Insurance/breakdown cover if based in France

[Fenman]

I'd like to pick the brains of members who have motorhomes and are resident in France.
When retirement hits in the next 12 months we will be buying a motorhome to explore Europe. We will still live in England but we have a second home in France which we will use as a base.
I understand that insurance for cars registered in France usually includes breakdown cover and, of course, there is no road fund licence in France for cars.
Can anyone who has a van like that confirm if this is correct and is French insurance more or less than they would pay in the UK?
Thanks in advance.

 

[Wildman]

if you have a second home in France you can get ADAC cover (Just use that address), Europe 365 days for you both in any vehicle you are in plus some health problem coverage around 120€

 

[Fenman]

if you have a second home in France you can get ADAC cover (Just use that address), Europe 365 days for you both in any vehicle you are in plus some health problem coverage around 120€

Thanks for that. If it transpires that motorhomes are treated differently when registered in France I will look at ADAC.
Looks like I will have to ask friends over there to check with their insurers about motorhomes for me.

 

[maison]

We have found that although there is no road tax in France insurance costs seem to be higher.

However, like Britain, insurance costs vary depending on post code.

You can take out ADAC cover with a UK address though.

Good luck.

 

[Baldeagle7470]

I have lived in France for years and find insurance for MH very reasonable.You do have to shop around and change occasionally to get the best deals.
All my vehicles here are insured "tous risqué " or fully comp in english and all policies cover recovery. anywhere in Europe even from home.
My motorcycle policy is far cheaper than the UK like for like.
Hope this helps.

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[Fenman]

Hi maison and Baldeagle.

Thanks for your replies.

Being the tight git that I am I think it might be more economical to register the van in France and base it there. If the total cost of putting it on the road is cheaper in France - insurance and breakdown cover only - as opposed to cost in England - insurance, breakdown and road tax. Even if French insurance is a bit higher but it includes breakdown cover it would be overall cheaper.

One problem with my theory is that legally I couldn't drive the van in the UK unless I was resident in France so I would have to use my UK registered car back and forth England to France and around the UK.

Food for thought as they say.

Thanks once again.

 

[Munchie]

Our insurance in France includes breakdown cover and can be used in any EU country no time limit and anyone can drive it as it is the vehicle which is insured! Cost much the same as UK!

 

[Fenman]

Thanks Ken.

Your words just reminded me about the driver bit. I had forgotten that aspect of French insurance.

It has also occured to me that buying a van in France would be cheaper according to a thread that I read a while back and the euro is favourable as well.

At this rate I shall be making us French resident - despite all the paperwork!!

 

[pappajohn]

I understand that insurance for cars registered in France usually includes breakdown cover and, of course, there is no road fund licence in France for cars.

You will not be able to insure the car with a French insurer if you dont register it.in France, and the same applies to road tax.....if it remains registered in the UK you will need tax, mot and UK insurance.

 

[Baldeagle7470]

Depending on what your van is and the year you could be well advised to buy in France.
I have registered two here over the years,my last was a Peugeot chassis and Hobby body,German reg.Took me 6 months and the same number of visits to Drea to register plus a lot of expense and stress.
My current van14 year old Chausson,Citroen jumper chassis.
Made and built here in France but bought by me in the UK.
Still had to jump through hoops to re- register here!
Would be happy to try and help with advice if needed,good luck making your decision,B

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[Fenman]

You will not be able to insure the car with a French insurer if you dont register it.in France, and the same applies to road tax.....if it remains registered in the UK you will need tax, mot and UK insurance.

I must be losing it a bit as I thought I had said that earlier on.

Mind you I have seen one heck of a lot of cars in France with UK plates and no tax disc but purportedly insured by French insurance companies. Including builders' vans who have been living and working there for years!

 

[Fenman]

Would be happy to try and help with advice if needed,good luck making your decision,B

Many thanks for the kind offer.

I may well contact you nearer the time.

 

[pappajohn]

I must be losing it a bit as I thought I had said that earlier on.

Sorry, you probably did.
i have a bad habit of not reading the posts fully before jumping in.

 

[Baldeagle7470]

I am constantly reading on French forums of people being,shall we say persuaded that the law is you have to register your foreign vehicle within a short time of moving to France ,sure I will be corrected but from memory and without checking 3 months cars and 6 months for motorhomes takes longer for paperwork especially if inspection of gas by Veritas etc needed,laws change and I haven't checked recently but gendarmes are not stupid.
I try to stay within the law for comforts sake,forget the breathalyser now but disregard the rest at your peril,I don't mean you,just a general comment but there are more and more"controles" spot checks recently.Dont forget this government is short of money!!!

