Returning with car
 

I left Spain begining of last year and returned to the UK with my Spanish car, the tax and ITV have both expired but want to drive it back to Spain. Any ideas what to do apart from running the gauntlet down the east coast one night.

Re: Returning with car
 

Spanish road tax, unlike the UK, is a municipal tax so the Guardia are not really interested in whether it has been paid.

As for the ITV, if you book an appointment to have it done, www.itvcita.es , and print out the appointment details I doubt that you would have a problem if stopped.

Re: Returning with car
 

Yes a really good idea,! no different than driving while drunk!
you have a car that should not be on the road, ie- no Insurance etc-
Hope you don't knock anyone down, I bet prison food is great.

Re: Returning with car
 

Who said it wasn't insured?

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No ITV /Mot no insurance.

Re: Returning with car
 

Have kept the insurance going on the car so still insured for another 3 months, thanks Fred will try your idea

Re: Returning with car
 

"No ITV /Mot no insurance."

Why do you assume that is the case?

I am insured with Linea Directa and I asked them that specific question. Their reply was that a valid ITV is NOT a condition of the insurance policy.

I suggest you check the small print on your policy and see where the need for an ITV is mentioned.

An ITV only proves that the vehicle was roadworthy for the few minutes that it was tested - the brakes could fail 5 minutes later.

Re: Returning with car
 

Whilst I cannot speak regarding France or Spain regarding insurance I have to wonder where the urban myth began in the UK that not having an MOT on your car invalidates the insurance, it doesnt!
All UK insurance companies have a standard clause that your car must be maintained in a roadworthy condition, if it isn't & they can substantiate that fact, they will not pay for the damage to your car. They still have to pay for the damage/injury that has been caused to the third party. The MIB (Motor Insurers Bureau have lost this argument in the UK Appeal Courts when their members tried to avoid paying out to the third party. Just because a car doesn't have a current MOT does not mean it is not roadworthy, just the same as a car that does have an MOT can be unroadworthy (i.e. a bald tyre).

Notwithstanding that, I personally would not take the chance of driving a vehicle without current valid documentation as I'm too tight to pay the fine if stopped.

Re: Returning with car
 

Just checked the wife's motorbike policy.

Requirement to keep the vehicle in a legal roadworthy condition

No Mot not legal.

How do you prove you have been keeping the vehicle in a roadworthy condition without an MOT, agreed it only proves that it was OK at the time, but it also proves that you have been making the effort.

Re: Returning with car
 

Dave, all I was asking was any ideas on what to do apart from driving down the east coast one night, but thanks for your valid input.

Re: Returning with car
 

Don't write as if your quoting from the policy, it is misleading. That phrase is not in any UK motor policy, only the bit about keeping it roadworthy is.
The abscence of a current MOT will just send the insurers round to examine the vehicle to see if they can find a fault with it.

Re: Returning with car
 

The phrase in the policy quote

" To maintain the vehicle in a legal and roadworthy condition "

Later in the policy quote

" You or any permitted driver are required to maintain the insured vehicle in a legal and roadworthy condition "

Re: Returning with car
 

The same phrase I have used throughout, you chose to add immediately afterwards in your first posting "no MOT not legal", which could be misconstrued as still qoting from the policy as you chose not to use quotation marks in that first post.

Re: Returning with car
 

contact your insurance co, tell them you will be driving say from London to Portsmouth on the 17th June, to catch the Spanish ferry,
make a appointment for a IVA test on your arrival in Spain.
Take the test, and if all is well, then you will be fully insured. to carry on your journey.

Re: Returning with car
 

I wouldn't drive through France, you wouldn't want to get a French bobby on a bad day!

I'd get the ferry straight to the North of Spain and book it in an ITV center near the ferry terminal......

As for the tax, do you have someone looking after your Spanish post? As by now you would have been sent the payment slip through the post, ask a friend to pay it for you and transfer them the money?

Re: Returning with car
 

Legal is also the phrase. If you do not have an MOT it is not legal.

Re: Returning with car
 

Thanks all for your thoughts, I think the ferry to Northern Spain sounds the best option, then itv it there.

Re: Returning with car
 

Not necessarily - it depends on the wording in your actual policy as I said earlier.

With Linea Directa it is perfectly OK to drive without an ITV.

Re: Returning with car
 

Do you want to keep the car or would you consider selling it? Would you consider allowing somebody else (moi) to drive the car to Spain for you? What's in it for me you ask? I have personal belongings in the UK that I want to bring to Spain.

Have a think about it & drop me a pm if you're interested.

One more thing, if you've ever driven past traffic OB in the UK, then your number plate will have been read by the ANP camera & stored onto the system. After 6 months in the UK your car will flag up if you haven't paid UK road tax. Regardless of whether the car is taxed in Spain or not it will be towed away.

Re: Returning with car
 

Just because Linea Directa say you can drive without an ITV does not alter the fact that the vehicle is illegal on the road.

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It is legal to drive in Spain without an ITV if you are driving to a test centre having made an appointment - which is what I suggested to the OP in the second post in this thread.

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Exactly the same as the UK then, not having an MOT does not automatically mean no insurance. Which is what you and I have been trying to point out all along.

