I will be coming to the UK next week on my UK registered bike… My insurance is a Spanish policy with full European cover.
Am I likely to spend a lot of time at the side of the road in the UK explaining this to traffic cops etc due to the bike appearing as uninsured on the NR cameras?
IF so , is there a solution?
The solution to your issue whistler is a) have your policy documents written in English and b) get your Spanish insurers to give you a (for want of a better description) green card for travel abroad. Thee should take care of any issues you have. But also remember police officers dont always know the law.
Policy is in English and showing and proving the bike is insured is not a problem.
What I don’t want is to be stopped every time I pass a camera or traffic car because the policy isn’t on their system…I can’t really see a way around it and it may be more of a pain in the a$$ than it’s worth?
I dont know if this helps but I had a kwak stolen that had a tracker fitted, but i told by the police that the only way it would be found was if it actually drove past a car that was fitted with anpr, adn in my mind the only time these vehicles come out is when their looking for tax dodgers. And that equals one week a month.
Call me a cynic if you like but I cant imagine you’ll get stopped in England. Have fun buddy
Did you ever get that bike back? Im still wondering how useful these trackers really are…
Basically it sounds like the police were telling you that trackers are useless? Because surely an ANPR will pick up a stolen bike even if it doesn’t have a tracker, won’t it?
This is slightly more complicated that you’d think.
If you live in this country, your vehicle has to be insured with an insurance company which is registered with the Association of British Insurers ( Section 145(5) Road Traffic Act 1988) Your insurance will not be an ABI registered company, as it’s on a spanish policy.
“A ha!” You’ll say, but I’m not a UK resident… that’s where the next bit of bad news comes…
You can only ride or drive a vehicle over here if you’re not resident, if the vehicle you’re driving is legal in it’s country of origin. Your vehicle can’t be legal in spain, as you’re a resident and you’ve not registered it. - Motor Vehicles (International Circulation) Order 1975.
Therefore if you come across someone who knows what they’re doing they’ll seize your bike.
Your vehicle will ping up on any ANPR vehicle as being uninsured. All traffic cars in London have mobile ANPR. All Traffic Officers know about the above.
your 2 options are…
1 - Register the vehicle in Spain.
2 - Get a UK Insurance certificate. You’ll have to get someone over here to let you use their address. You’ll then have to cancel the insurance after you go back. It’ll be expensive.
Is your vehicle taxed? It’ll ping up on that as well.
Oh, and you’ll have further trouble as well, as you’re not resident in this country, they’re unlikely to issue you with a fixed penalty notice, or report you for summons because as soon as your holiday is over you’ll be bck to Spain. So really the only other option open to them is arrest, and a visit to court the next time it’s open, having spent the time languishing in custody. Which would be a terrible shame if you got stopped on a Saturday afternoon.
Firstly , the policy is actually issued by a UK company through a Spanish office. The bike is taxed and mot’d.
I am a UK resident - I work here from time to time and am not classed as a Spanish resident due to the length of time I spend here…
The policy is valid anywhere, is written in English and I’d be very surprised to be thrown in jail by any right thinking police officer. The insurance company know of my UK address but have issued the policy to a Spanish address so can’t really see a problem apart from the hassle of stops…
Maybe I’ll avoid weekends though:D
Yes, lot of assumptions made…you said it was a spanish policy. You didn’t say in there that it was a uk policy issued in Spain. I assumed because you bought the insurance in Spain you lived in spain.
Is it a spanish policy or a uk one? If it’s a uk one you should be ok. The language it’s written in is irrelevant. If you have a uk address, which can be verified (voters register, driving licence, address on the insurance certificate/ phone a friend) it should prevent the arrest scenario.
The policy valid anywhere won’t necessarily be true. As stated if you have a uk address, and a uk bike, your insurance needs to be issued by a uk insurer not a subsidary of a uk insurer. So I’d check it if I were you. I think the web address www.askmid.co.uk is the place to go to seeif you are on the uk database for insurance. Just because the insurance policy says it’s valid EU wide, or ever world wide it doersn’t mean it’s valid. If you are a uk resident your insurance needs to be issued by a uk company. If you are still convinced you are covered, carry the certificate with you.
It’s £105 + vat for the recovery, £12 a day storage, £200 Fixed Penalty Notice + 6 points - possibly more if you go to court.
Yes , sorry…wasn’t very clear on the policy…it is with a UK company through Lloyds but issued by a Spanish broker with my Spanish address on the certificate. My DL is at my UK base and the bike is registered there. Will check it properly and if it’s a problem I will take out a short term policy with Norwich Union. Would a short term policy go on the database right off? Only there for a week so might end up in the same boat…Thanks for the advice:)
If you carry the certificate, they can check most of the time whether it’s insured by phoning the ABI or the insurance company direct, and check whether you’re covered. If it’s issued within the last week or so, and they can’t check with the insurance company, they’ll probably give you the benefit of the doubt, as there is a valid reason why it’s not on the database.
Is your bike on the database now, under the policy bought through a spanish broker?
If you produce the certificate issued in Spain, questions are going to be asked, and lots of digging done, due to the Spanish address.
Is your bike on the database now, under the policy bought through a spanish broker?
If you produce the certificate issued in Spain, questions are going to be asked, and lots of digging done, due to the Spanish address.
No, it isn’t showing on the database.
Spoke to my broker a few mins ago and he assures me all is OK but will add my UK address to the policy to avoid hassle.
I paid 158 Euro for a ZZR1100, fully comp. with breakdown cover throughout Europe which was the reason for putting it through the Spanish broker:)
I guess policies for a London address are quite a bit higher?
I’m sill concerned that you might not be covered, regardless of what you insurance broker says. Can I suggest you call the Motor Insurance Database, and ask them why you’e not on the databse? Their telephone number is 0845 165 2800. Failing that phone the UK base of the insurance company you’re insured with, and see what they have to say. I’m genuinely concerned that you will find yourself in a heap of trouble, because your bikes not showing up as insured, and if your vehicle is covered correctly it should be. At the very least you’ll have heaps of hassle, at worst you could be spending a lot of money to get your bike back.
Just made a call to Traffic in the UK…they tell me the Spanish issued policy is acceptable in the UK even though the bike and I are UK registered…if anybody wants to check the validity of the policy after stopping me they can… Would rather it was on the database so avoiding roadside time though:)
Thanks, I’m a mind of useless information, although if I have to quote the law word for word, I often have to use something called the Police National Legal Database, but you need to know what you’re looking for
I’ll do that this morning and see what they say. I really want to get it right and if that means a short term Norwich Union or Ebike policy then thats what I’ll
do.
Thanks for the phone number and advice:)
Cheers
David