 

[Fenman]

I couldn't agree more.
As far as I am concerned you keep to the laws of the country you are in. I just wish a lot of people here in the UK would do just that.
I won't use the Brit builders that a) learnt their trade on the ferry over or b) ride around in UK registered vehicles breaking the law both here and there and c) do all their work on the black with no regard for the law abiding competition who pay their dues and have to charge more.
Sorry I have gone off topic but it is an area that gets my goat - as you may have noticed.

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[maison]

Hi maison and Baldeagle.

Thanks for your replies.

Being the tight git that I am I think it might be more economical to register the van in France and base it there. If the total cost of putting it on the road is cheaper in France - insurance and breakdown cover only - as opposed to cost in England - insurance, breakdown and road tax. Even if French insurance is a bit higher but it includes breakdown cover it would be overall cheaper.

One problem with my theory is that legally I couldn't drive the van in the UK unless I was resident in France so I would have to use my UK registered car back and forth England to France and around the UK.

Food for thought as they say.

Thanks once again.

I am not really sure what you are getting at here, sorry!

We have our M/H registered and insured in UK but have our motorbike registered and insured in France. We travel all over Europe with a UK plate on the MH and French plate on the mb without any problem.

An additional plus for mbs is that France does not require an MOT.

We exported our mb to France and re-registered there. From memory it cost about 20euros, although the administration was a bit of a pain? I understand that re-registering a van is not much different to a mb.

Once again, good luck. I am sure that you agree that the French way of life is worth it.

 

[Fenman]

I probably haven't explained myself very well.
My thinking is along the lines of a French registered van equals French insurance which includes breakdown cover over all of Europe and French MOT, only every two years, and no road tax. English registered van equals UK insurance, European breakdown cover, annual MOT and road tax.
That appears to mean, to me anyway, much cheaper to go for registering the van at our French address. And buying in France would be a whole lot easier to do that and cheaper with €1.36 to £1.
BUT doing that would also mean not using the van in the UK because you can't buy a vehicle, register it in France and drive it in the UK unless you are resident in France. If you could everyone would be registering their vehicle in France to save paying road tax.
So my original query was to confirm that French insurance does indeed include breakdown cover. That was something I was told but have never confirmed with a French resident.
But if French insurance was hugely more expensive then my money saving scheme would go up in smoke.
I hope that clarifies my posting.

 

[maison]

I can't see any problem.

We registered our mb in France by providing our address, utility bill etc to the French authorities. I would have no worries riding the mb in UK. It is registered and insured in a European country so no problem.

We could not continue to use the mb in France after the MOT ran out. French authorities were quite happy to accept that we were not resident in France but that we were residents of France for 6 months per year. They accepted the registration without problem with our proof of ownership of French property.

 

[stcyr]

When you ask for an insurance quote here it automatically includes Europe-wide breakdown/repatriation cover. You can choose to have it deducted if for example you have Adac cover (which covers any vehicle you happen to be travelling in) ... We have 4 vehicles at the moment, 3 cars & the MH. Cars are French reg. but the MH isn't yet. I took out Adac a few years ago for the MH. Adac works out cheaper if you have a number of vehicles but if you only have one vehicle the Insurance with b/down cover will be even cheaper than having Adac. EXAMPLE: The other day I took an English friend to our local insurance office (as interpreter) to insure his newly acquired MH . He was given a quote for €369. This included b/down. Should he have chosen just ins.cover it would only have saved him about €20. The quote was also to include full no-claims (subject to him obtaining proof thereof from his previous UK insurer. Should he be unable to, the price would only be €469 (no no-claims).
Unlike most if not all breakdown organisations the repatriation is not limited to the value of the vehicle.
So, if one has a cheapie MH, and needed recovery from say south of Italy, the cost could easily be more than the value of the vehicle so wouldn't be repatriated.

 

[Fenman]

Many thanks very interesting reading. With the current exchange rate that's looking very good.

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[gus-lopez]

I am not really sure what you are getting at here, sorry!

We have our M/H registered and insured in UK but have our motorbike registered and insured in France. We travel all over Europe with a UK plate on the MH and French plate on the mb without any problem.

