Teddy Posted February 9, 2016 Share Posted February 9, 2016 We have been looking for a small car (mini) that we can leave at our house in France so that there is no need to hire one when we fly. We've noted that a certificate of conformity is needed, plus different headlights before registering the car in France. Can anyone advise on the insurance in France for a right-hand drive car - is it more expensive than LHD? Which French insurance websites offer a good selection and price? Any advice appreciated. Many thanks Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
andyh4 Posted February 9, 2016 Share Posted February 9, 2016 This may sound like a silly suggestion, but why not buy a LHD car of similar spec in France and avoid the hassle of re-registration and the costs of shipping it out, changing the headlights, C of C etc. You will also find driving in busy but narrow urban streets much easier because you will be able to see round the parked vehicles..As for insurance, like the UK the choice is large and who will be cheapest for a particular car, at a particular address and with particular drivers is very hard to estimate. The best I could suggest is a search on the internet.If you do opt for RHD then as far as I know there is no extra premium Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
suein56 Posted February 9, 2016 Share Posted February 9, 2016 Andy said : If you do opt for RHD then as far as I know there is no extra premiumThis was one of the first questions I asked when insuring my beloved UK-bought RHD French-manufactured Saxo when we arrived in 2005. Insurance for her cost no more than a LHD.There are no real problems with using a RHD car, in fact in motorway-free Brittany it can be quite advantageous on occasion.Sue Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
YCCMB Posted February 9, 2016 Share Posted February 9, 2016 Having had my rhd car at our holiday home for the last nine years, I can say that there's no premium on rhd insurance. My own experience is that French "comparison websites" are pretty awful, as they seem not to want to give you a quote anyway, rather link you up with your local agent who will then give you a quote. I schlepped around half a dozen of the local insurance offices and got a few quotes for comparison before opting for the one I though best.Aside from the docs you mention, you will also need a quittus fiscal (declaration of exemption from import duty) and a French MOT test certificate (controle technique)f the car is more than (I think) 3 years old. For the former, you need to take the invoice for the purchase to your local Hotel des Impots and they'll issue it. Unless the rules have changed, that is ? Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Teddy Posted February 9, 2016 Author Share Posted February 9, 2016 Thanks for the helpful replies! Does a UK MOT certificate count as the same document as a controle technique? I think I know the answer but thought I would ask. Also, we are using our no claims bonus on our UK car so will not have one to use on the car in France. If you were in the same position, did this cause any issues - apart from not getting a discount? Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
tinabee Posted February 9, 2016 Share Posted February 9, 2016 AFAIK French insurers will take your UK no claims bonus into account. Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Loiseau Posted February 9, 2016 Share Posted February 9, 2016 I insured a little French car to leave at my holiday home a few years back, and the insurance agent took my UK full no-claims record into consideration. I did need to show him a UK renewal document that stated it, of course.French car insurance seems to come with breakdown service included. However, you might want to check within what radius it covers you.I broke down in a local big town - which luckily turned out to be just far enough from my house (c 20km) for the insurance co to arrange a tow truck, and then a taxi home to the sticks, and another to collect me from the sticks when the car was ready for collection.Since then, I have upped that side of the cover to be zero km from home, in case I break down say 10km away.Angela Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
YCCMB Posted February 9, 2016 Share Posted February 9, 2016 You're right...if you though the answer was "No, a U.K. MOT doesn't cut it" ?One obvious reason (although anecdotally, many have got away with it) is that the CT checks your headlights among other things...hence you should have them changed before the CT. on the plus side (for now, at least) a CT is valid for two years.Others have already said, rightly, that if you have proof of UK NCB, your French insurer will normally take this into account. Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Jonzjob Posted February 9, 2016 Share Posted February 9, 2016 I think you will find that the CT kicks in after 4 years Betty. They do on a French car and as the car will have to be registered here it will be French, init [blink] Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
YCCMB Posted February 10, 2016 Share Posted February 10, 2016 Couldn't remember, Mr Job. That's why I wrote "I think" When I brought my car over, it was too "young" to need a CT when I re-registered it, and the little man at the Sous-prefecture said "You need a CT" and I said "No I don't, my car's not old enough" to which he replied "You speak good French...can you translate "Quittus fiscal" into English for me?" And then he made me write it down on a post-it note and stuck it on the wall for his colleagues. Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
