Jump to content

taking a caravan BACK to the UK


frank
 Share

Recommended Posts

I’m struggling to find a solution to my problem. I moved to France in 2007 with my caravan, a Bailey Ranger 460/4, 2006 model. We parked the caravan in the grounds of our house and lived in it for 18 months while we renovated the property. The caravan hasn’t been moved since. Until now we didn’t realise that we should have had it registered in France so it still has the original English plates.

Now I want to take it back to England to sell. I realise I can’t just put a “make-do” plate on the caravan to match the plates on the car (that would be so simple!).

I’ve called into our local police station who say that the caravan must have it’s own carte grise but I don’t know how detailed or expensive that would be, whether it would need an inspection, whether I would have to make alterations to the caravan or even who would perform the task as, in this part of France (the Auvergne), there are virtually no caravan users. Do I take it to any garage or do I need to find a caravan specialist? And if I do find someone who is authorised to do the work, won’t I be breaking the law just by towing the unregistered caravan to his place of work?

All this seems a lot of work and expense just to make a single journey to England which I could do in one day.

What I suppose I really need (or would like) is some sort of temporary “exemption” to allow me to make the trip but I imagine no such thing exists.

If do make the trip, I think I’m OK using my normal licence because the combined weight of the car and caravan are less than 3,500 kilos (car 1,750 kilos, caravan 1,184 kilos).

What are my options? Thanks in anticipation.

Frank.

Link to comment
Share on other sites

1) Forget about it, leave it where it is.

or

2) Reregister it, which should be fairly simple, given that it is a 2006 model ,it probably onle needs the fog lights changed round(if there only is one) the gas regulator changed, perhaps the sockets changed to French types and an inspection perhaps 500€ in total.

3) put on a low loader and have it transported back to the UK.

4) Find some kind soul with a UK reg car and towbar to tow it back for you.
Link to comment
Share on other sites

Yor caravan can be towed anywhere in France for, as long as you like, providing it is attached to a British registered car!

Do not go down the route of getting it French registered unlesss you  are keeping it and ,wish to tow it with your French car for jaunts around France.

Link to comment
Share on other sites

You could get a temporary registration for it; I haven't got the details to hand but I think they last for 15 days. you'd need to make sure it was insured too, at least for 3rd party risks.

This temporary registration is what you would use to tow the caravan around for its various inspections if you were going register it here. It's obviously not worth going down the full registration process if you're taking it back to UK.

You can't just tow it with your French car as it is currently. The simplest solution would be to get some with a UK car to tow it back, then all you'd need would be a duplicate reg plate for the 'van!

I hope SD will be able to confirm (or otherwise) these statements!

Sid

Link to comment
Share on other sites

 

Is a WW plate valid 1 month .A clue in the photo, there is a WW on the No plate [;-)]

 

 

Is a number plate issued where the owner ,who lives outside the EU has bought the vehicle new, has not paid TVA and is allowed to use it in France for up to 6 months prior to it being exported. THe clue is the 11   09   that is the date by which it must leave France

Link to comment
Share on other sites

Oh dear, the whole process appears to have become more complicated (what's new!).

The temporary WW plates don't now fit the bill for a vehicle bought second hand by a private individual.

http://www.carte-grise.org/mode_emploi_carte_grise_ww.htm

Also, WW plates are only valid in France in any case, so I could see the  need for a bit of numberplate fiddling during the ferry crossing!

Sorry, I have no idea how to do this now, it was easier back in 2006 when I registered our caravan... phew!

 

 

Link to comment
Share on other sites

Nothing has actually changed, Sid....

If you are buying a second hand car in France, it comes with a carte grise, so you don't need WW plates.

If you are bringing a UK registered car into France, the UK plates are valid until you obtain your new carte grise so no need for WW plates.

If you are bringing a Belgian or German car into France, then you will have applied for export plates which have a limited validity.  As an example, German export plates are valid for one month and include a month's third party insurance. That gives you time to drive it home and obtain your carte grise without having to apply for WW plates.

A UK trailer doesn't have any plates at all, so you need a WW carte grise to tow it once it arrives on French territory so you can take it for the necessary approvals etc.

 

Link to comment
Share on other sites

Hi SD

Have I missed the point (again) ? I thought this was about a UK caravan "resting" here in France, no French immatriculation plate; can't be towed by a French car. Could be towed by a UK car (just add a matching plate on the back of the 'van).

I read that the process for temporary plates had changed and it only now applies to new vehicles, which this caravan is plainly not.

I gather you're saying it is the same now as when I did my caravan registration back in 2006 (which you very kindly advised on)? I guess there must still be some form of temporary registration still so that it could be towed around for its inspections? I'm only asking out of interest.

.

 

Link to comment
Share on other sites

Sid

The process for temporary plates has not changed.  It applies to all vehicles and trailers which don't have a current valid registration.  A caravan is a trailer and if it's over 500kg, it must have a carte grise (full or temporary) before it can be towed on the road.  Same as when you brought your van over.

