Foreign registered car towing UK registered vang
I am thinking about buying a tow car registered In Spain as I spend more time on the continent than I do at home and it makes payment of tolls easier due to being left hand drive. What number should I display on the caravan which is registered in the UK? The Spanish system registers trailers in their own right but I am not planning to re-register the van in Spain.
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Hi, so far as I am aware you don't have a problem here, as caravans are not registered in the U.K., so you just display the number of the car on the van in place of the number plate of the registered caravan.
If you are using a car and caravan in a country where both are registered than they would each have their own number so this means that you may have to register your van and that may incur costs that would outweigh the 'convenience'.
In addition it may be possible to get a toll tag for Spain which will mean that being RHD is not an issue.
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The caravan registration scheme in this country, is nothing to do with registering it to travel on the road. That aspect is covered by the tow cars registration. I don't know, but logically you would have to register the van in Spain, if towing with a Spanish registered car and display the appropriate plate. Currently you should not have a problem in this country either, as we are still in the EU, however who knows what regs the next two years will bring.
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The UK number is not registered to the caravan so not relevant. If the tow car is registered in Spain then when in Spain the caravan would certainly need to be registered in line with their regulations. I cannot say what the position would be in all other countries but suspect you need the Spanish registration in most.
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A few issues.
Do you have a UK address, Spanish address, or both ?
If you use the car for more than 6 months in the UK, you will have to UK register it. LHD will not be an issue, but you may need documentation like certificate of conformity etc.
If it remains Spanish registered, you *may* have trouble buying it without a Spanish address for registration changeover at purchase.
You will have problems with UK insurance on a Spanish reg vehicle. It will be time limited to allow you to reregister in the UK.
You can only tow a caravan with the same reg as the car with a UK reg car.
You cannot tow a caravan in Europe (except with a UK reg car) unless it is registered in its own right and has it's own registration number. Trailers also need their own insurance, for road going just like a car.
Bottom line. Buy LHD, re register in UK or have a Spanish address, keep car Spanish and buy a Spanish caravan.
Cheers.
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The biggest issue is that unlike the UK where third party insurance on the caravan is covered by the insurance on the towcar, this is not the case elsewhere. That would leave a UK caravan towed behind a foreign registered car uninsured for third party, which is illegal unless you take out an additional separate third party policy on the caravan.
Correct me someone if I am wrong, but don't Spanish caravans display both the number plate of the towcar and that of the caravan? In that case you would only have to add the Spanish number plate to the caravan and you would fulfil UK requirements. Most countries other than Spain only have one number plate on the caravan and that is different to the one on the towcar and that, too is acceptable in the UK because both can be traced to the respective holder who will usually be the same person.
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Lutz,
I believe the need for separate registration is dependent on weight of the caravan....either 750 or 900kgs comes to mind.. I have seen old/light caravan towed in Spain with only one plate, but they are few/far between. The Spanish test stations will advise.
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