driving spanish car in the UK

hi all hope someone can help. i am a non resident, own a property and have a Spanish registered car. i want to drive my car back to the UK so i can get some bits and pieces done to it, then drive it back probably a month or so later. i have been told i wouldn't be insured to drive it in the UK because of Brexit and not being a Spanish resident, so my spanish insurance would not be valid.


i have tried to get an answer from linier directa but they don't even seem to know. is this true and if so why?

thanks, bill.

Nothing has changed because of Brexit, just seems to be an excuse people jump on.
There was nothing in the withdrawal agreement that said you can't drive a foreign car in UK. Big insurance companies, like Linea Directa, can insure your car for driving in UK. Maybe you got the work placement person in when you queried it. Mine even has UK listed on the green card I was issued.

Take a look at your green card which they still issue in Spain. I bet it has UK on it.

Hi - had similar situation- you can drive a Spanish reg car in the uk - insurance allows it ( like the previous post your green card will have UK on it - we used brokers in Spain - very helpful.) but if you look at Gov.uk DVLA site it states if you are a resident in the UK you are not allowed to drive a Spanish ( or EU reg )car in the UK - (something to do with residency rules) if you are Spanish resident that is allowed.very confusing & does not make common sense. We ignored it & drove /ferry from Santander to Portsmouth without any problems. We were going to re register it anyway in the UK (rhd vehicle) but there is a limit of I think 90 days UK cover re insurance. Not stopped at all but check the Gov.UK rules.

marcliff wrote:Nothing has changed because of Brexit, just seems to be an excuse people jump on.
There was nothing in the withdrawal agreement that said you can't drive a foreign car in UK. Big insurance companies, like Linea Directa, can insure your car for driving in UK. Maybe you got the work placement person in when you queried it. Mine even has UK listed on the green card I was issued.

Take a look at your green card which they still issue in Spain. I bet it has UK on it.

thanks i will check it out and yes, probably got a new starter when i called them, i thought it was strange they couldn't give me an answer.

Fender wrote:Hi - had similar situation- you can drive a Spanish reg car in the uk - insurance allows it ( like the previous post your green card will have UK on it - we used brokers in Spain - very helpful.) but if you look at Gov.uk DVLA site it states if you are a resident in the UK you are not allowed to drive a Spanish ( or EU reg )car in the UK - (something to do with residency rules) if you are Spanish resident that is allowed.very confusing & does not make common sense. We ignored it & drove /ferry from Santander to Portsmouth without any problems. We were going to re register it anyway in the UK (rhd vehicle) but there is a limit of I think 90 days UK cover re insurance. Not stopped at all but check the Gov.UK rules.

thank you, i will try and find it on the Gov site .

Fender wrote:Hi - had similar situation- you can drive a Spanish reg car in the uk - insurance allows it ( like the previous post your green card will have UK on it - we used brokers in Spain - very helpful.) but if you look at Gov.uk DVLA site it states if you are a resident in the UK you are not allowed to drive a Spanish ( or EU reg )car in the UK - (something to do with residency rules) if you are Spanish resident that is allowed.very confusing & does not make common sense. We ignored it & drove /ferry from Santander to Portsmouth without any problems. We were going to re register it anyway in the UK (rhd vehicle) but there is a limit of I think 90 days UK cover re insurance. Not stopped at all but check the Gov.UK rules.

DVLA also stated that you would be allowed to drive a foreign registered car in UK for short trips. Didn't say how long the short trip would be, though. This was in answer to a question from someone living in France after Brexit.

I'll see if I can find the Q&A bit in question. It did say providing the car was legally registered and insured in its country but this was long before Brexit.

marcliff wrote:

Fender wrote:Hi - had similar situation- you can drive a Spanish reg car in the uk - insurance allows it ( like the previous post your green card will have UK on it - we used brokers in Spain - very helpful.) but if you look at Gov.uk DVLA site it states if you are a resident in the UK you are not allowed to drive a Spanish ( or EU reg )car in the UK - (something to do with residency rules) if you are Spanish resident that is allowed.very confusing & does not make common sense. We ignored it & drove /ferry from Santander to Portsmouth without any problems. We were going to re register it anyway in the UK (rhd vehicle) but there is a limit of I think 90 days UK cover re insurance. Not stopped at all but check the Gov.UK rules.

DVLA also stated that you would be allowed to drive a foreign registered car in UK for short trips. Didn't say how long the short trip would be, though. This was in answer to a question from someone living in France after Brexit.

I'll see if I can find the Q&A bit in question. It did say providing the car was legally registered and insured in its country but this was long before Brexit.

thanks marcliff

According to the letter of the law as a UK resident you cannot drive a foreign registered car on UK roads which means under the strictest definition you cannot legally drive out of the port of arrival.

In practice you are sort of 'unofficially' permitted to drive directly to your destination in UK and to a pre-arranged MOT if you were importing the car, that's what DVLA mean by "short journeys". Unfortunately if you get stopped it will be by UK plod not DVLA who could well have a different view on it.

Comments like "We ignored it & drove /ferry from Santander to Portsmouth without any problems." are utterly facile. Simply because you didn't get stopped does not make it right. It's the same as saying you broke every speed limit but because you didn't get flashed by any cameras or pulled by plod that was perfectly OK!

Technically your Spanish insurance is valid if for no other reason than it's the car itself which is insured and driving it in UK cannot and does not negate that. That's not to say however that UK plod will recognise that fact and in a worst case scenario could seize the car and prosecute you for driving without insurance.

What's wrong with getting whatever needs doing done in Spain, can't be that much if the car is fit to be driven all the way back to UK?

I thought a Spanish resident was not allowed to drive a foreign registered car in Spain.
And that same applied for UK residents in the UK.
Is this not the case.

Darro wrote:According to the letter of the law as a UK resident you cannot drive a foreign registered car on UK roads which means under the strictest definition you cannot legally drive out of the port of arrival.

In practice you are sort of 'unofficially' permitted to drive directly to your destination in UK and to a pre-arranged MOT if you were importing the car, that's what DVLA mean by "short journeys". Unfortunately if you get stopped it will be by UK plod not DVLA who could well have a different view on it.

Comments like "We ignored it & drove /ferry from Santander to Portsmouth without any problems." are utterly facile. Simply because you didn't get stopped does not make it right. It's the same as saying you broke every speed limit but because you didn't get flashed by any cameras or pulled by plod that was perfectly OK!

Technically your Spanish insurance is valid if for no other reason than it's the car itself which is insured and driving it in UK cannot and does not negate that. That's not to say however that UK plod will recognise that fact and in a worst case scenario could seize the car and prosecute you for driving without insurance.

What's wrong with getting whatever needs doing done in Spain, can't be that much if the car is fit to be driven all the way back to UK?

i will have to look into it before i decide what to do as i am getting different answers here.
as for `why don't you get the work done in spain` my car is 30 years old and near a classic, parts that i need are better available here in the uk and i have people here i know, that will help me do the work cheaper than in spain, i can also keep an eye on the work as it is being done.
if i was a resident in spain, yes i probably would get the work done there but i would still need to source the parts from here in the UK so it makes sense to bring it back to do the work.
thanks for the info though.