 

Link to comment
Share on other sites

A local-ish chap I know was in the same boat. His van was a bit older though, so worth less in UK. He ended up breaking it up for parts and selling the complete interior with appliances to a guy doing a camper conversion, and the chassis to someone to make a trailer.

Link to comment
Share on other sites

Hi Sunday driver,

Having posed the original question I'm hoping that your response is the one that currently applies. If so, I think I'll be covered whilst I'm making the journey in France towards the UK. I'm calling in to our local prefecture on Tuesday so I'll let all of you who kindly offered your words of wisdom what the official position actually is (if they know!).

I'm also going to check with the authorities in the UK about whether or not I'll be allowed to travel with my French registered car towing a "temporarily" french registered caravan. (I'm sure that'll be less than easy too). I'm hoping I'll have no major problems because the UK part of my trip will only take about 2 hours.

Just for interest's sake, I did contact a few proffesionals who transport caravans (usually static caravans) on low-loaders to and from the UK and France. I've had only one reply so far and their charge would be £2,400 ex VAT. That's a big chunk of the selling price of the caravan so that's out!

Thanks again for all your comments and opinions.
Link to comment
Share on other sites

[quote user="frank"]

I'm also going to check with the authorities in the UK about whether or not I'll be allowed to travel with my French registered car towing a "temporarily" french registered caravan. (I'm sure that'll be less than easy too). I'm hoping I'll have no major problems because the UK part of my trip will only take about 2 hours.

[/quote]

I wouldn't even bother checking with the any of the authorities.

The prefecture will issue the WW carte grise which will get you onto the ferry.

Once you're on the other side, then like every other French caravanning tourist, your French registered car will be towing a caravan displaying a French number plate.  It's highly unlikely that anyone in the UK is going to realise that the WW plate is a temporary one that's only valid in France and pull you up over it.

If your car has AA-123-BB and the van has WW-456-DG with both plates displaying the blue 'F' country badge, then they're just French plates.....[;-)]

 

Link to comment
Share on other sites

  • 2 weeks later...
Well, I went to the prefecture last Tuesday taking with me (having dealt with French red tape before and taking no chances) every piece of documentation that I thought would be relevant to registering the caravan in a large bag. Didn't work . . . I also needed a Certificate of Conformity from the makers of the caravan (Baileys) and it had to be translated into French. Went back today with that and was issued a registration for the caravan, valid for 1 month. The plate is not a WW one but an AA-123-BB one. I'm sure that'll be OK. Well it's the one I'll be using anyway!

I imagine what Sunday Driver says about the UK part of the trip makes lots of sense so I'm not worried about that.

Thanks to this forum, I sorted out a problem which I'd not thought I'd encounter. Cheers all.
Link to comment
Share on other sites

[quote user="frank"]....I also needed a Certificate of Conformity from the makers of the caravan (Baileys) and it had to be translated into French. Went back today with that and was issued a registration for the caravan, valid for 1 month. The plate is not a WW one but an AA-123-BB one. I'm sure that'll be OK. Well it's the one I'll be using anyway! [/quote]

frank

It sounds as if your prefecture have assumed you were applying for a normal carte grise rather than a temporary WW one and asked you to produce the required certificate of conformity.  Having done that, they've issued you with a standard registration number and given you the usual certificat provisoire d'immatriculation (valid for one month) which enables you to get the number plate made up. You'll receive the actual carte grise by post within a few days.

You are now the proud owner of a fully French registered caravan...[:)]

 

Link to comment
Share on other sites

Yep, it seems so.

But the odds were stacked against me and we (my wife and I) knew we were "settling" when they produced our documentation at the cash desk at the prefecture. I say "stacked against me" because after waiting for 1 hour 40 minutes (standing not sitting) for them to process the application in a waiting room packed with other hopefuls, we weren't in a mood to argue. I can't blame the ladies behind the glass panel at the enquiry desk as, a) they're being asked to understand a request from us in a language they don't speak with, b) documentation in a language they don't read, and c) understand ourselves whose grasp of French is not yet perfect. When we'd explained what we wanted as best as we could, which, lets face it, was not an everyday request, we could see that our first young lady was beginning to panic. We knew then we'd be lucky if this turned out right. In a bit of a daze she passed on our paperwork to another lady, who also took on the same look as she disappeared into a back office. This meant we could no longer discuss or explain exactly what we needed to the very person who was doing the processing. A long 55 minutes later our completed application arrived with another lady who gave us the paperwork and told us what we had to pay. We felt we'd have queried anything they'd probably have closed the place for the rest of the day. So, understanding that the caravan was registered and that we can now legally take it back to the UK to sell it (we've had a really good offer on it for a limited period only), which was all that we wanted in the first place, we decided to leave it at that.

So, although not the perfect solution its one that we're happy to settle with under the circumstances.

We did go to the prefecture twice and explained exactly what we wanted to the same people twice but . . . . sometimes!!!!!!!!
Link to comment
Share on other sites

Create an account or sign in to comment

You need to be a member in order to leave a comment

Create an account

Sign up for a new account in our community. It's easy!

Register a new account

Sign in

Already have an account? Sign in here.

Sign In Now
 Share

×
×
  • Create New...