Expat Insurance To Keep UK Registered Vehicle In France Long Term

[Tigger-Tim]

My father lives in France.

There are a number of Brits who drive for years on UK plates, taking the cars back to the UK for an MOT each year. Some come unstuck because they don't get the MOT done on time, or the car fails the MOT on their annual trip to the UK.

Every now and again, the local police do a crackdown, and a load of owners get in trouble.

He had huge issues registering his 60s Honda motorbike in France because it was a model not sold in France, but got there eventually. It took several years!

 

[gus-lopez]

We’ve kept a UK registered, UK taxed and UK insured car in our second home in France since 2005 (until earlier this year when it was bought by a Dutch resident in France).

We had insurance written by Stuart Collins Insurance.

We have no connection with this business other than having had trouble free insurance with the car we kept in France. They have excellent staff who we found to be most knowledgeable and helpful.

Stuart Collins | European Motor Insurance

Stuart Collins & Co Limited Originally Established 1969 has been running a scheme for the past 30 years offering a motor policy for UK registered Cars and other Motor Vehicles (Left or Right hand…

www.stuartcollins.com

Hope you get sorted.

Yes they offer 12 month cover but were not cheap.

 

[nicholsong]

Some good points here, thank you! BTW, I'm a girl It seems like this is a very grey area but, if I can get to the bottom of it, a policy like this would be just what I'm after and make me a happy bunny! I'll be ringing around next week to try and get some answers

Apologies. But no way of knowing.

My defence is that the Interpretation Act 1893 states that the masculine includes the feminine. But don't tell the 'Womens Libbers' that as it could upset them.

 

[nicholsong]

Apologies. But no way of knowing.

My defence is that the Interpretation Act 1893 states that the masculine includes the feminine. But don't tell the 'Womens Libbers' that as it could upset them.

Just as a 'silly' - what is the masculine of HKF?

On a more serious note, are you sure import tax is due? The reason I ask is that here in Poland you can import a MH as one of your personal possessions when moving to the country, as long as you have owned it for more than 6 months and it has .6,000km on the clock.

Is that not similar in France? Could you meet those criteria?

Just a thought.

Geoff

 

[Dutch 68]

Yes, I'm completely with you. This is why I'm wondering how these companies can sell these policies. Do they know something we don't and, if so, why is it not explained on their websites? If I bought one of these policies and brought my vehicle over, what happens if the Gendarme play the 6 month trump card and take my vehicle? Will the policy pay out? And for what....theft? It does seem incredibly grey and yet some boast they've been selling these policies for years.

Why not ask the company and tell them about your concerns, maybe they are willing to explain and confirm this to you in writing?

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[HKF]

Apologies. But no way of knowing.

My defence is that the Interpretation Act 1893 states that the masculine includes the feminine. But don't tell the 'Womens Libbers' that as it could upset them.

No need to apologise It's perfectly fine I'm not a women's libber and neither am I woke. I'm just a normal girl who's happy to accept that no one will ever get everything right all the time I was brought up to use the masculine where the gender wasn't obvious (apart

Just as a 'silly' - what is the masculine of HKF?

On a more serious note, are you sure import tax is due? The reason I ask is that here in Poland you can import a MH as one of your personal possessions when moving to the country, as long as you have owned it for more than 6 months and it has .6,000km on the clock.

Is that not similar in France? Could you meet those criteria?

Just a thought.

Geoff

Hi Geoff

Yes, that's the same in France. However, to bring the vehicle in under those terms, I would need a COC (which I can't get, as it's a grey import). Because of that, it would have to go through a DREAL inspection. They would inspect just about everything to make sure it complies to EU standards and it would fail. This would cost a fortune and would probably be impossible to make it comply. It's a real non-starter, which is why I'm looking at keeping it UK registered and using one of these policies (providing the policy can cover me legally and give me the full cover I need). Otherwise, I'll leave it in the UK and use it when I go over (which is quite often).

On the plus side, I only have to wait another 2 years for it to be 30 years old. Then it can come in as a vintage vehicle and attract just 5.5% import tax and no duty.

 

[HKF]

Why not ask the company and tell them about your concerns, maybe they are willing to explain and confirm this to you in writing?

As I said above, I'll be calling some of the agents next week to do just that but, in the meantime, wanted to know if anyone had experience of using one of these policies.

