# car trouble



## sexbombstevie (Dec 31, 2008)

can anyone help??????

i drove over from ireland and was told i would be able to insure it when i got here but to no avail.
does anyone know of a company that would insure for me.even for 6 months.

cheers

steve


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## decgraham (Apr 24, 2008)

sexbombstevie said:


> can anyone help??????
> 
> i drove over from ireland and was told i would be able to insure it when i got here but to no avail.
> does anyone know of a company that would insure for me.even for 6 months.
> ...



Google "thesuninsurance" (yes the Sun news paper) it was advertised on Bay Radio last week they offer car insurance in Spain and Portugal. Hope it helps.
ATB


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## jojo (Sep 20, 2007)

why wont anyone insure you??? There are 100s of insurance companies around??

Jo


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## Xose (Dec 10, 2008)

sexbombstevie said:


> can anyone help??????
> 
> i drove over from ireland and was told i would be able to insure it when i got here but to no avail.
> does anyone know of a company that would insure for me.even for 6 months.
> ...


If the car is still on Irish papers and plate, I don't think they can insure you in the Spanish market.

Assum ing it has a valid MOT, you shouldn't call your broker back home and "pretend" your there either 

I had to bring insurance with me and cancel (for a non pro rata refund of course) once the due process was finished here and the car was on Spanish plates.


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## SteveHall (Oct 17, 2008)

Like Jojo, I am wondering what I am missing. There are thousands of Irish plates over here. I sometimes think Dublin must have been vacuumed! 

What seems to be the problem?


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## mickybob (Dec 31, 2008)

Way to go Steve, glad to know someone excaped the two Brian's, lucky s*d. What you going to do for work over there, mind you there aint much at home is there.


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## Stravinsky (Aug 12, 2007)

There are some insurance companies here that will insure UK / Irish plated cars but not all of them will. You are just going to have to start ringing around. Try Knights Insurance and Direct line for a start. You will need to keep the car legal in the country of registration, but if you are a resident here in Spain then you arent really allowed to drive a foreign plated car anyway.

I would also make very sure that you have it writing if you do get insured that they know it ios a foreign registered car, as I'm still not convinced when push comes to shove that they will cover you


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## smithy45 (Apr 15, 2009)

Google carinsurancespain . com.

They are based in Fuengirola, and have an office near the bus station. I rang around all of the expat insurance companies and found them to be the cheapest, thus I have my UK plated car insured through them.


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## jojo (Sep 20, 2007)

Stravinsky said:


> There are some insurance companies here that will insure UK / Irish plated cars but not all of them will. You are just going to have to start ringing around. Try Knights Insurance and Direct line for a start. You will need to keep the car legal in the country of registration, but if you are a resident here in Spain then you arent really allowed to drive a foreign plated car anyway.
> 
> I would also make very sure that you have it writing if you do get insured that they know it ios a foreign registered car, as I'm still not convinced when push comes to shove that they will cover you


I´ve heard that insurance companies are happy to "insure" foriegn plated cars, give you a note and take your money, even if they are illegal here - the problem is when you get stopped by the guardia or if you have a prang. If the car is deemed illegal and therefore the insurance policy is worthless and they wont give you your money back! I know of someone who learnt this the hard way!

Jo


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## Stravinsky (Aug 12, 2007)

jojo said:


> I´ve heard that insurance companies are happy to "insure" foriegn plated cars, give you a note and take your money, even if they are illegal here - the problem is when you get stopped by the guardia or if you have a prang. If the car is deemed illegal and therefore the insurance policy is worthless and they wont give you your money back! I know of someone who learnt this the hard way!
> 
> Jo


I know, but frankly I'm fed up of saying it on forums because theres always someone who knows that its perfectly fine and it doesnt matter that the mot has run out because they got an ITV on it and thats fine even if its not worth the paper its written on and the next door neighbour is doing it so it must be OK and what do I know anyway


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## jojo (Sep 20, 2007)

