be greatly appreciated.

Regards

Robin:frusty:


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## mrypg9 (Apr 26, 2008)

Try Stuart Collins of Swansea. He specialises in 365 day Europe-wide insurance for vehicles on UK and foreign plates .


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## Robin McLaughlin (Sep 14, 2009)

mrypg9 said:


> Try Stuart Collins of Swansea. He specialises in 365 day Europe-wide insurance for vehicles on UK and foreign plates .


Thank you very much for your help i will get in touch tuesday morning!!!!!


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## mrypg9 (Apr 26, 2008)

Robin McLaughlin said:


> Thank you very much for your help i will get in touch tuesday morning!!!!!


If you speak to Stuart, tell him Marbella Mary sent you! His number is +441792655562.


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## Robin McLaughlin (Sep 14, 2009)

mrypg9 said:


> If you speak to Stuart, tell him Marbella Mary sent you! His number is +441792655562.




Hi i spoke to them today, they will only Insure UK regd Vehicles in Spain and not spaninsg Reg vehickes.

Regads


Robin McLaughlin


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## mrypg9 (Apr 26, 2008)

Robin McLaughlin said:


> Hi i spoke to them today, they will only Insure UK regd Vehicles in Spain and not spaninsg Reg vehickes.
> 
> Regads
> 
> ...


That's very odd!! I insured my Spanish plated LHD Land Rover Disco with them until November last year. I was living in Prague when I bought it too.
I wonder why they've changed?


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## Robin McLaughlin (Sep 14, 2009)

mrypg9 said:


> That's very odd!! I insured my Spanish plated LHD Land Rover Disco with them until November last year. I was living in Prague when I bought it too.
> I wonder why they've changed?


I spoke to a young lady on the phone and she said they only insured UK plated vehicles in the EU.I have tried all my contacts but no joy, i even called Lloyds of London this morning and no Joy, 
I also contact Linear Direct and they dont insure Mini Bus vehicle. its a conspiracy so i will just have to keep trying.

Thankyou for all your help.

Robin:frusty::frusty:


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## leedsutdgem (Jun 3, 2010)

I think the only way they will insure you is if its for a SL company.


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## mrypg9 (Apr 26, 2008)

Robin McLaughlin said:


> I spoke to a young lady on the phone and she said they only insured UK plated vehicles in the EU.I have tried all my contacts but no joy, i even called Lloyds of London this morning and no Joy,
> I also contact Linear Direct and they dont insure Mini Bus vehicle. its a conspiracy so i will just have to keep trying.
> 
> Thankyou for all your help.
> ...


Robin...ring again and ask to speak to Stuart or David. Tell him I passed on his number. Methinks the young lady knows not whereof she speaks. Maybe an office junior?
I can't believe they have suddenly stopped insuring non-UK plated vehicles. As I said, I bought a Spanish-plated vehicle from a UK Company, had it delivered to Prague where I was then living and insured it for Europe-wide all-year cover with Stuart Collins. I subsequently drove said vehicle to Spain and the insurance expired last November.
The only reason I didn't renew with SC is that I insured with a Spanish company for half the price although SC offered a slight reduction ion their quote if I renewed with them.
Try them again.


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## jojo (Sep 20, 2007)

So whats the deal with this mini bus?? Its registered in Spain, it is LHD??? you are in Spain with it??? Are you using it within a company ????

Jo xxx


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## Robin McLaughlin (Sep 14, 2009)

leedsutdgem said:


> I think the only way they will insure you is if its for a SL company.


it is getting more and more complicated by the minute, but it looks like i will have to set up a SL company!!

again

Many Thanks:ranger:


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## Robin McLaughlin (Sep 14, 2009)

jojo said:


> So whats the deal with this mini bus?? Its registered in Spain, it is LHD??? you are in Spain with it??? Are you using it within a company ????
> 
> Jo xxx



Hi Jo

i think i have discussed it with you last year, i have a freind who has a resort in Almeria, i was considering doing this business in Marbell and living in Alhurin Del Torre. But he has asked me to look at setting up in Almeria. It will be a LHD Mercadies Minibus. I fully understand the current situation with regards to unlicenced People collecting to and from airports in spain. but i wish to do this 100% legal but it is proving to be a nightmare at present.
Also i will only be collecting his clients for his resort and nobody else, hope i have explained my Dilemma.

