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Dinghy trailer - any advice


Patmobile
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I've just bought a dinghy and trailer. It's in UK so I'm going over there to get it. Got to get a towbar put on my (french registered) car as well.

I understand heavier trailers in France have to be separately licensed, but the gross weight of my trailer and dinghy is under 500 kilos. Will this be OK to bring into France with a trailer light board and a duplicate car reg plate on the back?

What about insurance? Do I need to extend my car insurance for towing a trailer?

Does anyone know if I need any special paperwork to bring the boat into France? Would a bill of sale be sufficient proof of ownership if any is demanded?

Grateful for any advice

Patrick

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Normally our insurance covers us for the smaller trailers. It should be marked on your insurance green card as to how big a trailor you can tow.

Our insurance company advised us of a change with regards to deriveurs and said that we would have to insure ours separately, I think it was from last year or maybe the year before. Prior to this it was included in our house insurance.

So ask your insurance company about the dinghy  before you go as you may well have to insure it before you pick it up and just clag the same number plate as on your car on the trailor.

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Not quite the answer you want but make sure you check out that trailer. The number I've seen broken down always amazes me. Maybe it's because they are in and out of the water so much. The bearings seen to suffer if not greased, the spare tyre is usually absent, and the poor trailer has probably never gone any further than the local marina or lake!

By the way, I fished out of Swansea for many years on my little boat so.....

Have a safe trip over.

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The tow bar they put on your French registered car will have a maximum weight for the trailler.

Provided the boat looks used there should not be an issue with French Customs, might be worth checking out the web site of the laser club or one of the other hologation based classes in UK.

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Thanks for your help. I'm going to check my insurance for towing. The boat will be insured separately, anyway.

It will certainly look used - I bought it on e-bay as a restoration project!

I did intend to check the trailer wheel bearings before starting, but thanks for the tip.

Patrick

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