An additional plus for mbs is that France does not require an MOT.

We exported our mb to France and re-registered there. From memory it cost about 20euros, although the administration was a bit of a pain? I understand that re-registering a van is not much different to a mb.

Once again, good luck. I am sure that you agree that the French way of life is worth it.

Depending on where you are officially resident then somewhere, when using one of the vehicles, you are illegal.
If you are a resident of the UK then when/if using the bike in the UK it is illegal. If a FRench resident then when using the MH in France youare illegal.
EU rules state that a resident , & you can only be resident in one EU state, can only drive a vehicle that is registered in that country. The only exceptions are 'professional drivers' & employee's of car hire firms when required to drive a vehicle used for 'cross-border' hire.

I can't see any problem.

We registered our mb in France by providing our address, utility bill etc to the French authorities. I would have no worries riding the mb in UK. It is registered and insured in a European country so no problem.

We could not continue to use the mb in France after the MOT ran out. French authorities were quite happy to accept that we were not resident in France but that we were residents of France for 6 months per year. They accepted the registration without problem with our proof of ownership of French property.

French authorities might be 'quite happy' but unless you have it in writing that they will foot the bill in the event of any accident you haven't a leg to stand on. The fact that you have registered it there counts for nothing. I can legally insure a UK plated vehicle here through a Spanish company that uses a Uk underwriter.
It cannot be legally driven by me though.

What you have to remember is that with everything official YOU are assumed to have the correct licence, insurance, mot , vehicle registration, residency, by each & all the others individually & the responsibility is yours.

You might be " quite happy" riding the bike in the UK. Which leads me to assume that you are a UK resident. Therefore the thing you should be concerned about is that in the event of an accident with someone who knows EU law, & regardless of possibly not being at fault , you would be deemed to be to blame as you are using the vehicle illegally & they'd make sure that .


If I take any of my vehicles to the UK, & it is the vehicle that is insured here same as France allowing anyone to drive, then when in the UK NO UK citizen i.e. my daughter's , son-in-law , etc ; can legally drive the vehicle. I had it all out with the DVLA & the EU in writing a couple of years back.

 

[maison]

@gus-lopez
Thanks for that full explanation.

More thought needed here, perhaps.

 

[Fenman]

Many thanks gus-lopez I knew there was something lurking in the back of my mind. The little grey cells will have some work to do figuring out our best solution.

 

[gus-lopez]

Don't get me wrong .I'm not condemning anyone who does it as I personally think it is utterly ridiculous. I'm merely pointing out what the legal situation is so that you aren't unaware.
What you also have to take into account is that in many countries , & especially in areas without a high proportion of foreign residents, most police would never have come across it.
I was amazed to discover that the EU rule actually came into force in 1983 !!!

 

[spitfire]

Depending on where you are officially resident then somewhere, when using one of the vehicles, you are illegal.
If you are a resident of the UK then when/if using the bike in the UK it is illegal. If a FRench resident then when using the MH in France youare illegal.
EU rules state that a resident , & you can only be resident in one EU state, can only drive a vehicle that is registered in that country. The only exceptions are 'professional drivers' & employee's of car hire firms when required to drive a vehicle used for 'cross-border' hire.



French authorities might be 'quite happy' but unless you have it in writing that they will foot the bill in the event of any accident you haven't a leg to stand on. The fact that you have registered it there counts for nothing. I can legally insure a UK plated vehicle here through a Spanish company that uses a Uk underwriter.
It cannot be legally driven by me though.

What you have to remember is that with everything official YOU are assumed to have the correct licence, insurance, mot , vehicle registration, residency, by each & all the others individually & the responsibility is yours.

You might be " quite happy" riding the bike in the UK. Which leads me to assume that you are a UK resident. Therefore the thing you should be concerned about is that in the event of an accident with someone who knows EU law, & regardless of possibly not being at fault , you would be deemed to be to blame as you are using the vehicle illegally & they'd make sure that .


If I take any of my vehicles to the UK, & it is the vehicle that is insured here same as France allowing anyone to drive, then when in the UK NO UK citizen i.e. my daughter's , son-in-law , etc ; can legally drive the vehicle. I had it all out with the DVLA & the EU in writing a couple of years back.

Thanks so much for that . I did not know that the family could not drive our car when in UK . I knew it was the car which was insured and the family could drive when on holiday with us . You learn something useful every day

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