Robin


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## leedsutdgem (Jun 3, 2010)

Robin, my company have recently been through this whole thing the last year and it is extremely difficult to get a SP licence here. The only way round it is by using it as a courtesy vehicle ie. the bus must be logoed up with the words courtesy or servicio gratuita over it.


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## jojo (Sep 20, 2007)

Robin McLaughlin said:


> Hi Jo
> 
> i think i have discussed it with you last year, i have a freind who has a resort in Almeria, i was considering doing this business in Marbell and living in Alhurin Del Torre. But he has asked me to look at setting up in Almeria. It will be a LHD Mercadies Minibus. I fully understand the current situation with regards to unlicenced People collecting to and from airports in spain. but i wish to do this 100% legal but it is proving to be a nightmare at present.
> Also i will only be collecting his clients for his resort and nobody else, hope i have explained my Dilemma.
> ...


I just wanted to get the facts straight as they are now!! I'm sure you will need to be a company to do this, you will need the necessary licenses both to drive and the licence to be able to operate commercially and I dont know what else....!!???!!!???????????????? Maybe now is the time to contact an Gestoria who should help you to sort out all the issues????

Jo xxx


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## Niksc (Mar 7, 2011)

Hi there,

I have just found this thread regarding minibus cover as I too am having the same trouble. 

Robin - did you manage to find a solution? I called Stuart Collins but was told they don't cover minibuses. I would be very grateful for any advice. 

Nikki


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## mrypg9 (Apr 26, 2008)

I would be extremely careful if you are considering ways to get around the need for an SP licence.
Just one accident with large claims and you could find yourself in very serious trouble - jail even. Injured passengers tend to want to extract as much as possible from their driver companies, which is understandable and once investigations get under way you could end in deep excremento.
I drove minibuses with students around Europe for several years as part of my MFL teaching and gave up because of the complexity of the regulations and the terrifying penalties for not observing them.


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## Niksc (Mar 7, 2011)

mrypg9 said:


> I would be extremely careful if you are considering ways to get around the need for an SP licence.
> Just one accident with large claims and you could find yourself in very serious trouble - jail even. Injured passengers tend to want to extract as much as possible from their driver companies, which is understandable and once investigations get under way you could end in deep excremento.
> I drove minibuses with students around Europe for several years as part of my MFL teaching and gave up because of the complexity of the regulations and the terrifying penalties for not observing them.


Hi, I am trying to find out what we need to do that will observe all rules & regulations, not bypass them. To date, we have just been turned down by insurance companies for cover so I want to know what we need to do to resolve the issue and run this courtesy service for our school (school - airport - school). Is it because it is a UK vehicle therefore do we need to buy a Spanish one and insure for 'taxi' purposes? If so, what are the pre-requisites for this? Or is it because it is a minibus? An MPV seems to be viewed more favourably by insurance companies. These are the sorts of questions we have but we can't find the answers for...


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## jojo (Sep 20, 2007)

Niksc said:


> Hi, I am trying to find out what we need to do that will observe all rules & regulations, not bypass them. To date, we have just been turned down by insurance companies for cover so I want to know what we need to do to resolve the issue and run this courtesy service for our school (school - airport - school). Is it because it is a UK vehicle therefore do we need to buy a Spanish one and insure for 'taxi' purposes? If so, what are the pre-requisites for this? Or is it because it is a minibus? An MPV seems to be viewed more favourably by insurance companies. These are the sorts of questions we have but we can't find the answers for...


I pretty sure that commercial vehicles in Spain MUST be Spanish, matriculated and LHD

Jo xxx


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## mrypg9 (Apr 26, 2008)

Niksc said:


> Hi, I am trying to find out what we need to do that will observe all rules & regulations, not bypass them. To date, we have just been turned down by insurance companies for cover so I want to know what we need to do to resolve the issue and run this courtesy service for our school (school - airport - school). Is it because it is a UK vehicle therefore do we need to buy a Spanish one and insure for 'taxi' purposes? If so, what are the pre-requisites for this? Or is it because it is a minibus? An MPV seems to be viewed more favourably by insurance companies. These are the sorts of questions we have but we can't find the answers for...