 

[ness]

No need to apologise It's perfectly fine I'm not a women's libber and neither am I woke. I'm just a normal girl who's happy to accept that no one will ever get everything right all the time I was brought up to use the masculine where the gender wasn't obvious (apart


Hi Geoff

Yes, that's the same in France. However, to bring the vehicle in under those terms, I would need a COC (which I can't get, as it's a grey import). Because of that, it would have to go through a DREAL inspection. They would inspect just about everything to make sure it complies to EU standards and it would fail. This would cost a fortune and would probably be impossible to make it comply. It's a real non-starter, which is why I'm looking at keeping it UK registered and using one of these policies (providing the policy can cover me legally and give me the full cover I need). Otherwise, I'll leave it in the UK and use it when I go over (which is quite often).

On the plus side, I only have to wait another 2 years for it to be 30 years old. Then it can come in as a vintage vehicle and attract just 5.5% import tax and no duty.

Hello,
I am interested in this conversation. I have a 37 year old Dodge 100 motor home UK plated. I am a French Resident and live in France in my MH full time. At present I am insured with the Caravan & Motorhome Club. As far as I am aware this entitles me to stay in Europe living and travelling in my MH for as long as I have my policy in date. However, my friend has recently spoken to me about expat insurance which enables a UK plated vehicle to stay long term in Europe. I was wondering if this is correct in thinking that I can continue living, working and travelling in my MH in France for as long as I like and keep it on UK plates ? My UK driving licence will expire soon and then I will change it to a French licence. I suppose this will be the time it gets difficult. French license, UK plated MH. I supose i will then require a French insurance policy.. I may then need to (a) change plates of MH to French.. as vehicle is 35 yrs old can apply for 'collection'.. CT exempt etc. (b) buy another MH with French plates..
Yes, it's a difficult situation for us full time MH dwellers.
Wish you all the best with this.

 

[HKF]

Hello,
I am interested in this conversation. I have a 37 year old Dodge 100 motor home UK plated. I am a French Resident and live in France in my MH full time. At present I am insured with the Caravan & Motorhome Club. As far as I am aware this entitles me to stay in Europe living and travelling in my MH for as long as I have my policy in date. However, my friend has recently spoken to me about expat insurance which enables a UK plated vehicle to stay long term in Europe. I was wondering if this is correct in thinking that I can continue living, working and travelling in my MH in France for as long as I like and keep it on UK plates ? My UK driving licence will expire soon and then I will change it to a French licence. I suppose this will be the time it gets difficult. French license, UK plated MH. I supose i will then require a French insurance policy.. I may then need to (a) change plates of MH to French.. as vehicle is 35 yrs old can apply for 'collection'.. CT exempt etc. (b) buy another MH with French plates..
Yes, it's a difficult situation for us full time MH dwellers.
Wish you all the best with this.

As far as I'm aware, the fact that you're a French resident means you should have imported the MoHo within the first 3 months of it being over here. I've managed to get a Green Card through Adrian Flux that allows me to keep my UK reg vehicle (not a MoHo) in France for 6 months of the year. After that, it must go back to the UK for 6 months before coming back again. I only have to do that for 2 years, then i can bring it over permanently as a 'classic', as it'll be 30 years old. That does away with the need for a CoC AFAIK, as your MoHo is already 37 years old, you should be able to import it as a 'classic' now, without all the rigmarole. You'll then have it on French plates and you just need French insurance

 

[gus-lopez]

As far as I am aware this entitles me to stay in Europe living and travelling in my MH for as long as I have my policy in date.

No,the vehicle became illegal the moment you became resident. A resident of any EU state can only legally drive a vehicle registered in that state.

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[ness]

No,the vehicle became illegal the moment you became resident. A resident of any EU state can only legally drive a vehicle registered in that state.

Oh, OK. Just as well I am not driving it very far then. Just up and down a valley atm

 

[Widge]

Hello,
I am interested in this conversation. I have a 37 year old Dodge 100 motor home UK plated. I am a French Resident and live in France in my MH full time. At present I am insured with the Caravan & Motorhome Club. As far as I am aware this entitles me to stay in Europe living and travelling in my MH for as long as I have my policy in date. However, my friend has recently spoken to me about expat insurance which enables a UK plated vehicle to stay long term in Europe. I was wondering if this is correct in thinking that I can continue living, working and travelling in my MH in France for as long as I like and keep it on UK plates ? My UK driving licence will expire soon and then I will change it to a French licence. I suppose this will be the time it gets difficult. French license, UK plated MH. I supose i will then require a French insurance policy.. I may then need to (a) change plates of MH to French.. as vehicle is 35 yrs old can apply for 'collection'.. CT exempt etc. (b) buy another MH with French plates..
Yes, it's a difficult situation for us full time MH dwellers.
Wish you all the best with this.