Re: Returning with car
 

You are overestimating the power of ANPR, and the powers the police have, your pararaph above is factually incorrect.
ANPR will only read the number plate and check it against the DVLC, MIB and MOT databases and the police database to see if is linked to crime, it does not "flag up" any previous checks on that vehicle. To ascetain te previous checks a verbal/written request has to be made.
The UK police do not have the power to seize an untaxed vehicle, only DVLC enforcement officers do. However DVLC officers do not have the power to stop you so they can only seize your vehicle when it is already stopped.

Re: Returning with car
 

Interesting, if that is correct then we've just uncovered yet more corruption by British OB. They recently went around Yorkshire seizing Polish cars that had been in the UK for more than 6 months.

A guy I used to work with had his car towed away in these circumstances so I'll get him to make a formal complaint & I'll let you know the outcome.

Re: Returning with car
 

If they were acting lawfully they would have been operating jointly with the DVLC and Customs & Excise, and the seizure would have been for not registering the cars in the UK as they had been there over 6 months.
If you look at the law that requires you to buy a VEL (tax disc) in the UK, the way it is worded makes it only to vehicles that are registered in the UK.
If it was the police who seized your mate's car and not the DVLA/C&E, they are lawfully obliged to give him a form saying under what legislation it was seized.
Any chance you can ask him if he was given any paperwork, and if so what does it say? I had dealings a couple of years ago with a different force that were seizing Polish cars without legal justification, it wasn't corruption as such, they were just being overzealous without having a full understanding/grasp of the relevant legisltion.

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Just typical UK plod then who wonder why they are hated so much

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At least they apologised and returned the seizure/storage costs, try getting that from the foreign plod. :thumbdown:

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But that's the difference isn't it, in Spain you only have to worry about the police if you are doing something wrong, in Britain no one is safe from them :thumbdown::thumbdown::thumbdown:

Re: Returning with car
 

http://www.direct.gov.uk/en/Motoring...Mot/DG_4022108

Why you need an MOT certificate

It is generally an offence to use on a public road, a vehicle of testable age that doesn’t have a current test certificate, except when:

* taking it to a test station for an MOT test booked in advance
* bringing it away from a test station after it has failed the MOT test, to a place of repair
* taking it to a place, by previous arrangement, where problems that caused the vehicle to fail its MOT test, can be repaired
* bringing it away from a place where the problems with the vehicle have been repaired

Even in the above circumstances you may still be prosecuted for driving an unroadworthy vehicle if it doesn’t comply with various regulations affecting its construction and use. Your car insurance may also be invalid.

Re: Returning with car
 

Really?? There has been many reports in the papers over the years of UK truck drivers that have been incarcerated in France and Spain over the years & subsequently been found innocent in Court.
In my dealings with the police over the years, both in the UK and Europe, I have only found one common fact, be polite and they will treat you fairly.
I was a passenger in a friends car once when he got stopped for speeding. Despite him admitting the offence and pleading guilty, he is now anti-police like yourself. His excuse is because he got fined & points on his licence, and will not accept that it was his own fault.
I see from your other posts that you are vehemently anti-police, so much so that you feel it necessary to get involved in a thread running in another area of this forum for police officers in Canada to advertise your hatred of them, why? :confused:
No police force is 100% perfect, they are just human beings with all the frailties that involves, we're a good few years away from being policed by robots, get over it.

Re: Returning with car
 

I couldn't agree more now you've used the word MAY, and not IS. We are at long last in agreement. :thumbup:

Re: Returning with car
 

Are you suggesting that no innocent people have ever been locked up in the UK?

You only have to watch the news & spend a few minutes on youtube to discover that this statement is totally unfounded. Tell me Mr Harris, after all your years on the force do you still believe that the public's hate & mistrust of OB is unfounded & unjustified? Would you like me to post video clips from youtube showing police punching people who just happen to be stood in the wrong place at the wrong time? Or in the case of one poor man in London last year who was murdered in cold blood just for watching a capitalist demonstration?

Please copy & paste any "vehemently anti-police" comments that I have made. Again I will ask you to keep your statements factual, you're not in the court room now remember. Re the other thread, I merely posted an observation & questioned what I'd seen, do you feel my observation or opinion formed to be unjust?

Get over what exactly?

For the record Mr Harris, I have a clean driving licence & no criminal convictions, so why would you assume I am "vehemently anti-police"? A point already disproved by my statement that you have nothing to fear Spanish police if you're doing nothing wrong.

I'd also like to ask why you keep throwing questions at me, but fail to answer the ones I presented for you. Try answering those in future rather than making blanket generalisations about me.

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Once again I have to ask to to stick to the topic rather than discussing the pros and cons of the UK police force.

Whatever you think of "Mr Plod" or OB as you describe them, it is not relevant here.

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Point taken, however I have been accused of being Old Bill in this thread. I am not, I just find it difficult to stomach someone who accuses them all of being corrupt just because the odd one has been found to be so. We should be as proud of them as we should be of our armed forces.

Re: Returning with car
 

I agree lets save this debate for another day ;) I'll also agree with you Mr Harris that yes we should be proud of the police force, the fact that we aren't though is the issue that needs addressing.

Now, back to the football :thumbsup: