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Hi everyone,

I'd like your advice, from your experiences of insuring a British car to leave in France. WHY?? I'll explain.

We've had our house for 8 years, near Perpignan, staying there for school holidays as I WAS a teacher. We decided August '16, that 'Our year in France' would begin Jan '17 I would resign my post, we would commute back and forth each month (Jon needs to be in UK for 1-2 weeks a month at mo) then we could have half the month living at our house in France. That way we would be closer to experiencing ALL that the way of life had to offer. I am hoping to find work teaching English, as well as Estate Agency (which through here I found an advertisement with Beaux Villages and have begun talking to the local coordinator - Who also was a teacher!)
We drove my car here - and left it at the airport when we flew back. I had begun discussions with Agence Generali - who said they would insure my car IF I began registration within 3 months. It seems TRES EXPENSIF!! at nearly 900E. We will fly back and forth, leaving the car in France!
Any advice, recommendations would be greatly welcome. JUST had quote from AXA expats special!!!!!! 1235E !!!

My husband's Merc is with Generali, just over €600 pa, fully comp. I wonder if your car is a right-hand drive, that might make a difference, or the fact that it spends a lot of time in car parks.

Thanks Florence,

Yes it is a right hand drive, because I bought it in Britain with the idea of taking it to France, it's a lovely convertible! And yes, it will spend a lot of it's time alone in car parks waiting for us.

Teresa wrote:Thanks Florence,

Yes it is a right hand drive, because I bought it in Britain with the idea of taking it to France, it's a lovely convertible! (

This doesn't seem to compute: do you mean LHD? If it is LHD, and you re-register, you might get cheaper rates from an online provider: you can do some research e.g. here

https://www.lelynx.fr

They are mostly entirely kosher affiliates of mainstream insurers. But a lovely convertible is never going to be cheap.

Hi. It iis the same as taking a French registered car to the UK. Insurance is always more expensive if kept on foreign plates. If the car is staying here all the year round I am pretty sure that you should register it here to be legal ( although someone on here might well prove me wrong).

Thanks Martin and Tia,

Yes it is a RHD but as you say I will need to re-register it in France. Thanks for the link, I have done some research with internet sites.

Just have to accept my little convertible will be an expensive treat for our year in France

Teresa wrote:Thanks Martin and Tia,

Yes it is a RHD but as you say I will need to re-register it in France. Thanks for the link, I have done some research with internet sites.

Just have to accept my little convertible will be an expensive treat for our year in France

Your little convertible seems to have brought us the nearest thing we've had to winter over the last couple of years. I've just got a beanie and a pair of woolly gloves from M and S, so I'm relying on an early spring - and it's not looking too bad over the next few days.

Glad about the weather looking good over the next few days Even when we get a bit of sunshine in the UK it's never quite the same. We should arrive back at our house 12.30 AM Saturday to a warm house courtesy of a neighbour putting the heating on.

Teresa wrote:Thanks Martin and Tia,

Yes it is a RHD but as you say I will need to re-register it in France. Thanks for the link, I have done some research with internet sites.

Just have to accept my little convertible will be an expensive treat for our year in France

Try Stuart Collins (https://www.stuartcollins.com), they will insure UK registered cars with unlimited EU use, L or RHD. Also worth keeping in mind that as a UK resident you can not drive a car with French license plates back to the UK.

Is this project just "our year in France" and then go home, or "we'll try it for a year and stay if it works"? There are things you might do on one scenario that you might not do on the other.

One question, arising from Sus's last comment, is where exactly are you "resident" this year? God knows.

Hi Martyn,

Very astute of you Hahaha!!!

We've owned the house for 8 years and it really is 'home'. I struggle with calling UK house 'Home' and then French house 'Home'. So, 'When are we going to go home? can be very confusing!

It's definitely more than 'our year' and then go home. But because of the very REAL need for Jon to work (too complicated to explain - 'building his company') we really can't just up sticks.

Over the year it is hoped that 'work' situations will allow us to be more in France than in the UK. So as far as my little car is concerned it's highly likely that it will become a French citizen, never to return to these shores again!

I also have an ailing mum, a 3 year old grandson (who only stays with his Dad - my son - on weekends) School holidays haven't factored in yet! So the situation is not straightforward.

The year is a compromise and a way to prove to ourselves that YES - France is where we want to be.

SO where are we 'resident' ? Good question - my answer Planet Earth - Oh that it were that simple.

Any advice/comment re WHAT we SHOULD be doing would be gratefully received.

Bonne journee

The best advice I would give is to get several quotes, at least 3, and preferably face to face. Insurers have a pretty elastic profit margin, even between branches of the same insurance company and will go down rather than lose you! Or at least, that is my experience.

Thanks for the advice Kate, I have a few quotes although not face to face. They vary greatly! I'm awaiting 2 more and then Jon and I will make a decision. BTW I love your site. I learn so much about our area and French phrases. Thank you

I think the biggest issue is not insurance but where the car is registered. If you keep it in France for more than 6 months in a year then by law you must register it in France. If you subsequently take it back to England you will have to re-register it there.

Plenty of people don't register cars when they should and get away with it but you risk running foul of the law and if you have an accident you might well find your insurance invalidated.

I have read suggestions that you could simply drive into Spain every 6 months but they are nonsense as the restriction is more than 6 months out of any 12 and not just a continuous period.

Have you considered simply selling it in the UK and then buying a car here?

Thanks Allan,

I'm now under no illusion that I will need to re-register thanks to everyone's advice and info from SOME but not all insurance companies I've spoken to!!

As to selling her and buying over here - unfortunately I just don't have the time or money to do that - AND I'm very attached to her now We drove her over at the beginning of the month.

You seem to have the car sorted. As for residence, it's anybody's guess, and probably doesn't matter much (so long as we are still in the EU) unless and until you get paid work here. At that point, it might be worth finding a competent accountant: the site has pointers to them.

Thanks Martyn, I may well be starting some work as a self employed property consultant in the next month but have had an exchange of messages with An accountant recommended on this or a similar site
Really appreciate the dialogue exchange and your advice.

Special message for Sus who sent the link for stuartcollins.com.

Thank you I have already had a quote and dialogue about insuring the car.

This site (the members in particular) has proved invaluable AND so welcoming whenever I have used it.

Gives you that 'WARM' feeling

Teresa wrote:Thanks Martyn, I may well be starting some work as a self employed property consultant in the next month but have had an exchange of messages with An accountant recommended on this or a similar site
Really appreciate the dialogue exchange and your advice.

I would definitely check residency for yourself and family and then check back tax implications. We are in a similar situation as we spent considerable time in France but not enough to be resident here, so still resident in the UK, hence our car is also UK registered as we need to be able to drive it in both countries. It definitely pays to work through tax implications, can be an unpleasant (or pleasant surprise). Good luck with it all, it is an exciting move!