Am I right in thinking that if I get into a car with English plates and displaying no MOT it will not be insured?

Have a look on the free beer thread. If you have no MOT in England then its not legal in the place of registration. If it belongs to a resident and its been here for over 6 months / 30 days (whichever turns out to be the correct time scale when we here from the embassy) then it shouldn't be on UK plates anyway.

People say that they can get an ITV on a Brit reg car and that makes it allright, but the only thing an ITV on a brit plated car will tell you is that it is roadworthy, doesn't help with the legality aspect.

People also say they have their cars insured under the above circumstances, but I'd be interested to see what happens in the event of an accident. Will the insurers pay out on an "illegal" car? Insurance companies aren't known for trying to get out of claims if they can are they?

Thought so surprising how many builders turn up with Englished plated cars. I just didn't want to travel in one if it wasn't insured!

peopel often say, but my car has passed it's ITV, but they do what are called 'voluntary ITVs' which are used for peace of mind, but have no legal standing. What you need to ensure about any UK car you get in is that it does have a valid tax disc, if so it's more likely to be legal, no tax disc and IT MUST BE ILLEGAL, having a tax disc doesn't prove it is legal, but it does go someway. Even if it has a tax disc, and is legal, and they are taking you to the airport, and you are paying for the trip, then IT'S ILLEGAL, and there have been a number of drivers of UK plated, and Spanish plated cars stopped recently as a result of complaints by legal taxi drivers. All that happens is that the luggage is unloaded, the car taken away and the people left by the roadside.

UK car threads are like the Chinese water torture, Aaaaaaaagh

TAXI........... lol

Drip
Drip
Drip

Brits have a terrible name in Spain for driving illegally. Trouble I find out here is the different quotes from different people about what is legal and what isn't? There are those who take the p**s and know full well they are not legal but I think there are a good many who are thinking they are legal when they're not? The MOT IS important as without it you are driving UNINSURED!

Nearly every week there is a thread on the illegality of UK cars in Spain.
Its soooo much easier to buy Spanish. lol

Everyone keeps saying that but my Spanish insurance policy (on a Spanish reg car) says nothing at all about the car having to have a valid ITV or tax. Just because a car might be illegal as far as the Guardia are concerned does not necessarily make it "uninsured". That decision is entirely in the hands of your insurance company and what it says on their policy.

The ONLY special provision that they make on my policy is that the driver MUST have a driving licence that is valid in Spain.

Of course in the event of a claim, if the vehicle is proven unroadworthy by the insurance company's engineer then that is a different situation. An MOT or ITV only proves that the vehicle was "probably" roadworthy at the time of the test.

I am concerned that this is just anothe "Internet Forum Myth". Can anyone quote a case where anyone has had a claim rejected on this basis?

I see lots of people saying that this can happen but so far I have not read of one single case where the car has been declared uninsured.

Oh God, I am so sorry I didn't really mean to start this up again. We don't have a car over here - I was just really worried about us travelling in other people's English cars. Certainly the Builder had no tax disc, was on fairly old English plates and I presumed (I think correctly) that he wouldn't be insured.


xxx