Buying a motor home from Germany and Travelling with children

[Seanh]

Hello I would like some much needed advice please,I want to buy a left hand drive from Germany as they are cheaper than England,I then will be driving it back to England loading it up so will be there for a week or two,I will then be touring all over Europe for a year with my family,my biggest concern is being stopped and questioned over vat payment as I will have German number plates,and my children who are 7 and 9 not being in school?if anyone has any useful info on these subjects it will be greatly appreciated.

 

[Geo]

Not realy enough info to comment
Are you UK resident
UK address
Kids enrolled at UK school
Have you German residency for German plates.
Me thinks you have more to worry about, Insurance for instance (No good skirting around what your doing) as it may invalidate any cover you think you have)
Time scales apply re how long you can legally stay in one place as well
Only thing I can comment on is Vat wont apply here until you try to register
DVSA are getting hot on asking for proof of payment before they will register

 

[Robert Clark]

German Export Plates include insurance (Google this)

There is no VAT to pay until you register your van in the U.K.

 

[Puddleduck]

I can't answer the first few questions but I assume you will be home schooling your children?

@thehutchies will be able to help you with this.

 

[Devra]

I might be wrong, but I think you will find, as a non-German resident, it will be impossible to register the van in Germany.
In order to get a German number plate here, you need to prove that you already have insurance pre-arranged.
I think, you also need a German bank account so that road tax can be automatically deducted.

This is why it is difficult in Germany to drive a vehicle without tax or insurance.
You cannot even get a number plate made without providing all the paperwork.
I am not sure, but I think you would need German residency for the tax and insurance.

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[Seanh]

Not realy enough info to comment
Are you UK resident
UK address
Kids enrolled at UK school
Have you German residency for German plates.
Me thinks you have more to worry about, Insurance for instance (No good skirting around what your doing) as it may invalidate any cover you think you have)
Time scales apply re how long you can legally stay in one place as well
Only thing I can comment on is Vat wont apply here until you try to register
DVSA are getting hot on asking for proof of payment before they will register

All uk yes,will I need a German residency to buy a German motor home?insurance surely would cover all of Europe wherever I bought it from?

 

[Seanh]

I can't answer the first few questions but I assume you will be home schooling your children?

@thehutchies will be able to help you with this.

 

[Seanh]

Of cause.

 

[Lenny HB]

Buying from Germany you get German export plates with 3rd party insurance or you may be able to get the dealer to drive it to the port. Once on UK soil a few companies will insure on a VIN plate.
You will need to change the speedo dial and the lights will need to conform, if an A class headlamps normally adjustable otherwise need to change the lights also must have a rear foglamp on UK offside or centre.. Have the vehicle checked then apply to the VCA for a IVA certificate so you can register it.Takes about 4 - 6 weeks.

 

[jollyrodger]

As @Robert Clark says buy German export plate (legally you have too in Germany) €100 for 14 days or there about a very simple.
Longer periods stronger price and more complex.
ADAC breakdown can be bought using dealers / seller's address
But as I understand it no new members using UK address , existing members ,no problems renewing .
Touring Europe for extended periods on temp plate ?? Good luck.
Into the UK . HMRC nova form withing 14 days no vat if over 10 years old .
MOT on temp plate or vin number (need UK insurance to drive in UK according to AIB)
Form v5/55 to register
Wait for UK v5
Inform insurance if change
Then enjoy your traveling
Hope it helps

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[Happy Jim]

Sean,

You won’t manage to get legal in the period of 1 to 2 weeks in the UK.

A lot of the info you require will depend on the age of the Van (new/used/how old), and the process or testing involved varies depending on age.

Either work out what the pain points are and buy to minimise them, or give yourself longer and buy what you want.


Jim

 

[Theonlysue]

You'll need to consider staying if somethings need sorting on the mh.
You'll need full time insurance which Comfort and AIB do, both underwritten by Aviva. They will only insure once uk registered, not on a VIN number.
Have you had an insurance quote? You might be shocked how expensive it will be, and if the mh is over a certain age, they wont insure as a full time vehicle.
You'll need to look at breakdown cover and travel insurance.
Solar panels, invertor, refillable gas bottles, extra batteries? All extra cost.
Quite a lot to investigate first.
Might be worth getting the paperwork now from dvla to see what requirements are.
I think if mh is over 6 months and over a certain amount of milage, no import tax to pay.
Good luck!
https://www.gov.uk/importing-vehicles-into-the-uk

 

[Speve]

I think the important message is if you don’t intend to get German residency you cannot get it registered in Germany therefore you will need to import it to the UK where you eventually can insure and register it then you will be able to do your trip abroad.
And of course pay you membership on MHF to be able to post and receive lots more useful help and info. Well worth the money

 

[Seanh]

I think the important message is if you don’t intend to get German residency you cannot get it registered in Germany therefore you will need to import it to the UK where you eventually can insure and register it then you will be able to do your trip abroad.
And of course pay you membership on MHF to be able to post and receive lots more useful help and info. Well worth the money

I’m buying second hand so it would already have plates and therefore would be registered?