It wont be exempt from a ct, but it will be every 5 years not the normal 2 years, and ct or not it still has to be roadworthy

 

[maison]

I'm not up for taking any risk, which is why I'm asking, and the reason I'm asking is because of the high import tax and duty and difficulty getting a COC. If I risk losing my vehicle under one of these policies, then I definitely won't be buying one. I was asking as I was made aware of these types of policies and wondered if there was a hidden downside to them. It looks like there might be! The insurance company can take my money to insure me but the Gendarme can take my vehicle because I've broken French law. The insurance company will say 'That's you're fault. We insured you correctly. We're not responsible for French law'. It's looking more and more like a non-starter.

I can’t claim that this will apply to you but, when we had our place in France, I ”imported” our Honda motorcycle.

I had to attend the Hotel de Impot and show my U.K. registration document and my original purchase Invoice to prove that I had already paid tax in the U.K.

I was then given a form to take to the Prefecture in order to exchange my V5 for a Carte Grise

Apart from a very few Euros for the Carte Grise I had nothing to pay.

oh, and the Certificate of Conformity was supplied from Honda’s U.K. HQ within a week, at no charge.

Good luck.

 

[Widge]

No,the vehicle became illegal the moment you became resident. A resident of any EU state can only legally drive a vehicle registered in that state.

I presume you mean if it is a vehicle regestered to them? I cannot see a problem if it is not your vehicle, for instance a visiting friends car or even if you rented a vehicle eg a van in the uk to transport things to the EU. As long as all the paperwork and insurance is correct.

 

[HKF]

It wont be exempt from a ct, but it will be every 5 years not the normal 2 years, and ct or not it still has to be roadworthy

Of course!! But it will be exempt from all the issues of importation.

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[HKF]

Oh, OK. Just as well I am not driving it very far then. Just up and down a valley atm

Bear in mind that if you're stopped on the road with it, you could be asked to prove when it came into France. If it's been here longer than 6 months without being registered, the vehicle is here illegally. Ferry/train tickets will be needed to prove entry.

 

[HKF]

I presume you mean if it is a vehicle regestered to them? I cannot see a problem if it is not your vehicle, for instance a visiting friends car or even if you rented a vehicle eg a van in the uk to transport things to the EU. As long as all the paperwork and insurance is correct.

Of course. However, ANY vehicle entering France can only be here for a maximum of 6 months if it isn't registered here. If a vehicle remains in France for longer than 6 months without being registered on French plates, it's here illegally. This is despite the fact that some companies will tell you that you can have a Green Card for 12 months. Yes, you can BUT that doesn't overrule the 6 months maximum that the French allow you to have your UK vehicle here. The law in France says your vehicle must be registered within 6 months or it must leave the country before the end of 6 months. Nothing overrules that.

 

[Widge]

Of course!! But it will be exempt from all the issues of importation.

Never tried importing a clasic, I have only reclassified our 1981 transit camper, but as a french friend managed to import a 500cc single cylinder Diesel Royal Enfield from India, I guess anything is possible

 

[Verteuil Man]

There was this article in the Connexion expat paper last week. Does not cover insurance but the legality of UK registered car with French residency. The cars we had on UK plates with a Control Technique and French insurance gave us 12 months to re-register them in France.

A British retiree with a Brexit carte de séjour has told how he was fined by port customs authorities as he prepared to take a ferry for failing to register his UK-plated car in France.

It is the first such fine related to Brexit cartes de séjour about which The Connexion has been informed.

A spokesperson for the Police nationale has confirmed that checks on this do take place but are random rather than systematic.

“I was fined by Roscoff douanes when leaving France and told that I had to register the car in France and pay import duty as I am now ‘French’,” Mike, who lives in Var told The Connexion.

“We spend roughly three months in France up to Christmas and a further three months in the spring. Unfortunately, because the two visits are only a couple of months apart, we would fall foul of the 90 in 180 day rules, so we obtained cartes de séjour.”


Under French rules anyone who moves to France with a foreign-plated car has one month in which to register the vehicle and change its registration plates, according to government information site Service-public.fr.

The fact that Mike has a 10-year withdrawal agreement carte de séjour suggests that he had been resident in the country for five years in December 2020 and has therefore would have run out of time to re-register a car he imported from the UK.

To customs officers, it does not matter how much time he spends in France: his carte de séjour shows he is resident.

