Keeping a UK registered car in France

[Blubber]

We have tried and failed to register our car in France, (it is a Japanese import) reluctant to let it go we wonder if there is any way we can keep the car in France indefinately as long as it has tax and MOT in the UK? and whether we would be able to insure it?

[Jackie]

Older, well wiser anyway, folks than I will reply to this I am sure. However I think that you will have to either register it or dispose of it sooner or later. There is currently no car tax in France but you do need insurance and in the short term this is no problem with someone like Groupama. MOT (UK) means nothing in France but you will need a controle technique at some stage, probably when registering it. If you have a problem with registering it in France you will have to bite the bullet and go for a French made vehicle sooner or later. Sorry this is not what you wanted to hear but it is our experience as we had a nice Mitsubishi but it was just too old to warrant the expense of conversion and registration so back it went to the UK for peanuts!.............John in 79 

[Will]

[quote]We have tried and failed to register our car in France, (it is a Japanese import) reluctant to let it go we wonder if there is any way we can keep the car in France indefinately as long as it has tax ...[/quote]

"we wonder if there is any way we can keep the car in France indefinately as long as it has tax and MOT in the UK? and whether we would be able to insure it?"

A lot of people do keep foreign-registered vehicles in France long term, and there are some French insurers who seem willing to take people's money. But all the official sources I have found, and those far more knowledgeable than I, say you only have a certain time (anything between three months and a year is quoted) before you have to register it in France. Many insurers will give you vehicle insurance for the short term but state that you have to re-register it; the problem seems to be that the insurers conveniently overlook the fact that you haven't done as you should when the time comes to take your next premium. You may get away with it, but if you made a claim you could find your insurance invalidated because you hadn't complied with the registration requirement.

As far as the UK is concerned, you have to tell DVLA where the vehicle is kept and if it is kept overseas you won't get UK tax (you have to have a DVLA export certificate).