Stravinsky said:


> I know, but frankly I'm fed up of saying it on forums because theres always someone who knows that its perfectly fine and it doesnt matter that the mot has run out because they got an ITV on it and thats fine even if its not worth the paper its written on and the next door neighbour is doing it so it must be OK and what do I know anyway



Well I dunno about the rest of Spain but they seem to be cracking down in my area, they´ve always done spot checks regularly and frequently around here, but just recently they are definately targeting british cars, you see them all lined up waiting to be checked, funnily enough I was talking about it with some people at lunch and lo and behold, on the roundabout when I went to pick my kids up from school there they were! And the guardia dont mess about, I´ve been stopped and although I´m sqeaky clean and legal I have been severely "told off" for not having proof that I paid my insurance, eventho apparently you dont need it anymore??! Its crazy all the stuff you MUST have, passport, NIE, insurance, proof of payment, "hi vis" jacket, two triangles, spare light bulbs, tool kit.....

In my opinion, anyone who is driving illegally deserves all they get!

Jo


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## jkchawner (Dec 21, 2008)

jojo said:


> Well I dunno about the rest of Spain but they seem to be cracking down in my area, they´ve always done spot checks regularly and frequently around here, but just recently they are definately targeting british cars, you see them all lined up waiting to be checked, funnily enough I was talking about it with some people at lunch and lo and behold, on the roundabout when I went to pick my kids up from school there they were! And the guardia dont mess about, I´ve been stopped and although I´m sqeaky clean and legal I have been severely "told off" for not having proof that I paid my insurance, eventho apparently you dont need it anymore??! Its crazy all the stuff you MUST have, passport, NIE, insurance, proof of payment, "hi vis" jacket, two triangles, spare light bulbs, tool kit.....
> 
> In my opinion, anyone who is driving illegally deserves all they get!
> 
> Jo


here,s a good one for you uk though not spain.
i have a traders policy a very expensive one which covers me for anything and i really do mean anything car,lorry,bike,motorhome, mini , rolls royce etc etc
i brought a car from the auction in nov last year (untaxed) and took the risk of driving it home. now if caught for no tax its a fine in the uk.
and yes i got stopped (my own fault yes hands up to that)
the nice police officer explained that as long as i was insured had a licence and mot etc i could expect to have to pay any back duty and a small fine. my reply was yes i no get on with it attitude (big mistake) 
the then not so kind policeman decided to do a radio pnc check etc.
it came back that i had a full licence and no insurance 
i then explained that i was insured through a fully comp traders policy and that can be checked by ringing my insurance company etc i gave him there details and he tried ringing them but as it was after 9pm they were closed for the night.
the very kind policeman (not) then explained that they were going to impound my car and told me i could get it back etc after paying a £140 fee for there troubles etc and so much per day after that
after over half an hour arguing with them and realising i wasent getting anyway fast i decided that i wasent going to win and ordered a taxi that cost over £75 as i was 60 mile from home still at that point.
next day i had to travel back with my insurance and a valied tax disc and the mot etc to reclaim the car.
i arrived there at 9am when they opened and produced my documents with the required amount of money.
and oh my god i was then told that you cannot use a traders policy to have a car relesed from there compound 
after going berzerk i called my soliceter who rang me back half an hour later to confirm they were correct !
anyway to cut a long story as short as i can
my car is still in there compound now as i write and has been since last november im in the process of taking them to court over this and will expect a verdict court date etc in june im told.
im also informed that if i lose the case to expect costs of around 3 grand
on top of the 5 grand car they have of mine and the ever mounting storage costs of if i remember right £17.50 per day ?
now beat that for nice policeman !


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## Stravinsky (Aug 12, 2007)

jkchawner said:


> here,s a good one for you uk though not spain.
> i have a traders policy a very expensive one which covers me for anything and i really do mean anything car,lorry,bike,motorhome, mini , rolls royce etc etc
> i brought a car from the auction in nov last year (untaxed) and took the risk of driving it home. now if caught for no tax its a fine in the uk.
> and yes i got stopped (my own fault yes hands up to that)
> ...


