Car registration.

[Relaxed]

Originally Posted by liketheroman

I never know why this area of debate on rather a dry subject causes such feelings. If you are not happy with doing something in a particular way, dont do it, no one wants to convince you.

That is fine Roman - but I sort of feel you are trying to convince me (and lombardia, and potentially a lot more 'suckers') that we should do things your way.

From direct experience I have seen insurers run a mile from claims made on policies which (in your interpretation) are solid genuine claims.

I would like to assert again that if you are driving a vehicle WHICH WOULD NOT BE REGARDED AS LEGAL OR ROADWORTHY in the country in which it is registered (in other words, for a vehicle on UK plates, if it is out of UK MOT, tax, or on a SORN), if it has been in Italy for even as little as two weeks an insurer could walk away from it.

As I have mentioned before, times have changed: I was not unhappy about running a UK reg car in Italy until about six years ago.....then (and I'm sorry that your despised EU got its act a little bit together) the writing arrived on the wall black and clear.

And - I wonder if you have noticed - do your Italian neighbours not feel a certain amount of resentment that you are driving around in a foreign reg car and not paying any bollo?

[DavidandLinda]

And - I wonder if you have noticed - do your Italian neighbours not feel a certain amount of resentment that you are driving around in a foreign reg car and not paying any bollo?

Well said Relaxed!

Surely if we want to live here it is not too much to ask to try and do the right thing!

[liketheroman]

Originally Posted by Andy P

Hi there all, thanks for the info, I should have made myself clear though.My car a 4x4 Pajero is LHD bought in the Uk, its 4 years old now.Would like to make it legal in Italy and then part ex it for a newer vehicle

I just thought you could sell it (or even px) through someone like Chesham LHD. The prices seem very firm as it is a small but steady market.

Another possibility is to sell it to a garage in Switzerland. There are some that do this sort of thing and it works for them as they rereg (on Swiss plates that is) for about 200 quid. I think prices are a bit lower there though.

In the event that you were not an EU citizen, there are also places that do reregs in Switzerland and give you tourist plates renewable for up to five years.

There is also a garage in Canelli (AT) that does 4WD and Classics (Penengo Fuori strada). They probably would px your car as they are familiar with the rereg process (but would factor that into the price of course)

[lombardia2007]

By the way, there is another way to keep a car in Italy (or another EU country) over 6 months - declare the vehicle SORN (i.e. off the road) and don't use it. After a year outside the UK, you still have to declare it Permanently Exported, but this may be a better option for some people.

[HBradley]

Hi everyone,
I'm new to the forum and there is clearly much disagreement concerning this subject.
I have a specific issue, I have a Fiat Barchetta (LHD) bought & registered in UK, later this year I will moving to Italy permanently. I have Residency & need to know the following:
1. What is the procedure for registering the car in Italy.
2. Recommended Italian Insurance companies.
3. What paperwork do I need to bring with me to ensure as smooth a process as possible.
Hope someone can help.

[chrisnotton]

Originally Posted by Relaxed

I would like to assert again that if you are driving a vehicle WHICH WOULD NOT BE REGARDED AS LEGAL OR ROADWORTHY in the country in which it is registered (in other words, for a vehicle on UK plates, if it is out of UK MOT, tax, or on a SORN), if it has been in Italy for even as little as two weeks an insurer could walk away from it.

I don't want to upset anybody here or tread on toes but there seem to be some holes in the system

I have recently spoken to two ex-pat insures who stated that they did not concern themselves with whether a UK MOT was extant on a UK registered vehicle or not & would confirm quote in writing if required.

Secondly a UK vehicle is actually road legal even if it is not MOT'd (or SORN'd) as long as it is insured. I.E. if you are bringing a vehicle into the country on a ferry or travelling to an MOT or Type-approval appointment.
I have imported vehicles & frequently move vehicles in & out of SORN status. If you insure the vehicle & make an appointment for an MOT or type-approval it is legal. So the expiry of an MOT while the vehicle abroad would not make the vehicle illegal or unroadworthy in the UK until it was driven on UK roads again & not even then if you made an MOT appointment on the day you returned.

It is no use speaking to the DVLC or Dept. of trans about this, you will never reach anybody of sufficient authority to answer your question, you actually have to study the information on the various sites.

Having said all this we have decided to sell our modern vehicles in the UK & buy replacements in Europe & re-register our vintage vehicles in Italy. Although I am loth to lose our 1920 5 digit numbers. I am trying to discover if Italy has any vintage vehicle schemes. Either that of flog the numbers to a number plate dealer before losing them to the DVLC

Life is not meant to be easy after all!

[Marc]

@chris...
I think I heard a legal expert talking about this on the radio some time ago and his response was roughly this;

If you have a current MOT in the UK, that doesn't necessarily make your car 100% legal, in the sense that if you have had an accident since, and not had the car inspected, you may be guilty of negligence and the insurance company could use this as a reason not to cover you. Similarly, whilst driving abroad without an MOT might not, in itself, make your car unroadworthy, it could point to it if, for example, you had an accident in which faulty brakes may have been a factor.

So, if you must drive an MOT-less car abroad, be sure to have it serviced and checked-over at least once a year and keep documents to support this. It makes sense to do so anyway, of course, but it could also be vital evidence should you need to support yourself in court.