 

[Lenny HB]

I’m buying second hand so it would already have plates and therefore would be registered?

No, would need to be registered in the name of the new owner and as others have said unless you have a German residency you would have to import it to the UK and register it here. Also a UK resident can not drive a vehicle in the UK that is registered in another country.

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[Wagoneer]

When buying secondhand, as long as it's more than 6 months old and has more than 6000Km on the clock, you don't pay VAT as mentioned by @Theonlysue .

But best to check the current rules on importing - they may have changed.

 

[Geo]

Like i said you have a lot more to worry about than your simplified plan.
Back to the drawing board me thinks and brake down your plans into sections and research 1 at a time plenty help on here but it can take some sorting if too many questions appear in the same pos

 

[Happy Jim]

I’m buying second hand so it would already have plates and therefore would be registered?

The plates that the van is currently on will be removed by the seller (it’s the way it is in Germany), you will need to get “export plates” that come with 3rd party insurance and are valid for ~14 days (long enough to get home in other words).

Then you will need to do import paperwork & get V5 from DVLA, then put UK plates on, then Insure, then MOT, then depart for a year of fun ;-)

Jim

 

[Speve]

Then you will need to do import paperwork & get V5 from DVLA, then put UK plates on, then Insure, then MOT, then depart for a year of fun

We have just done this and took around four weeks in all from paying VAT to receiving documents from DVLA.

 

[Puddleduck]

I think that in Germany (sure I will be corrected if I am wrong) the number plates are registered to the driver rather than the vehicle so are not sold with the vehicle as they are here (that is why you will need temporary export plates). There are also issues with where you can register the vehicle and legally drive it if you are a UK resident - and again insuring it could be "interesting" if it is registered other than in the UK.

None of this is insurmountable but it does take time and can be a bit of a bureaucratic muddle if you get one tiny thing wrong (or even if you don't).

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[Puddleduck]

A bit more on the legals:

"In September 2007 a piece of legislation was passed to allow the 5th European Directive on Motor Insurance to be implemented and part of this related specifically to the purchase of vehicles. A UK insurer is not allowed to cover foreign registered vehicles in Europe. If there is an existing insurance policy on the vehicle it may be possible to extend it to cover the purchaser to drive it across Europe to the UK. If that cannot be done the option is to have it transported to the UK or alternatively obtain temporary transit cover in the country of purchase."

and

"When the vehicle arrives in the UK it can be covered (for insurance) when it becomes UK registered. If the car is for a UK resident the vehicle must be taxed and registered within 14 days."

 

[Speve]

A bit more on the legals:



"When the vehicle arrives in the UK it can be covered (for insurance) when it becomes UK registered. If the car is for a UK resident the vehicle must be taxed and registered within 14 days."

That’s pretty hard to do in 14 days if you have to get type approval from VCA as you need an MOT inspection first by the time you sent and received from them it’s going to be 14 days.
We didn’t get penalised for taking longer

 

[Puddleduck]

That’s pretty hard to do in 14 days if you have to get type approval from VCA as you need an MOT inspection first by the time you sent and received from them it’s going to be 14 days.
We didn’t get penalised for taking longer

I'm pretty sure that for practical purposes they mean you have to start the process of registering. Even the wonderful DVLA couldn't manage the paperwork in that time!

You can't use the vehicle on road until it is legal of course.

 

[Speve]

I'm pretty sure that for practical purposes they mean you have to start the process of registering. Even the wonderful DVLA couldn't manage the paperwork in that time!

You can't use the vehicle on road until it is legal of course.

I think that’s exactly right although DVLA did get ours sent back in ten days

 

[gus-lopez]

I’m buying second hand so it would already have plates and therefore would be registered?

as @Puddleduck said the plates are registered to the person not thr vehicle . If you do not want the aggro of rerregistering buy in Holland.

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[Puddleduck]

as @Puddleduck said the plates are registered to the person not thr vehicle . If you do not want the aggro of rerregistering buy in Holland.

You would have to check that as a UK resident you can own, tax and insure a vehicle registered other than in the UK and legally drive it both in the UK and elsewhere. I don't know the answer to that one but someone will

It would not be insured through a UK insurance company if not registered in the UK because of the stuff I quoted before. If registered in NL or Belgium you might be able to get insurance there. I don't know if you could then drive it in the UK as it all gets to be a bit of a dog's breakfast.

 

[gus-lopez]

You would have to check that as a UK resident you can own, tax and insure a vehicle registered other than in the UK and legally drive it both in the UK and elsewhere. I don't know the answer to that one but someone will

It would not be insured through a UK insurance company if not registered in the UK because of the stuff I quoted before. If registered in NL or Belgium you might be able to get insurance there. I don't know if you could then drive it in the UK as it all gets to be a bit of a dog's breakfast.

No they wouldn't be able to use it in the UK. It's possible to buy, tax, insure through some Dutch dealers.