Does anyone know the laws about keeping a UK registered car in Germany?
Answers:
EU wide laws state that a UK car may be kept in another EU country for up to six months, providing you ahve all the correct paperwork, MOT, tax etc. However, you need to watch the insurance angle, as if your vehicle is insured in the UK, which by EU law it has to be insured withing the country it is registered, there is usually only cover for up to 90 days, not six months.
There may well be local or regional laws in Germany that superceed these rules, so you really need to speak with the consulate or embassy for absolute clarity
Have you filled out all the export paperwork from the DVLA? (good luck when you do its a nightmare!)
I recently did an export for a customer to switzland and a lot of paperwork and phonecalls to the DVLA were involved! The car then must be checked over in the country at point of entry by a government registered body and it must pass certain tests before they tax it etc!
Personal experience from taking a UK car to France is make sure you have all the paperwork before you go. You will need a Certificate of Conformity for the EU, which your dealer should be able to give you. Try to cheek it out with him and get them to provide it free as it should come with the car when you bought it but most dealers forget to mention it.
You will have upto 6 months to start the reregistration process but the sooner you do it the less hassle it is. It took me 3 months though to get the Prefecture in my local area to realise there where fullstops between the M and G so don't be suprised if you have a few niggles.
You don't need to get the export certificate from the DVLA unless you are taking it outwith the EEA, just send a letter to them with a photocopy of the V5 and they are OK. Depending on where you take the car you may need to get the local equivilent of the MOT done. In France you have to get a Controle Techique every 2 years after the first 4 but I think Germany is a lot tougher.
Best thing to do is when you get there speak to the local dealer for your car and they should be able to help guide you through the system.
Flunkywom has it right I believe, you should be able to use a legally registered car from any country in the world for 6 months in europe, as you can also use a driving licence from anywhere for the same period.
Hi,
I don't know if this will help much, but .
I keep a UK registered little car in France, with its' EU plates on.
It is insured & taxed according to UK regs., and only finds the streets now and then. Which seems to be OK.
Technically, I am on holiday. Although I would reccommend considering registering the item to the local EU state, It has certain advantages in terms of local insurance etc.
It seems to a bit of a financial imbalance at the moment.
My friend has a Greek registered bubble car in the UK, working finely and perfectly legally.
EU driving documents, and EU car documentation seem to be in a tad of a muddle.
I am a bit confused about all this also, so look forward to more helpful answers.
Bob.
yeh. one has to get hitlers permission
Okay, I've now found a site which says that the time limit in Germany is 12 months, so you may be okay. However my German isn't good enough to search for the information in German, so I'd strongly recommend getting a native speaker to go and look for an official government site.
In the UK and France the limit is six months. In the UK, if the police ask you to produce your documents for a foreign registered car, it is your responsibility to prove that the car has been in the country for less than 6 months (eg ferry ticket).
The answers post by the user, for information only, UKQnA.com does not guarantee the right.