# Complicated



## maria0301 (Oct 10, 2008)

Hi, we are moving to France in January but want to buy a spanish car from some ex-pats who are returning to the UK. Problem is Car Insurance, we cant insure it from the UK to drive it to France. Anyone got any ideas?? Thanks


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## SunnySpain (Jul 30, 2008)

maria0301 said:


> Hi, we are moving to France in January but want to buy a spanish car from some ex-pats who are returning to the UK. Problem is Car Insurance, we cant insure it from the UK to drive it to France. Anyone got any ideas?? Thanks



Hiya,

Maybe you can insure it for 1 day (in Spain) and then drive it to France.

One question, why buy a car in Spain, if they are cheaper in France ?

Cheers, Dave


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## maria0301 (Oct 10, 2008)

Hi Dave
Thanks for the reply but we are swapping our english car with some spanish ex-pats who are returning to the UK. We are not going to Spain and wont be in England long enough to register it here. Wondered if we could insure our english car with a French car Insurance then switch the insureance to cover the spanish car?? What do you think of that??


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## SunnySpain (Jul 30, 2008)

maria0301 said:


> Hi Dave
> Thanks for the reply but we are swapping our english car with some spanish ex-pats who are returning to the UK. We are not going to Spain and wont be in England long enough to register it here. Wondered if we could insure our english car with a French car Insurance then switch the insureance to cover the spanish car?? What do you think of that??



I think you probably can, as I believe you have a period of time before you have to do the matriculation process of the plates, so my guess is "yes"

And yes, put like that, its a rather confusing question, but hey


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## maria0301 (Oct 10, 2008)

Hi thanks for that praps Id better check this out on the French Forum?? Cheers.


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## Xose (Dec 10, 2008)

maria0301 said:


> Hi, we are moving to France in January but want to buy a spanish car from some ex-pats who are returning to the UK. Problem is Car Insurance, we cant insure it from the UK to drive it to France. Anyone got any ideas?? Thanks


Hello, not sure if it's a relevent issue or not, but some time ago, I was looking through exchange and mart's LHD section, as you do when planning to move to euroland, and saw one on a Spanish plate I really fancied. DVLA told me not to touch it with a barge pole as the sale, with foreign plates in the UK, would not be legal.

As to how on earth you re-register a car that isn't your's at the country of origin... mind boggling! I registered my UK reg car in Spain 3 years ago, you get 6 months to register it in Spain. All the UK documents with my name on it were required.
The ficha Technica and Permiso de circulacion would have to be in your name. Keep in mind that "Car Papers" aren't the same all over and not every country has a central beauty like the DVLA to assist with every query, and all by post.

Might be that in France a paper saying you bought it is enough - but I have a little experience with French red tape and I doubt very much that it'll be that easy.

Hope I'm wrong.

Good luck.


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## maria0301 (Oct 10, 2008)

Hi Xose, OMG thanks for ponting this out, I will phone DVLA and the French Embassy today, to see if its possible. We would like to swap cars but if its not considered legal...Will keep you updated.


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## Stravinsky (Aug 12, 2007)

Xose said:


> Hello, not sure if it's a relevent issue or not, but some time ago, I was looking through exchange and mart's LHD section, as you do when planning to move to euroland, and saw one on a Spanish plate I really fancied. DVLA told me not to touch it with a barge pole as the sale, with foreign plates in the UK, would not be legal.
> 
> As to how on earth you re-register a car that isn't your's at the country of origin... mind boggling! I registered my UK reg car in Spain 3 years ago, you get 6 months to register it in Spain. All the UK documents with my name on it were required.
> The ficha Technica and Permiso de circulacion would have to be in your name. Keep in mind that "Car Papers" aren't the same all over and not every country has a central beauty like the DVLA to assist with every query, and all by post.
> ...


Xose the laws may have changed - you dont get 6 months to register a car in Spain - if you are resident here you must matriculate immediately. Its technically illegal for a Spanish resident to drive a foreign plated car

As for buying a foreign plated car, take great care - you may end up liable for any back tax and charges against the car - and are you sure there is no finance outstanding?


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