I would agree with Jo that a UK registered vehicle would not be acceptable for insurance.
The minibus I used to drive could take sixteen passengers and because the students had paid for their trip I had to obtain a PSV licence. It was difficult and expensive enough sorting out insurance in the UK so I assume it would be doubly so in Spain.


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## Stravinsky (Aug 12, 2007)

Niksc said:


> Hi, I am trying to find out what we need to do that will observe all rules & regulations, not bypass them. To date, we have just been turned down by insurance companies for cover so I want to know what we need to do to resolve the issue and run this courtesy service for our school (school - airport - school). Is it because it is a UK vehicle therefore do we need to buy a Spanish one and insure for 'taxi' purposes? If so, what are the pre-requisites for this? Or is it because it is a minibus? An MPV seems to be viewed more favourably by insurance companies. These are the sorts of questions we have but we can't find the answers for...


They are both right. You have a UK commercial vehicle in Spain on UK plates. Thats wrong on both counts. Firstly the vehicle should be matriculated on to Spanish plates if it is permanently over here and driven by Spanish residents. Secondly, your problem is you cant matriculate commercial vehicles here ... they dont accept them.

So by continually driving a UK plated commercial vehicle over here you are leaving your self open to problems. A UK insurance company wont usually insure non UK residents and they usually only cover a vehicle out of the country (on holiday) for 90 days.


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## mrypg9 (Apr 26, 2008)

Stravinsky said:


> T. A UK insurance company wont usually insure non UK residents and they usually only cover a vehicle out of the country (on holiday) for 90 days.


Agree with the rest of what you wrote but that last bit isn't quite right although it's trye that most companies won't insure you. I may be splitting hairs but people should know that you can do this..
There are several UK insurance companies who specialise in such policies. As I've posted before, whilst resident in the CR I insured two vehicles, one with German plates which I changed after a few months to UK plates and the other with Spanish plates.
I was registered as a non-UK resident with a permanent address in Prague and later in Spain and had full 365 day all-Europe cover, fully comp.
The downside was that these policies are very expensive - the Merc one was over £1000. 
Which is why I changed to Linea Directa ASAP.


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## Stravinsky (Aug 12, 2007)

mrypg9 said:


> Agree with the rest of what you wrote but that last bit isn't quite right although it's trye that most companies won't insure you. I may be splitting hairs but people should know that you can do this..
> There are several UK insurance companies who specialise in such policies. As I've posted before, whilst resident in the CR I insured two vehicles, one with German plates which I changed after a few months to UK plates and the other with Spanish plates.
> I was registered as a non-UK resident with a permanent address in Prague and later in Spain and had full 365 day all-Europe cover, fully comp.
> The downside was that these policies are very expensive - the Merc one was over £1000.
> Which is why I changed to Linea Directa ASAP.


The reason I say that is:

When I moved here, the insurance company I had been with for years told me that they would not insure my UK car from the moment I told them I didnt live in the UK any more. They did a "deal" with me to keep cover for 90 days. After that, they severed the policy.

When taking my 2nd car back to the UK earlier this year I rang a huge list of UK insurance companies trying to get it insured in the UK. Not _one_ of them would entertain insuring the car for a non UK resident. Eventually I did get it insured third party only, limited mileage, over £500 for a 16 year old car, and that's only on the basis that the car is in the UK. That's what you have to do just to get it covered to sit in a garage for almost all year long.

So ... I do agree with what you say .. that it's possible, but it sure as hell is very very difficult and expensive


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## mrypg9 (Apr 26, 2008)

Stravinsky said:


> The reason I say that is:
> 
> When I moved here, the insurance company I had been with for years told me that they would not insure my UK car from the moment I told them I didnt live in the UK any more. They did a "deal" with me to keep cover for 90 days. After that, they severed the policy.
> 
> ...


To be honest, I can't see the advantage of using that kind of insurance unless you are in very special circumstances.
It's not difficult: I got insured over the phone with a credit card, just as with any other broker....but yes, it's VERY expensive.
The only reason I took out that kind of insurance is that it would have been impossible to find a Czech broker who could have insured vehicles on non-Czech plates.
I wouldn't recommend it for 99.9% of car owners.....


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