I have a car I left in Greece for holidays that is now over 3 years old and requires a MOT. I will be going back to Greece this year and will want to use the car. How do I insure it? I realise that I can insure it with a uk company, but if i have an accident then i cannot produce a valid mot and therefore my claim may not be upheld. Can I use an EU test certificate instead? after all we are all in the EEC and the same rules should apply.

I have looked at putting the car on Greek plates but that would cost £16000 and is double what the car is worth.

Is there some uk company that can help? or has someone already encountered this problem?

I can insure it with a Greek company on a uk plate, but then I may have difficulties with customs as they havent sorted out the EEC thing yet. I will also have to pay Greek roadtax for a year although I will only be using the car for 2 months tops.

Any help/ideas appreciated.

Beastie

 

Are you sure your insurance is not valid without an MOT? Although there's a common misconception that this is always the case - it rarely is. A few motorcycle insurance policies have recently started to state this - maybe car policies do too. But unless your policy wording explicitly includes such a clause, there's no reason at all why an MOT should have any effect on insurance. After all, it's only a certificate to say that certain parts of your car were OK on a particular day.

I trust you've informed the company that the car is mostly kept abroad? If not, I would think that IS likely to invalidate your insurance, as it would be considered a "material fact" that you need to declare.

 

Roger
many thanks for answering. I see the point you are making. I would need to clarify with the insurance company before taking out the insurance so that the green card part of the document is valid.

To clarify, I drove the car out last year from the uk, before it needed an MOT (not 3 years old) and insured it in the uk prior to going. After having our holiday, i stored the car in my garage in Athens and cancelled the insurance as the green card expires after 3 months anyway.

Currently the car is not being used, nor is it insured, and will require insuring before i can. I am quite happy leaving the car in Greece for its life but getting Greek plates for it is financial suicide.

If no mot is required and i insure the car from the uk and have an accident then how do i prove if necessary that the car was in good condition. I guess the answer is i put the car through the EU test at least proving that i have made my best efforts.

I certainly would not be counting on any insurance company to agree with my opinions after the fact. This would all need to be in writing before the fact and an agreement made.

I had hoped that someone here might have already encountered this problem and found a sympathetic insurance company.

Thanks

Greg

 

Most UK policies will allow you a certain amount of time abroad during the course of 12 months insurance. Figures of up to 180 days are about the norm (thus the car is at risk in the uk greater than abroad, which is what the premium is written at), but it normally stipulates that it must be in periods of no longer than 90 days any one trip, in your case I think your gonna struggle with a conventional 'direct' type policy. Have you tried a more specialised broker, someone like Hill House Hammond might be able to help. No guarantees though. Hope you sort it out soon. Happy holidays.

 

Slightly similar circumstances over here. Many people have second cars that they leave in France so they can use when they pop over on their boats from Jersey (how the idle rich live eh.)

We don't even need MOTs on Jersey cars but the bigger issue is the country the car is mostly used in and left in. You definately need specialist insurance to cover you for "Greek use" or the insurers would wriggle out of paying. E.g. the parts might not be available easily in Greece or the theft etc may be much worse. You may be better off buying a local Greek car and insuring in in Greece?

 

Thanks C62
The problem with Greece and cars is that the taxation on vehicles is still excessive. As Greece is now in the European Union I guess that all things will settle down eventually and cars will get much cheaper.
However, as Greece is in the EU and the UK is too, we should all be using the same standards. Whilst I can get an EU test in Greece I cannot get an MOT.
Interestingly, If I insure the car in Greece I do not need to test it as it falls within a loophole. However, I will need to purchase Greek Road Tax.
I therefore have two known scenarios and will proceed along one of them when the time comes.
Thanks for your Reply
Beastie