dennerlymum

Hi

i did this a few years back ad therein may lie the problem... things seem to have gone crazy at the moment regarding documentation!

Good lUck

cougar76

This whole area regarding driving licences and living in other countries is fast becoming a cluster****! Insurance companies in the UK as from Jan 2013 now will not allow EU licences to be insured with them even as a named driver. Even if you had a Uk licence originally or not.

There is fast becoming a black hole where drivers now do not know any of this and many may be driving illegally if for instance they drive a relatives car or even their own car in the UK on a French licence. They insist that you have to change the licence back over. I recently had this problem, as I had a UK licence and exchanged it in 2008 to french and then because my girlfriend lives in the UK and has a car which I need to be able to drive at times. None of the insurance companies would insure me on her car.

I contacted the DVLA and even getting to speak to someone fairly high up they didnt know why this was happening but it was becoming an increasing problem with people demanding their UK licence back and refusing to give in the French licence. They could do nothing to help me and effectively its forcing people to either not drive or ignore it and drive anyway, (a licence is a licence and if it says you can drive then you can end of story because all licences in the EU are valid) either this or they have no idea that they cant drive because they just renew the insurance on their UK cars and drive anyway.

I just didnt bother it wasnt worth the hassle. Coincidently you can insure a French car with an English licence no problem at all! The UK is fast becoming a myriad of uninsured drivers and non licenced drivers. With the new system of car tax in the UK due to be implemented this year this number is going to be added to even more due to the opportunity to pay monthly for the tax. You can expect many complaints from people who live in the UK because the direct debit failed or something or they didnt have the right amount in the account at the time to cause even more problems. Im fed up of these retarded ideas the government and insurance companies have in the UK. It makes perfectly law abiding persons into criminals because they cant get their act together. If you are in the EU get in the damn EU! any thing EU related is valid and is accepted without question. If youre not in the EU give me my damned English licence back as I have one and passed my test there!

They couldnt organise a childs tea party let alone a government.

EuroTrash

The believe the normal wording on UK insurance documents is along the lines of 'holds, or has previously held and is not banned from holding, a UK licence'.

I was under the impression that this was so that if your licence happens to have expired and you didn't notice, the insurance can't use this as a reason for refusing a claim. But it seems to cover your examples as well.

Having said that of course, once you've agreed to their terms and paid your money, that's when they're likely start demanding copies of licences and kicking up a fuss if there's something they don't like the look of.

Not a big fan of UK motor insurers on the whole.

cougar76

We used one of the car insurance websites and I put in that it was a French licence and no problems at that point when the policy was taken they then started asking about the licence as they didnt accept european licences. So I told them again and they said they couldnt insure me on her car. So we cancelled the insurance during the cooling off period and then I started actually calling as many as I could find. Only 1 out of about 50 would even entertain a french licence even though I passed my test in the UK and drove in the UK 16yrs without a single claim, no points, not even a parking ticket.

It was then I contacted the ombudsmen who were about as useful as a chocolate fireguard, why they even exist is beyond me. So I got no joy there and decided to demand my Uk licence back from the DVLA and they said they couldnt even though they sympathised. So the only thing they could suggest was to write to them and tell them to reinstate the licence to someone elses address and say you had moved back to the UK and lost the French one! Thats the DVLA telling me this btw! They were telling to me to get my original UK licence reinstated even though I no longer live in the country and would end up with 2 licences. Hmmmz......

The insurance companies in the UK are well out of control if you ask me.

Late last year I was in a friends car in the UK and she was driving, when a car swerved onto our side of the road and hit us head on because the woman driving lost control of her car. I ended up in hospital with parathesis in my left hand and right foot as well as a back injury which I still havent got over. When I had to explain to the insurance that I was a French resident it was like an alien concept for them because I was English and they didnt understand that medical bills are paid for in France, so they insisted on using my friends address to send letters to and sent me forms for the NHS! It took 3 months just to get them to realise that the French government were coming after them for the money to pay for the treatment. When they finally had to admit that I was French because everything I have is French they finally gave in and started sending stuff to my actual address and I am still shouting at them to get their ass in gear to sort out the bills and compensation for the fact I couldnt walk for 3months and couldnt work.

They dont seem to understand there is such a place as outside of the UK, and so therefore have to deal in a different language. Retarded beyond belief.
Yet they cant even recognise valid EU licences even though they must deal with them on a regular basis. Maybe its part of some cost cutting scheme so they dont have to pay people to deal outside of the country.