Nomad_H

I am driving my UK car here for a while and am currently insured by Saga UK. I have been told that it is not possible to get Portuguese insurance for a GB car. The guy that told me this mentioned that there was a Spanish Insurance company that would do it, but I dont have contact with him any more, so I cant follow up.
Has anybody been down this road? I,m paying well over the odds at the moment.

jdr

You need to be careful with your insurance, it will only be tourist cover and not PT resident ;-(
PT will probably also have a time limit to change UK plates to PT registration.

derbyflan

Have you applied for residency yet Nomad?

Mike

jdr is wrong.

It is possible to arrange cover for your UK registered vehicle in Portugal.

Contact Lloyd & Whyte for further information.

Phone: 289 36 05 78 or 281 32 58 42

Nomad_H

Cheers JDR.

Nomad_H

Thanks a lot Mike I,ll follow it up.

Nomad_H

As far as I can glean, residency is not a requirement anymore, although the European ruling hasnt filtered through to all regions yet.
In all I,ve done up until now, my word that I am resident here has been enough. i.e. Fiscal number, house purchase, electric account, water and bank account.

jdr

Sure they will take your money, the same as some of the Spanish companies, but their get out clause will be, it is up to you to tell them about change of circumstances etc.
A foreign car in any part of the EU has to be taxed, mot`d and insured in the country of origin to be legal, and has to be re-registered, tested and re insured when the residency law of each country comes into force.

An interesting read here

Nomad_H

Thanks JDR. But one of my pet hates on the net mainly, is undated documents, or articles if you will. This is one such example. When was it written? 2007? 2004? On many occasions recently I have been taken in by such things and just as I was about to react, found a date of 2001 or 2002.
However I take your point, but insurance is always a matter of what you tell people. If you have an accident, you,d be a bloody fool to tell the insurance company that you were speeding or that you werent wearing a seat belt or your lights werent on. Similarly if one gets stopped by the cops, then your visiting.
Anyway thanks for the input!

jdr

True, but if you have got a PT insurance or addresss on documents its a bit more difficult to say you are visiting. ;-))

Although the article is not dated it is fairly recent.

Mike

I will use myself as an example.

I have a UK registered vehicle and I live in Portugal.

Obviously the vehicle is registered at my alternaive address in UK.

The insurance is registered to the same address. For the avoidance of doubt the cover was arranged here in Portugal and the insurers know I live here.

My UK licence is registered to the same address.

The vehicle has a current MOT from UK. When this expires I can have the vehicle tested in Portugal at IPO centre. This will satisfy the insurers that the vehicle has been maintained in a roadworthy condition as per policy requirements. It is of course possible for MOT's to expire whilst on holiday!

The vehicle is currently taxed in UK.

When stopped by GNR I tell them I am on holiday. It is difficult for them to contest this if documents are all in order.

I know that I can use the vehicle in Portugal for 6 months before the vehicle must be imported.

Nomad_H

Thankyou Mike.
Your circumstances appear very similar to my own. I too have a UK address and all licence and registration documents reflect same.
My MOT is good until next year and the Tax is due in November, which I can get renewed via friends over there. I will probably replace the car by then with a PT car anyway.
It,s just that Saga are ripping me off with insurance and I feel I could do a lot better here.
Just one thing in your post, once you,ve had the vehicle tested at an IPO centre then it would be difficult to maintain the innocence of being a tourist wouldnt it?

Mike

It will still be taxed in UK.

There was an article in The Resident recently which said foreign registered vehicles could now be taxed if here for longer than 6 months. I would view this with some caution as it surely alerts the authorities that the vehicle needs to be imported.

Nomad_H

You are right.
The thing is, this isnt major stuff. Having to go through importing one,s car after 30 days is pretty rough, so to bend the rules to allow one some time to get adjusted and then buy a local model, I think is reasonable.
In my case I should think by this time next year I will have a local car anyway.
Thankyou very much for your input.

Mitzyboy

I know this is a subject that causes all kind of friction, but on the basis that you DO manage to get an insurer to insure your car for more than the normal 90 days (tourist) and is happy that you are no longer a UK resident, if its the same there as it is here in Spain your car will still not be road legal in the country of registration when the MOT runs out, and therefore not road legal in your new country of residence. I checked this out with my gestor, and although you can get a local ITV done it only proves the car is roadworthy, not that it is road legal.

So although its bending the rules, here in Spain you can be fined big time and have your car empounded for not registering when you are a resident

Im off now before the trouble starts