woolybanana Posted February 10, 2016 Share Posted February 10, 2016 JJ is right, BettyBou. My little Kia is having its CT today, just short of its fourth birthday. Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Jonzjob Posted February 10, 2016 Share Posted February 10, 2016 Wooly, you should know by now that the last time I was wrong was when I thought I was and that I never make mastikes [8-|]Betty, I am not trying to be facetious, but should your "Quittus fiscal" only have one 't' in it? I didn't know wot it were and when I looked in our dictionary I can only find 'quitus' ?Now I'll have to find a dark room and lie down 'cause me brain cell 'urts [8-)] Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
AnOther Posted February 10, 2016 Share Posted February 10, 2016 A less that 6 month old MOT is acceptable for registration.Having registered about a dozen RHD vehicles I have yet to be asked if they were RH or LH drive when insuring them. Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
YCCMB Posted February 10, 2016 Share Posted February 10, 2016 Mr Job, I have no idea if you have ever tried typing anything out of the ordinary on an iPad, but the spellchecker on mine appears stuck on "Esperanto". It will happily rewrite anything I post several times, and I have the choice of spending more time correcting than writing, or let the odd typo slip through.If I had a quid for every time it added a feral apostrophe, I'd be minted. Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
suein56 Posted February 10, 2016 Share Posted February 10, 2016 [quote user="You can call me Betty"] ... if you have ever tried typing anything out of the ordinary on an iPad, but the spellchecker on mine appears stuck on "Esperanto". It will happily rewrite anything I post several times, and I have the choice of spending more time correcting than writing, or let the odd typo slip through. [/quote]Not just iPads but Android tablets too; I am defiantly opposed to the imposition of their ideas of what they think I should be writing, rather than what I want to write.Sue Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Jonzjob Posted February 10, 2016 Share Posted February 10, 2016 I wouldn't know owt about tryping anything on either an iPad or a paranoid android, even if he were called Marvin. I just use either our MacBook or iMac and they is great Änd âlow mé to trype all sörts of specïal charaçters in. I can even spell œuf for you if you if you so wish [:-))][8-|]But as for buying and insuring a right hooker for use here? Why?? A left hooker is a no brainer for me? If it's because the OP doesn't like the idea of a left hooker then I would advise hiring one for several days and when used to not opening the door instead of changing gear you've cracked it, init [B] Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Pierre ZFP Posted February 11, 2016 Share Posted February 11, 2016 I'm probably wrong but I was under the impression that you can only claim your NCB once ie if you have say a car insured in UK then you can't use your 50% or whatever on another car insured in France. The reason I say this is that when I insured a car in Luxembourg and provided the NCB proof from my previous UK insurer, I was explicitly asked if I was using the NCB on a car in the UK. (I wasn't, having sold the UK car) I think the insurance agent said there was a central insurer's registry but why there should be such joined up data is hard to imagine. Still, insurers will do anything to wriggle out of a claim. Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
YCCMB Posted February 11, 2016 Share Posted February 11, 2016 I did specifically ask the question at the time I originally insured my UK car in France, and was given credit for my UK NCB by my French insurer, but it might vary from company to company. I had already bought a new car in the UK when I took my old one to France, and, yes, in that case, I was advised by my insurer that I could only attribute my NCB to one of the two cars, but as I was shortly to export the other and re-insure it in France, that wasn't too bad.gCoincidentally, Mr Betty is about to buy a car in the UK and will, for a time, have two cars. He made enquiries about this very thing, and was told by at least one company when phoning for quotes that he could get a deal where his NCB was taken into account for both vehicles, which reinforces my belief that it may well be company-specific. But I could also be wrong.... Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
andyh4 Posted February 11, 2016 Share Posted February 11, 2016 When I re-registered our cars in France, I simply had to get a statement from the previous insurer of the number of accident free driving. The NC bonus concept differs from country to country, so I am not sure that a 50% NC bonus necessarily translates. Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
AnOther Posted February 11, 2016 Share Posted February 11, 2016 Since it takes 13 years to earn a 50% NCB in France technically nobody can possibly qualify out of the gate because no UK insurer will issue a NCB covering anything like that period, half that is more like it.In practice though it seems most French insurers will give you 50% if you can demonstrate a reasonable number of years of claim free driving in the UK. I'm certain there are no meaningful tie ups between EU countries in terms of NCB and that you could simultaneously claim it in every single one of them. Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Jonzjob Posted February 11, 2016 Share Posted February 11, 2016 When we moved over 11 years back I had 60% and I presented it to our insurance. They sneezed at the 69% and said that the most anyone offers is 50% and that is what we have had ever since. I am fascinated that every year the value of our car goes down and the insurance cost goes up?? Still, what country are we in [:-))][8-)] Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
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