Why are you going to court over it if your solicitor says they are right?


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## sexbombstevie (Dec 31, 2008)

thanks for all your inputs, we have decided to buy a cheap spanish runaround that's 100% legal.

steve


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## jkchawner (Dec 21, 2008)

Stravinsky said:


> Why are you going to court over it if your solicitor says they are right?


er because im fully insured !
how can they not return it ?


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## Stravinsky (Aug 12, 2007)

jkchawner said:


> er because im fully insured !
> how can they not return it ?



No I was only asking 
I thought they crushed cars in the UK now for no tax

I guess if the insurance company are willing to give ot a go though they must be confident


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## Lennie (Mar 3, 2010)

sexbombstevie said:


> can anyone help??????
> 
> i drove over from ireland and was told i would be able to insure it when i got here but to no avail.
> does anyone know of a company that would insure for me.even for 6 months.
> ...


Hello Steve,
did you have any luck with insuring your car as i am in the same boat so to speak and would be very gratefull if you could help.
Best regards Lennie.:tea:


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## jojo (Sep 20, 2007)

Lennie said:


> Hello Steve,
> did you have any luck with insuring your car as i am in the same boat so to speak and would be very gratefull if you could help.
> Best regards Lennie.:tea:


There are lots of insurance companies around who will insure your car as long as you have a valid MoT certificate

Abbeygate and linea directa, Ibex spring to mind, but there are others

Jo xxx


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## Lennie (Mar 3, 2010)

jojo said:


> There are lots of insurance companies around who will insure your car as long as you have a valid MoT certificate
> 
> Abbeygate and linea directa, Ibex spring to mind, but there are others
> 
> Jo xxx


Hi Jo,
thanks for the info will contact them in the morning,
cheers Lennie:ranger:


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## sexbombstevie (Dec 31, 2008)

Lennie said:


> Hello Steve,
> did you have any luck with insuring your car as i am in the same boat so to speak and would be very gratefull if you could help.
> Best regards Lennie.:tea:


im afraid not, tried to sell the car on........and for some reason the garages were saying because ireland is a tax free place ( dont know were they got that from ) the car which is worth over €2000 in ireland would be worth €250 here in spain.

i drove the vehicle straight back to cherbourg and got on the next ferry to rosslare.
sorry to be the burden of bad news......but keep trying.

otherwise go down the road of changing the plates over.


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## jojo (Sep 20, 2007)

sexbombstevie said:


> otherwise go down the road of changing the plates over.



You should do that to be legal if you're a resident here anyway! We've recently had this discussion on here


Jo xxx


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## Lennie (Mar 3, 2010)

sexbombstevie said:


> im afraid not, tried to sell the car on........and for some reason the garages were saying because ireland is a tax free place ( dont know were they got that from ) the car which is worth over €2000 in ireland would be worth €250 here in spain.
> 
> i drove the vehicle straight back to cherbourg and got on the next ferry to rosslare.
> sorry to be the burden of bad news......but keep trying.
> ...



Hi Steve, thanks for your reply and i am sorry to hear you had so much trouble with the car and where they got the idea that ireland is tax free thats crazy.
cheers Lennie.


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## Lennie (Mar 3, 2010)

jojo said:


> You should do that to be legal if you're a resident here anyway! We've recently had this discussion on here
> 
> 
> Jo xxx


Hi Jo,
i will also be checking out getting the car reregistered in spain as soon as we decide if we will settle here as the weather is much colder than we expected,
cheers Lennie


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## xabiaxica (Jun 23, 2009)

Lennie said:


> Hi Jo,
> i will also be checking out getting the car reregistered in spain as soon as we decide if we will settle here as the weather is much colder than we expected,
> cheers Lennie


give it another 10-12 weeks & you (& jojo) will be complaining it's too hot


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## mrypg9 (Apr 26, 2008)

