Ferry to Santander without v5c document?

[DeirdreDispatch]

Bought a van a few days ago and will not receive the v5c for a week absolute minimum according to DVLA. It could be several weeks so I'm hoping to manage with just the v5c/2 "new keeper's details" tear-off section and the vehicle receipt. Does anyone have experience of doing this?

 

[DavidG58]

We have had ours back inside a week recently

in practice havenever had to produce it, but then never been stopped or had a bump

when do you go?

 

[sallylillian]

Difficult to say, my mate got fined €1000 and could not move his van until the original document was couried to him in Spain. But he did not have anything simply forgot to take it.

 

[SMB]

No experience of it but once it's registered to you then the government website will show that it's taxed and has a valid MOT. If there is somebody at home when it arrives then they could send an image of it or put it on Dropbox. Hopefully that would suffice if you needed to produce it for whatever reason but, like I say, I've not been in that position.

 

[tonka]

I think the law is pretty clear that the original must be carried.
In the case of an accident you might come unstuck.
In 20 years I have been asked for mine 3 times, once at a roadside check in Spain and twice at Dover when coming back from trips.
As a backup I would go with SMB suggestion of getting someone to look out for it and do a copy, post it up on Google drive, dropbox etc so at least you could get a colour copy printed

PS if anyone would make an issue of it I would expect it to be the Spanish police...

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[billym]

Over the years we have broken down in Spain, France, Belgium and Lithuania.
All the garages required production of the V5c before they would do any work on it

 

[Odd-no-more]

I've been traveling to France and Spain for over 40 years and never had to produce any documents, but it comes down to luck. If you do get stopped or have an accident you may be in trouble

 

[sallylillian]

Over the years we have broken down in Spain, France, Belgium and Lithuania.
All the garages required production of the V5c before they would do any work on it

Same in Germany only last week.

 

[Lenny HB]

It's fine until something goes wrong have a small accident and they will impound the vehicle.
Not worth the risk.

 

[In a Pickle]

If you’re going to be anywhere near us I can let you have our postal address so someone in the U.K. could post it to our address then you can pick it up. We’re in Mazarron, Murcia.

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[DeirdreDispatch]

I'm due to go in a couple of days but I might leave it a week now with davidg58 saying he had it back within a week. Thanks for everyone's response to my first post. Very reassuring.

The woman at DVLA said if the seller had used the web form rather than post the v5c, I should get the new v5c in a week which David seems to have confirmed. I called the seller to check and he replied that he'd physically posted it last night.

They won't have received it yet so today I acted on his behalf (as though I was the seller) and used the web form. The only thing I was unsure of was the 11 digit code they asked for. The seller didn't have a copy of the form and there was only a 12 digit code on my tear off slip but by removing the first digit it seemed to accept it. Hopefully that's now gone through and it'll be a speedy delivery.

 

[DeirdreDispatch]

If you’re going to be anywhere near us I can let you have our postal address so someone in the U.K. could post it to our address then you can pick it up. We’re in Mazarron, Murcia.

That's very kind of you thanks but as more scary replies arrive I'm leaning more to waiting for it. I'm already smuggling various contraband and I don't need the extra stress lol

 

[Abacist]

The V5C is the official record that you are the registered keeper of the vehicle, responsible for taxing it and providing details of any driver for the purpose of fixed penalty notices etc. It is not, in fact, proof of ownership as a leasing or finance company might be the owner. As far officialdom is concerned in the UK and the EU it is the only acceptable proof of being entitled to be in possession of the vehicle. It also gives essential official details of the specification of the vehicle like weights, VIN number, number plate, engine size etc which the slip retained on buying a vehicle from someone else does not show.

Sounds like deferring the sailing for a week might be wise.

 

[stevec]

We had the same thing when we got our new van. I eventually got a temporary registration document (not sure of the number but it's still in the van somewhere). I think this was emailed to me so I got it quite quickly. Never needed it but it gave us peace of mind. Not sure whether it would have been excepted though had I been asked!

 

[Spriddler]

Reply deleted. (Wrong advice).

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[James-Alex]

Bought a van a few days ago and will not receive the v5c for a week absolute minimum according to DVLA. It could be several weeks so I'm hoping to manage with just the v5c/2 "new keeper's details" tear-off section and the vehicle receipt. Does anyone have experience of doing this?

