more UK car questions

[Gwenhwyfar]

We are moving in less than 4wks. Is there anything that is 100% essential to do about our UK car before we bring it over or can we sort it all after we arrive?

Also, our insurance runs out 2 wks after we arrive - is it 'easy' to get French insurance on a UK Car?

Jennifer

[David584]

Jennifer

I cannot answer your question about the car insurance as I do not live in France.

However one thing that I can assist you with is this.
DVLA MUST be notified of the permanent export of your car.
Further information regarding this can be found here

http://www.dvla.gov.uk/vehicles/exptimpt.htm#Exports


Good luck with your move and I hope all goes well for you.

David

[Penny29]

You've probably thought of this but assume you are fitting headlight deflectors befire crossing the Channel. We bought an EU kit from Halfords which cost around 25 and had everything we legally needed for motoring over here - little triangle thingie, headlight deflectors, first aid box and a load of other stuff that I can't remember!

We notified DVLA of the export of our car after we had been here a while and only after we had decided to actually live here permanently - we started off renting over here while we made our minds up whether it was for us - if we had been too precipitate in sending the export cert off I dread to think of the red tape we would have encountered had we decided to return to the Uk within a few months!!!!

Penny

[Craig McGinty]

Hi

In reply to your question about insurance it would be a real challenge to find a French insurer to cover your UK registered car.

It would be best to insure it in the UK and try and get a good deal on the cover for driving in France.

Many UK insurers offer three months cover in Europe.

Officially your UK car has to be registered in the French system within three months of your arrival, which involves a lot of paperwork etc.

Many UK people I know eventually sell their UK reg car and buy a French car, especially if they have decided to stay long term.

Any other questions drop me a line.

Regards

Craig McGinty

http://www.thisfrenchlife.com

[Shane]

Ref insurance, we have had no problem insuring our english van here over the last 2 and half years. We insure it with Groupama, with english plates. So perhaps give them a try. I might add our van is very very very old, and the cost to export it is far more than its worth. If your vehicle is newish then insure for a while and then export it and change the plates.

[Normand]

Hi,

We have now been living in France for 3 years and would offer the following points:

1) It is very easy to obtain insurance for UK plated cars in France and is generally cheaper, than obtaining the same cover for driving in both countries, than England.  We went through AGF but most insurance companies will do it.  If you are not confident with your french, there is an english speaking broker and even an english broker in Aquitaine which both advertise every month in "French News".

2) If you are moving permanently to France, you will have to change your headlights.  The cheapest way is to do a search on the internet for second hand car parts.  We put out an enquiry and within 48 hours received replies for new ones at a third of the cost, we were quoted in GB and  ours is not an easy car to source parts.

3) It is easy to re register an english car here, as long as you have patience. MOTs are only neccessary every two years and apart from the original registration cost there is no annual tax. Do not inform DVLA until after the process has been completed, in case you have any problems with the importation. The french authorities require your english registration documents and they inform DVLA, after the process is completed.

4) The most important thing to do before you leave is make sure that you have your invoice/ receipt with you, as the starting point of the process begins with taking your receipt to your local tax office.  After that it is off to the prefecture to be given a list of things to do.

5) Most books tell you that you must obtain a certificate of conformity from the manufacturer. Check with your local office of DRIRE who downloaded a copy for our Mazda, while we waited and charged us a third of the price that we were given by Mazda.

Hope this helps a bit

Normand 

[Jc]

You may well have an insurance certitificate but if you had a serious claim you would find it not worth the paper on which it was written;the only-repeat only way-to be legal after the first thrre months of residence is for your car to be registered with your local commune,have a French Ct(mot) and proper French insurance.

[Miki]

[quote]You may well have an insurance certitificate but if you had a serious claim you would find it not worth the paper on which it was written;the only-repeat only way-to be legal after the first thrre mon...[/quote]

I really don't know how many times this old chestnut has come up, a hundred perhaps?

jc has put it, like a few of us before have done, if you have an accident without having re-registered your car within the legal time limit (and I guess the insurance company will take it from the first day one had insured the car with them) the bottom line for any insurance institution will always be, "how do we get out of paying for this one".

It won't take much for them to wriggle out of any claim if the car is found to still to be on UK plates and over the legal time limit.

Whenever we have insured UK reg cars, the insurer often states, "let us know ASAP once the car is re-immatriculated and bring in the carte grise for photocopying". Something they need to be on record.

If they haven't asked that, then I remind them simply to prompt them for the legal side of things.

So sure, you can insure a UK car in France, never found a company from North to South that wouldn't but do be aware of the regulations or be very sorry indeed if you have an accident, especially if it is found to be your fault.

Miki

[Jc]

Somewhere on the policy documents not on the certificate there will be a statement which says something like"it is the insured's responsibility to maintain the vehicle in a roadworthy and legal condition".That is their way-out.If you're not legal(registered,CT & insurance)your insurance can be declared invalid.

[Scarymary]

I moved to France at the end of June and bought my Citroen Xantia with me - my UK/European cover ran out in mid-August. I have found an agent in Cognac called Bruno Sellier who is really helpful - he speaks great english too (there's also a lady there called Michele who parlez's and a charming englishman called Mr Harrison who is there part-time) 0545 82 03 20 - Monsieur Sellier emailed me the quote which I printed up and signed and returned with copies of our driving licences, copy of UK MOT and proof of my No Claims Bonus and, of course, a cheque for payment. They have given me a temporary cover while I get my act together to get the required Carte Grise. To get this you need a Certificate D'Attestation from the makers (Citroen Paris charged me 115 euros for this), a Controle Technique (french MOT)and a copy of your invoice for the purchase of the car. You then need to take this along to the local tax office and get it stamped to prove that no tax is due and then you take everything along to the prefecture of police(with proof of residence too)who, hopefully, will then issue you with the necessary to get the plates made up. Then you need a 'pop rivet gun' or something like that..... Forgive me if I've just repeated everything Normand wrote earlier!!!

Stupidly (and typically me) I left it to the last minute to sort all of this out and being August everything stops for le vacance. So, with safely child ensconced in school tomorrow, I'm getting back on the case. Wish me luck. If I encounter any problems, I'll let you know. My advice would be try to get it sorted as soon as you possibly can. Bon chance.

[ChezShells]

my insurance is up in the next few week and as far as i can make out, there wont be a problem getting inusrance here, but in hindsight i would have sold first and bought here even tho cars are more expensive here, driving LHD is a must in my opinion, that said i like driving, may not apply from your point of view