Any - Bringing EU registered car into UK temporarily

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Wed 22 Jul 2015 21:14
Any - Bringing EU registered car into UK temporarily - Stillnotsure

Dear forum,

I am a UK resident and own a holiday home in Spain, also a Spanish registered car that I use when I go out there. This car is taxed, tested and road legal in Spain.

I would now like to bring this car back to the UK temporarily, for a period not exceeding 6 months. After this time, I would be driving it back to Spain.

The question is can I do this legally - my interpretation of what help I have been able to find online from DVLC (not much) is that for some obscure reason, as I am resident in the UK, I am not allowed to do this... ?

Does anyone know for sure, or has anyone been in the same position themselves - can anyone point me towards definitice advice please ?

Many thanks.

Stillnotsure.

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Wed 22 Jul 2015 21:42
Any - Bringing EU registered car into UK temporarily - focussed

Simple - yes you can providing you do not admit to being resident in the UK, just give your spanish address if stopped and back it up with a utility bill or similar or if you have a spanish ID card so much the better.

www.gov.uk/importing-vehicles-into-the-uk/temporar...s

Just make sure that it remains legal in the country that it registered in- road worthyness test- tax - insurance etc and it'll be fine.

And to satisfy the keen-eyed upholders of the law in the UK keep some sort of evidence of when you entered the UK with the vehicle, such as ferry tickets etc for it is up to you to prove how long you have been in the UK.

Edited by focussed on 22/07/2015 at 21:57

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Thu 23 Jul 2015 08:59
Any - Bringing EU registered car into UK temporarily - Stillnotsure

Thanks for taking the trouble to reply focussed.

I was hoping that there was an entirely legit way of doing this that I just didn't know about, or perhaps I was just misreading these seemingly nonsensical regulations, but it seems not.

I may well take your advice.

Stillnotsure.

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Thu 23 Jul 2015 14:43
Any - Bringing EU registered car into UK temporarily - Brit_in_Germany

The idea is to stop UK residents avoiding paying duty and picking up points by driving around in a foreign registered vehicle. Things are easier if you have a non-UK driving licence as a UK licence is a prima facie indicator of residency.

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Thu 23 Jul 2015 21:04
Any - Bringing EU registered car into UK temporarily - focussed

The idea is to stop UK residents avoiding paying duty and picking up points by driving around in a foreign registered vehicle. Things are easier if you have a non-UK driving licence as a UK licence is a prima facie indicator of residency.

Errr - not neccesarily, I have a UK licence and I am resident in France, I pay tax in France, and I do not have a house in the UK. As it is an EU licence I do not have to change it for a French licence unless I seriously misbehave here in France(and get caught)

And before all the doomsters start-no it's not illegal to have UK licence when resident abroad.

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Fri 24 Jul 2015 11:27
Any - Bringing EU registered car into UK temporarily - colinh

The law in Spain (possiably in other EU countries?) changed 1st January 2015.

murciatoday.com/from-january-2015-foreign-national...l

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Fri 24 Jul 2015 23:30
Any - Bringing EU registered car into UK temporarily - focussed

Not true - you can continue to use a UK licence in the EU because it is an EU licence and as long as you have an address on the licence in the UK where you can be contacted, which I do have.

You can no longer renew it or change the address however, unless you have a permanent UK address, and are resident.

Some prefectures in France allow residents to register their UK licences with the prefecture apparently.

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Sat 25 Jul 2015 09:15
Any - Bringing EU registered car into UK temporarily - dadbif
"The law specifically states that drivers affected are those whose licence validity exceeds 15 years for Group 1 licences and 5 years for Group 2 licences. Therefore a UK licence with ten-year validity does not need to be "renewed" in the case of the holder being resident in Spain. "

Typical UK expat press scare story, thousands of old Expats panic unnecessarily...

However, the Guardia Civil are clamping down on U.K. registered Cars and Spanish motorist too..


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