# driving in UK



## sharon288 (Jul 12, 2014)

hi, we have made our move to Spain and starting the "settling in" process. I have an old style UK license which i will be looking to exchange for a Spanish license Until now I have always borrowed my sons car when visiting the UK as I am an insured driver on his policy. However I understand that once I have a UK license I will n longer be able to do this. Is this something that varies from insurer to insurer or how foes anyone else deal with this issue. I really do not want to go to the expense of hireing a car on every trip to the uk any advise appreciated


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## snikpoh (Nov 19, 2007)

sharon288 said:


> hi, we have made our move to Spain and starting the "settling in" process. I have an old style UK license which i will be looking to exchange for a Spanish license Until now I have always borrowed my sons car when visiting the UK as I am an insured driver on his policy. However I understand that once I have a UK license I will n longer be able to do this. Is this something that varies from insurer to insurer or how foes anyone else deal with this issue. I really do not want to go to the expense of hireing a car on every trip to the uk any advise appreciated


Hi Sharon, I think you're a little confused.

Do you mean Spanish licence?

If so, then this is wrong - you certainly can drive his car whilst having a Spanish licence.

When you say "old style UK licence" what does this mean? I think you will have to exchange this for a plastic one in UK before it can be exchanged for a Spanish licence.


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## xabiaxica (Jun 23, 2009)

snikpoh said:


> Hi Sharon, I think you're a little confused.
> 
> Do you mean Spanish licence?
> 
> ...


She will be able to change / renew her licence here in Spain. If it's the paper licence it will have to be done immediately. 

It's too late to change it in the UK, since she no longer lives there.

As for the car in the UK - probably best to speak directly to the insurer. It's certainly fine to drive in the UK with a Spanish licence.


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## CapnBilly (Jun 7, 2011)

xabiachica said:


> She will be able to change / renew her licence here in Spain. If it's the paper licence it will have to be done immediately.


Although I think it may be advisable, it's not my understanding that you need to renew a paper only licence immediately. It must be done within 2 years of becoming resident.


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## xabiaxica (Jun 23, 2009)

CapnBilly said:


> Although I think it may be advisable, it's not my understanding that you need to renew a paper only licence immediately. It must be done within 2 years of becoming resident.


I might be wrong, but I don't think so.

But yes, even if I am, sooner rather than later, if only because the average traffic cop would take one look at it & not believe that it's a real driving licence!


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## welshduo (Aug 26, 2012)

After my husband changed to a Spanish licence our daughter's insurer would no longer insure us to drive her car when we visit the UK.


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## xabiaxica (Jun 23, 2009)

welshduo said:


> After my husband changed to a Spanish licence our daughter's insurer would no longer insure us to drive her car when we visit the UK.


I wonder if it's actually more to do with him not being a UK resident? The question probably didn't come up as long as he had a UK licence?


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## welshduo (Aug 26, 2012)

No they did say it was because of the licence.


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## davexf (Jan 26, 2009)

Hola 

My daughter's insurance company was happy with my Spanish driving licence - £25 for two weeks to add me as an additional driver 

Davexf


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## snikpoh (Nov 19, 2007)

davexf said:


> Hola
> 
> My daughter's insurance company was happy with my Spanish driving licence - £25 for two weeks to add me as an additional driver
> 
> Davexf


My brother put me on his insurance for just one week and it cost £80!!! I have a Spanish licence but they didn't ask about this. All they asked was where was I resident.


So it seems to be a case of asking your insurance company as they are all different and all seem to have different rules.


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## gus-lopez (Jan 4, 2010)

With the UK insurers I found in 2014 , only because s-in-law knew, that when you ask for a price they gave it as £25/week to add me to his sisters insurance. Ignore this & ask " how much to add until policy expires ? " They will then give another price & in my case the policy had 5 months to run & it was £17,50 until expiry. yes that's 2/3rds the price of one week for the remaining 5 months. 
I also added myself to a friends car for £17 for the remaining 6 weeks of his policy.


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## GeoffP2 (Jun 3, 2015)

Are we referring to the folded pink licence in the plastic wallet which I still have, or something later?

I have a South African licence as well which I'm sure they won't accept. 

Regards
Geoff Pethick
Now Johannesburg later this year Ondara!


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## CapnBilly (Jun 7, 2011)

GeoffP2 said:


> Are we referring to the folded pink licence in the plastic wallet which I still have, or something later?
> 
> I have a South African licence as well which I'm sure they won't accept!


Paper only licences were issued in the UK upto the end of June 1998, and anyone passing their test in July 1998 were issued with a photo card licence, which has had various iterations since then. A valid UK paper only licence expires on your 70th birthday, at which time it has to be renewed. 

If you become resident in Spain, then your licence falls under el Reglamento General de Conductores. This recognises the validity of your UK licence, but there are conditions regarding renewal. Licences with no validity date (including UK paper licences) or an expiry date of longer than 15 years (categories A,B) or 5 years (categories C, D, E) are required to be renewed within 2 years of becoming resident. The requirements to renew are allowed within EU legislation, and came into effect on 1st January 2015, but were not fully enforced until 1st January 2016.

You can renew voluntarily before two years if you wish, and there are reasons to do this mentioned in another post earlier, but the law does not require it.

A South African licence is valid for 6 months, after which you would need to take a driving test in Spain.


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## GeoffP2 (Jun 3, 2015)

Many thanks for that valuable info, I was wondering about this aspect of things.

I shan't bother about the SA licence, mine is OK but many are forged anyway!

Off to Ondara on 24 Jan for a couple of weeks to get light fittings etc installed and electricity and water connected, back in SA 8 Feb. 

Regards
Geoff Pethick


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## sharon288 (Jul 12, 2014)

thanks for all the info, we sought legal advice about paper licience when we purchased car and were assured perfectly legal for 2 years but may wish to exchange to save any problems with "uninformed" police. This is why we are going to change before the 2 years just awaiting a gap in planned trips before doing so.....obviously dont want to be trying to hire a car without paperwork. Will ask daughter/sons insurer if no joy may come back to ask who you've managed to insure with and ask them to change on renewal (with us footing the extra cost)


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