Hi from Holland
Hi people,
I'm Esther, and I'm from Holland ( so excuses for my bad English)
I'm completely new in caravanning and me and my husband want to buy our first caravan next week in the UK.
We traveling to the UK for 15 years now, and always had done B&B, but that's so expensive that we decide to buy a caravan.
What I understand was , that we have to display the same registration plate as the car, only in Holland the display from a caravan or trailer is white with black letters and numbers, will that be a problem ?
I'm also looking for a undercover storage in South or Mid Wales, but they are hard to find or very expensive.
Do people have suggestions for that ?
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Hi Esther, welcome to CT. Don't worry about your English....it's better than some on here
Hope that you find a caravan to suit you. It is true that the caravan has to display the same number as the tow car. However I'm not sure if that would apply to your car as it will have a Dutch number plate. It might be best if you contact our licensing authority, the DVLA. Hope that this link works. https://www.gov.uk/contact-the-dvlaEdit: I have made the above link active. Regards David ((DSB)
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I have read a little about going the other way.....a UK resident buying a caravan in Holland , but then bringing it to UK , so not quite the same.
It seems to be a bit of a minefield and complicated with the way insurance here and in Holland operates.
Esther......as storage may be quite expensive, and to avoid complications, would it not be easier to register a caravan in Holland and spend the money on a ferry ticket instead of storage?
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Hi Esther and welcome. Can't help you directly but whilst touring in Scotland this year we did come across a French registered car towing a German registered van so I suspect that it must be possible. Perhaps someone like Lutz will know.
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On the continent a caravan has its own registration and insurance, while in UK the car insurance covers third party damage done by the caravan while being towed. This does not cover damage to the caravan itself.
The caravan can also be, though does not have to be, insured separately for damage to the caravan itself.
Caravans in UK are not separately registered.
A Dutch registered car towing a caravan which is not registered and insured somewhere, for example in Holland, would therefor seem to be towing illegally as there would be no third party cover for damage done by the caravan while being towed.
As I said.....it is complicated.
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Here is a discussion from way back on another forum , to which Lutz contributed, which indicates some of the problems, though not the exact problem here.
https://www.practicalcaravan.com/forum/towing-driving-and-safety/21969-number-plates
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Personally I would not get too worried about the car and caravan having different number plates. The convention for visitors is that providing it is legal in the country of origin it is also legal here if imported on a temporary basis. There is no need for a caravan to be registered in the UK so even putting it into storage would not be a problem. I assume you will be taking your car back to Holland at the end of each holiday. If that was not the case there might be a requirement to re-register the car in the UK if you stayed over a certain amount of time. Our police generally have a fairly light touch and providing you don't break any of our speed limits I doubt they would be too interested.
David
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There is no problem in UK with foreign vans where the car and van have different numbers, that is how it is done on the continent as vans have their own registration.
The problem will arise because Esther's van would be kept in UK and not registered in Holland, so the caravan would not comply with the rules in her home country, would not have its own plate, so then would not be legal here either.
To be legal it would need to be registered and insured according to Dutch rules, which possibly means it has to comply with certain Dutch regulations, be inspected periodically etc, for which it would need to return to Holland every so often.
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Hi Esther. Welcome to Club Together. It's great to hear from you.
As well as investigating the suggestions above, I would contact your own car insurance company to check. In the UK, if we tow a caravan, our caravans are insured third party under our car insurance. We then 'top it up' by a seperate insurance. It could very well be different in Holland. If you are a Caravan and Motorhome Club member in the UK, it may well be worthwhile contacting the Club's legal department for advice.
It is also worth considering the overall expense of leaving a caravan in storeage in the UK. We pay a little over £400 a year for storeage. It could very well work out just as cheap to consider paying the ferry fare. You will also then have the caravan to use throughout mainland insurance.
David
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Thanks for the advices
KjellNN, in Holland a caravan or trailer is ensured if it is been towed with a ensured car, I only can't ensure the caravan itself in Holland if it is not registrated but I'm insured if we get an accident wit the car and caravan..
I don't want to import it to Holland as it cost me money and I have to do all the paperwork to get it registrated and the only place we're going is the UK.
And I don't want to tow it every time from Holland to the UK as it is more expensive on the ferry.
It easier for us to leave it there and when we arrive in the UK, just pick it up an go on holiday.
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Esther
I perhaps misread your original post. If you are going to buy a caravan in the UK and keep it here all you need to do is to obtain a second rear number plate to replicate the one on your car. I assume this is possible to obtain in Holland? The fact that caravans in some countries in Europe are registered in their own right has no bearing in the UK, so no one will be checking. It's only if and when you decide to take the caravan to the Netherlands that you will have to think about registration. With regard to insurance as a member of the Club why not contact them via this link to see if they will insure a caravan owned abroad but kept in the UK. If they don't do it themselves they may be able to give you information a company that will.
David
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So things in Holland work in a different way to how Lutz related they work in Germany. I presume you have confirmed this with your car insurer and that they are aware you would be towing a caravan that is not registered in Holland?
Insurers here often try to use anything unusual to get out paying a claim, so it is always the best plan to have everything clarified and documented.
As David said then, what you need is not a trailer plate but a car rear number plate identical to the one on your car, then you would appear to fulfil the rules here.
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I reckoned there would be paperwork and expense involved in registering a UK built/purchased van in Holland, is it more expensive than buying and registering a van in Holland to start with?
The ferry ticket need not be that expensive, the day crossing between Harwich and Hook of Holland often has a free caravan offer, and there are member offers too when booking through the club.
The cost would of course depend on whether you were making only one crossing or several. This year we used that crossing once and spent 2 months on the continent, the cost for our car, large twin axle caravan and the 2 of us was only £113 return. Looking at crossings for next year the best price we have found so far is about £160 return.
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Hi Esther. try salop leisure .they are a dealership in Shrewsbury .they have storage plus a brand new campsite on site so could solve all problems you have .Shrewsbury is central to mid Wales plus from harwich dual carriage way a14 then m6 m54 a5 good luck
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Esther, wouldn't it be easier just buying the caravan in Holland, register it there, bring it over when you come and then store it permanently over here?
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One problem might be if there is any requirement for an MOT type of test which I doubt couldn't be done here. Not sure of frequency but possibly every two years?
David
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Hi Esther and welcome. If your car insurance covers you for towing in the Uk then I agree with David above, all you need to do is obtain an identical number plate as used on the car for the caravan. It is then entirely optional whether you insure the caravan seperately against damage and theft. One problem you may have with this is you may need a UK address but a quick chat to the Club's insurance department should quickly clarify this.
If you google "caravan storage in Wales" several suitable answers are presented. I would chose one which is >CaSSoa< approved
peedee
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As A Motor 'vanner I cannot help with your problems Esther, But I just want to welcome you to the Club & hope you get a satisfactory answer and then get on with enjoying this lovely soggy wet & damp country of ours
So Welcome & have a lot of fun !!
Brian A B M
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Welkom Esther van een landgenoot die in Engeland woont!
(Welcome Esther from a Dutch person living in the UK!)
I'm afraid I don't know much about what you want to know, but there seems to be some good advice already.
Succes ermee verder en ik hoop dat het allemaal lukt!
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