Mine for car came a few days after I bought it recently

 

[DBK]

We were stopped once in the ferry terminal before boarding the return ferry by a police officer who wanted to see the V5 - which I had with me.

 

[DeirdreDispatch]

cheers for the further replies.

 

[DavidG58]

Out of interest I wonder how this would work with a hired vehicle, I can’t see them issuing the V5 to the hirer

good move by OP to wait though

 

[MyrtleGuru]

You could take a chance, I suppose. We only ever got asked for papers once and they did not specify what they wanted to see (or maybe they did but we did not understand). We were stopped by the Spanish Guardia Civil on a very minor road heading for the Portuguese border. They were stopping all vehicles -- maybe it was a known route for nefarious activities. Severe but polite officer demanded to see papers -- I just showed him passports and V5. He had no English; we have have practically no Spanish. He stared at the V5 for about 15 minutes, trying to work out what it meant or trying to pretend he could read English -- I have no idea. We were then waved on. Previously at such randon stops by the Guardia Civil we have been waved through, while North African looking types have been given the full works.

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[SMB]

The only occasions I've needed to produce the v5c was in relation to buying vignettes, I've only needed garage assistance once (in Sardinia) and wasn't asked for it but that was a few years ago. So from the previous replies it seems you are being wise to wait.

 

[sallylillian]

Out of interest I wonder how this would work with a hired vehicle, I can’t see them issuing the V5 to the hirer

good move by OP to wait though

Your rental document provides evidence of rights to use, and the beneficial owner.

 

[chaser]

You can gaurantee the only time you will need to show it , is the one time you haven't got it.

 

[glenn2926]

I’m not sure how many of the documents we need to carry now. I’ve never liked having the V5 in the van as if it gets stolen then all the thief needs do is send of the V5 and get one back in their name.
As for insurance, we don’t get a certificate, it’s sent via email. Even printing one out is not the original. As far as I’m aware we won’t be be getting an MOT certificate for much longer as it’s stored on line.
I hope the ones asking for them will realise we don’t get them anymore.

You can gaurantee the only time you will need to show it , is the one time you haven't got it.

 

[DeirdreDispatch]

Your rental document provides evidence of rights to use, and the beneficial owner.

So I could provide myself with rights to use? ha!

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[nicholsong]

You could take a chance, I suppose. We only ever got asked for papers once and they did not specify what they wanted to see (or maybe they did but we did not understand). We were stopped by the Spanish Guardia Civil on a very minor road heading for the Portuguese border. They were stopping all vehicles -- maybe it was a known route for nefarious activities. Severe but polite officer demanded to see papers -- I just showed him passports and V5. He had no English; we have have practically no Spanish. He stared at the V5 for about 15 minutes, trying to work out what it meant or trying to pretend he could read English -- I have no idea. We were then waved on. Previously at such randon stops by the Guardia Civil we have been waved through, while North African looking types have been given the full works.

The letters and numbers on page 2 of a V5 are in a standard international format( except items in square brackets), which any traffic officer should be able to recognise, so maybe he was a numpty - or his mate's radio call to check reg. details etc. was taking a long time.

Geoff

 

[cmcardle75]

Your rental document provides evidence of rights to use, and the beneficial owner.

Technically, you need a VE103 document. Rental documents aren't legally sufficient, but might still be accepted if you're lucky and it is clear they do not state territorial limits.

 

[nicholsong]

Technically, you need a VE103 document. Rental documents aren't legally sufficient, but might still be accepted if you're lucky and it is clear they do not state territorial limits.

tI think that is only for taking a hired vehicle out of UK. I do not think it is an universal document, e.g. renting in Spain and staying in Spain.

 

[cmcardle75]

tI think that is only for taking a hired vehicle out of UK. I do not think it is an universal document, e.g. renting in Spain and staying in Spain.

Yes, sorry didn't make that clear. A VE103 is required to take a vehicle out of the country if you are not in possession of a V5C. Arrangements for hired cars within a country will be different.

 

[TerryL]

At a guess garages would want to see the V5 so that they have a record of engine/chassis numbers to enable them to order parts. They wouldn't think to look at the plates on the vehicle....................................!

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