DandM

Hi all

Could someone clarify for me what the crack is here. I've looked on past threads but seem to have come away none the wiser

I know my car insurance will only last for 30 days from the date i go over to france, but my tax disc is due for renewal at the end of the month and if i need to insure with a french company does that mean i don't need to tax it, in which case do i need to declare it SORN??

Dawn

Jazzy n Lol

Maybe I missed a prior post, but are you moving here permanently? Once you are here then you don't need a tax disc. You will need to get French registration and once done, then a Controle Technique (MOT) which lasts 2 years. If your British car tax runs out before you are due to come here, you have to renew it even if you are only there for 2 days after expiration. However you can apply for a refund for every full month you are not in Britain. As far as I am aware, you don't need to declare it SORN because of the transfer of registration that is required if you are going to live here full time.

French insurance is, we have found, much cheaper. We use Credit Agricole, but Axa was also competitive.

I hope this helps, if not, ask me another!

onlyonebrenda

Oh what a tangled web we weave..... Maybe I can save you from the mess I got into.
Once you get here get your French insurance, which will say on the front that it covers you for all legal requirements in GB and the rest of Europe. HOWEVER
Because English insurance is now centrally computerised French insurance is NOT acceptable for retaxing your car. And if you do not have an English address you cannot get English insurance. SO if you still have an English address use it to keep your English insurance while you tax your car a few days early. This will give you a bit of a breathing space while you sort out the French end. The Controle Technique (MOT equivalent) covers 2 years but does not start until the car is four years old. It is cheaper than the MOT. What you do need to be aware of is that patches over the beams of English headlights are no longer acceptable and you have to have the headlights changed. (In my case over 400€). French cars are not taxed as such but they do have to be registered in the area you are living. If you have not registered your car then your insurance will be invalid as it would in England. Be prepared to spend some time and effort sorting this out - mine took three journeys but at least my papers didn't get lost in the post as happened to a friend. There are good articles on this website and on Anglo-Info which tell you how to go about things. Basically there is no road tax but the amount you pay for matriculation (registration) or if you move to another region when you have to reregister is the French equivalent. Be aware that if you have a right hand drive car once your car is matriculated it will have virtually no resale value over here. Costs for matriculation are based on the number of cylinders your car has, not its horsepower.
Please consider seriously selling your car in England before coming here. Getting through all this is a bit of a rite of passage. Bon chance.

DandM

We are moving out here for 18 months to 2 years. The tax web site talks about 'permanently' but doesn't say what length of time they consider to be permenant as some places say that anything over 6 months is considered to be permanent. Also the car will be over in france before the tax disc runs out and we are getting it MOT'd this week..

We will still have our house back in the uk and we need to take the car as we are only taking a trailer load of bits over with us.. I'll check out those other articles too.... It all sounds soooo confusing.... or am I just having a blond moment!!

jdr

For a UK car to be legal in any other part of Europe it has to be taxed, mot`d and insured in the UK and being driven by the owner on a touring holiday, or in the process of being matriculated to host country plates.

onlyonebrenda

Unfortunately as you have already found out the UK insurance companies will not give you more than a month's insurance so for eighteen months you have to go through the matriculation process, even if eventually you have to redo it in reverse. I understand the white collars are working on some compatibility but meanwhile you are not having a blonde moment. It's a mess, but if you take it one step at a time it is negotiable, also, in my experience you don't have to have documents translated. Just to add to the confusion the French are moving away from the number plates with departement numbers on e.g. mine is currently 24 for Dordogne.
Step One: Do you have proof of ownership? Bring it with you.

Ka Ora!

The new Number plate introduced from 2009 same as the Italian plate there is an optional space for department number. The main difference is that the plate will remain with the car for its life. No more changing the bloody plates every time you by a car, At last. Oh and front and back are both black writing on white back ground.