fidobsa

I did find a thread on this but it was quite an old one and rules keep changing. I want to use my UK van to go on a househunting trip in Hungary, Germany and possibly Bulgaria. When I have bought a property I want to get a bigger van and use it to move. After most of my stuff is moved I want to get my cottage in Scotland ready for renting out so will be doing decorating etc. I will therefore be splitting my time between UK and elsewhere for the next few months. My current insurer will only cover me if I'm in UK at least 9 months of the year. I can't buy a foreign registered vehicle as I won't have residency documentation for a foreign country. Is it worth me canceling my present insurance and going to one of the specialist insurers who do international policies?

Sue

Hi fidobsa,

I've just come across your thread at the bottom of the main Europe forum, that forum is not as busy as the others, so I've taken the liberty of moving it to the Hungary forum as it's a bit busier and as your mentioned it in your post I thought it may be suitable. Perhaps someone in this forum will have some thoughts on this.

Sue

bronty

I'm still researching car purchase/insurance/tax/travel etc for when we make the final move to Hungary. You have an advantage as you own a van, you can insure it as a camper van. This will allow you to travel anywhere in europe, for upto 12 to 18 months of the year without returning to the Uk. You still have to have a UK address, tax and MOT or the insurance becomes invalid though. Hope this is of help to you. Have also been informed that Aviva are now introducing a long term european insurance for europeans who are constantly travelling in europe without restrictions of stay in any one particular country, but can not personally verify this yet. If anyone has any information on the above, I am extremely interested.

fidobsa

I have still found no satisfactory solution to this. The camper van thing is a possibility but no doubt your cover becomes invalid if it's not really a camper, just an ordinary van. I assume some of the British reg vehicles I've seen in Hungary and other countries are being driven without insurance but I would never take such a risk. Apparently if you injure someone when driving in Hungary you are expected to pay for all their healthcare costs etc.
I should point out that some of the UK reg vehicles used illegally are not being driven by Brits. We met some market traders in Hungary who buy their vans in England and use them for months with no insurance before they get them re-registered.

Rural Hungary

Do you mean that chap from up the lake?

Some of the vehicles you seen might have been Brits visiting their holiday homes or they may well be insured and taken back to the UK every six months - you just don't know.

The caravan club will only insure if it is a camper van - we were fortunate that when importing the chevy from Japan, it was listed on the logbook as a camper van so as to lower the import charges! I did wonder whether campervans had different import regs here, might be worth trying to find out.

Not sure whether this one is any good - http://www.ecarinsurance.co.uk/eudriveing.php

Also, think there might be a problem with your email again?

anonimouse

Try this, not sure if it's any help, I can't get in

http://www.expertcardirectory.co.uk/driving-abroad.htm

fidobsa

Thanks for the link, I just tried to get a quote from them for the LDV Convoy but got:
"Sorry, we cannot offer you a quote based upon your requested combination of Driver Age(s), Vehicle, Postcode and Cover. (You may wish to check that you have entered your Address details correctly.)"
I double checked everything so I don't know what the problem is.

rdslack

My LHD UK registered car is insured with Stuart Collins who offer insurance without limit of time in Europe. It's a UK based insurance policy so you need tax and MOT in the UK, so have to come back to the UK at least once a year (and I think, have an address in the UK that its registered to).

You also cannot keep the car in any single country for more than 6 months without re-registering it there. But provided you take a day trip over the border (and buy some petrol to keep the receipt in case you ever need it!) then there's no problem.

They also do a European breakdown policy which covers the car instead of the driver (again no limit of time in Europe). I pay for it but have never used it so have no idea if it's any good or not!

fidobsa

Thanks for the reply, rdslack. Who is the underwriter for the Stuart Collins policy? It looks like they only cover cars but I could ask about vans.

Rural Hungary

http://www.direct.gov.uk/en/Motoring...cle/DG_4022582

rdslack

Its through AXA.

Thanks for the link Rural, I had briefly tried to look for that to check my memory of the law was correct.

Basically, provided the vehicle returns to the UK within 12 months, where it is registered, within 12 months and is kept up to date with tax and MOT'ed then you're okay. Given that you have to come back to get the car MOTed Once a year anyway it's not a real problem.

One thing that link doesn't appear to mention is that under EU law (cant remember if it's EU law or just all the countries have very similar laws) the vehicle cannot be in any country for more than 6 continous months without registering it as Hungarian etc.

And if you are doing the drive to/from Hunagry I recommend avoiding driving through France as the toll roads end up costing a fortune. Heading straight from the Chunnell/ ferry across the border to Belgium and going through Germany & Austria seems a lot cheaper.

Rural Hungary

I think you are correct in saying it is EU law.

fidobsa

I wish there was a route that avoided Austria as that seemed expensive when I drove through in February. I was following the satnavs route though and I think there is another road you can take without the tunnel toll charges. It cost me more with my little van for vignette and tolls in Austria than I paid for my Dover to Dunkirk ferry crossing.

OGSG

Update: see here

Rural Hungary

Please don't double post. The information on one post is enough and the report isn't actually about insurance. Thanks