 

[Widge]

There was this article in the Connexion expat paper last week. Does not cover insurance but the legality of UK registered car with French residency. The cars we had on UK plates with a Control Technique and French insurance gave us 12 months to re-register them in France.

A British retiree with a Brexit carte de séjour has told how he was fined by port customs authorities as he prepared to take a ferry for failing to register his UK-plated car in France.

It is the first such fine related to Brexit cartes de séjour about which The Connexion has been informed.

A spokesperson for the Police nationale has confirmed that checks on this do take place but are random rather than systematic.

“I was fined by Roscoff douanes when leaving France and told that I had to register the car in France and pay import duty as I am now ‘French’,” Mike, who lives in Var told The Connexion.

“We spend roughly three months in France up to Christmas and a further three months in the spring. Unfortunately, because the two visits are only a couple of months apart, we would fall foul of the 90 in 180 day rules, so we obtained cartes de séjour.”


Under French rules anyone who moves to France with a foreign-plated car has one month in which to register the vehicle and change its registration plates, according to government information site Service-public.fr.

The fact that Mike has a 10-year withdrawal agreement carte de séjour suggests that he had been resident in the country for five years in December 2020 and has therefore would have run out of time to re-register a car he imported from the UK.

To customs officers, it does not matter how much time he spends in France: his carte de séjour shows he is resident.

I have also heard of the reverse situation with an english guy being pulled up in the UK who was a regular visitor from France in his french registered car, his car had been picked up a number if times by number plate recognition cameras over a 6 month period and flagged to the police, so if you are a regular visitor to the uk, keep all your ferry/chunnel tickets handy.

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[Verteuil Man]

I have also heard of the reverse situation with an english guy being pulled up in the UK who was a regular visitor from France in his french registered car, his car had been picked up a number if times by number plate recognition cameras over a 6 month period and flagged to the police, so if you are a regular visitor to the uk, keep all your ferry/chunnel tickets handy.

It's a strange world.

 

[gus-lopez]

I presume you mean if it is a vehicle regestered to them? I cannot see a problem if it is not your vehicle, for instance a visiting friends car or even if you rented a vehicle eg a van in the uk to transport things to the EU. As long as all the paperwork and insurance is correct.

Yes there is a problem. A big one .In the event of an accident the first thing asked is "is the vehicle being driven in accordance with EU directives?"
It is illegal to drive any vehicle that is not registered in the country you are resident in.
It is perfectly legal to drive it any where else in other european states.
If it is a friend or relatives vehicle that are visiting you are allowed to drive it only with the owner of the vehicle accompanying you.
Hire cars come under a different set of rules, as do employee's of hire companies who are allowed to drive foreign plated vehicles when returning them after cross border hires.
Professional drivers employed by companies in one country who drive vehicles in their own country but said vehicles the employer registers in another country also have a different set of rules & are allowed to drive them, professionally, in their own country.

 

[Widge]

Yes there is a problem. A big one .In the event of an accident the first thing asked is "is the vehicle being driven in accordance with EU directives?"
It is illegal to drive any vehicle that is not registered in the country you are resident in.
It is perfectly legal to drive it any where else in other european states.
If it is a friend or relatives vehicle that are visiting you are allowed to drive it only with the owner of the vehicle accompanying you.
Hire cars come under a different set of rules, as do employee's of hire companies who are allowed to drive foreign plated vehicles when returning them after cross border hires.
Professional drivers employed by companies in one country who drive vehicles in their own country but said vehicles the employer registers in another country also have a different set of rules & are allowed to drive them, professionally, in their own country.

Interesting, do you know which directive it is? It doesn't effect me but a friends partner (french resident) sometimes borrows her fathers car when she brings things from her home country (another eu state) and uses it for a few weeks or so untill she visits her family again and returns the car, if what you are saying is correct she is breaking the rules.

 

[Widge]

Interesting, do you know which directive it is? It doesn't effect me but a friends partner (french resident) sometimes borrows her fathers car when she brings things from her home country (another eu state) and uses it for a few weeks or so untill she visits her family again and returns the car, if what you are saying is correct she is breaking the rules.

In fact to expand on what you have indicated, if what you say is correct, this whole thread is nul and void and that there are a lot of insurance company's defrauding their clients, providing insurance that they know will be invalid in the case of an accident, including my own insurance company, who on 4 separate occasions during the last 16 years knowingly insured a vehicle that they knew that I was going to drive from the UK and use in France during the month or so that it took me to arrange all that was necessary to reregister the vehicle here.