If you require insurance for a UK plated vehicle you could try Knights. Or if you prefer a British-based company, Stuart Collins of Swansea do 365 year-round policies for anyone with a car on any plate resident anywhere in Europe. Pricey but reliable. 
Linea Directa will not insure UK plated cars. 
If you do get insurance via Knights or wherever get them to state in writing that come whatever you will have third-party cover. In Spain, vehicles are insured, not people. I've just returned from my Gestor who assures me that third-party insurance will not be revoked if you have no UK tax or if on Spanish plates you have no SUMA. 
But you personally will be committing an offence if you are resident and are caught driving a UK plated car, even if you have tax and MOT.
But the course of action taken depends on the mood of the policeman who apprehends you. 
I have had two UK plated cars since coming here in 2008.
I was stopped for parking where I shouldn't in the one I drove here in and wasn't even asked to show my driving licence, they were satisfied to be shown my NIE/Residencia papers. So I was parking illicitly and driving a UK plated car although a resident. 
What happened: no fine not even for the parking offence, just a cheery 'Don't do it again' and a wave goodbye.
As the Gestor pointed out -if everyone driving a Spanish car without paying the SUMA had their insurance invalidated then there would be a hell of a lot of uninsured drivers on Spanish roads.
I keep my UK plated, taxed and MOt'd car in my garage for the use of my family when they come here. They are non-resident so can drive it. When the tax and MOT run out I'll have a rethink about what to do with it but that's some time ahead yet.
I have a Spanish-plated car for daily use but next week it's going to the repairer to have some dents knocked out. If I need a car for an emergency I'll cheerfully drive my UK plated car knowing that I am third-party covered, which is all I care about, and if I'm apprehended by Trafico and they decide to take action, then mea culpa.
It's not the crime of the century or even year, month or week.


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## mrypg9 (Apr 26, 2008)

Stravinsky said:


> I thought they crushed cars in the UK now for no tax
> 
> I


They can but they do so very rarely. We still have many contacts in all sectors of the UK motor trade and know of no-one it has actually happened to. Fines are still the norm. Which does not per se mean that it has not happened or will not happen but drastic punishments are rarely the first resort of the law. As with most cases of that kind, in the UK and Spain and indeed anywhere civilised, what will happen to you depends on many factors, such as previous record of non-payment, and perhaps most importantly,your attitude to the policeman who stops you to enquire about the absence of tax.
And when/if you are fined/ crushed for not having a current Road Tax, it does not of course follow that you have no insurance. and will therefore be charged with driving without insurance.........unless that is you really do have no insurance.


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## sparkplug (Nov 23, 2009)

jkchawner said:


> here,s a good one for you uk though not spain.
> i have a traders policy a very expensive one which covers me for anything and i really do mean anything car,lorry,bike,motorhome, mini , rolls royce etc etc
> i brought a car from the auction in nov last year (untaxed) and took the risk of driving it home. now if caught for no tax its a fine in the uk.
> and yes i got stopped (my own fault yes hands up to that)
> ...


If you have a traders policy then you should know that they have a 24hr line and can be checked at any time.
The car should have been added to the policy anyway - only takes a phone call or text message.
Which insurance company are you with.?????????
A traders policy does cover release from a compound If the car is registered to you or you can prove its in your possession


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## Lennie (Mar 3, 2010)

xabiachica said:


> give it another 10-12 weeks & you (& jojo) will be complaining it's too hot


Hi there, looking forward to that as that is exactly what we need.:ranger:
Thanks to everybody for all the help,
cheers Lennie.:clap2::decision:


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## jojo (Sep 20, 2007)

If I moan about the heat this summer, could someone come here and hit me and remind me of the rain!! Mind you, it hasnt been as cold here as it was last year. Not so much snow on the mountains above us and I havent had to scrape any ice off my windscreen! That was the big shocker for my first year in "sunny Spain"

Jo xxxx


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