Still Here?

I came across a car this week that I had not seen for a little while that is on foreign plates that I first encountered when I arrived here in Spain 18 years ago. I only noticed it because it's a very attractive vehicle but with the steering wheel on the right, but I liked it so much I always wanted to buy it if it came up for sale. That would most likely have been a mistake had I done so.

Back then there was some confusion caused by the barroom lawyers as to the maximum time limit for changing your foreign plates to Spanish ones, or if you ever had to do it. The owner of this car evidently believes that it is not necessary at all, but he would be mistaken.

When he causes a crash the first question on the claim's checklist will be: Is the claimant's license and car documents all in order? To answer yes to this question the driver's license  must be valid and appropriate to drive in Spain. That means if a U.K. citizen has been in the country for more than two years and is driving on his British issued permit that permit is no longer valid.

If the car has been kept in Spain for more than six month's and is being driven on it's British plates those plates are no longer valid as the owner/driver is now properly deemed to be a resident for tax purposes in Spain and the car should have been converted to Spanish plates not later than six months after first having landed in Spain.

That means there will be a resounding No to the claim's question and that will result in the claim being  denied without considering any other information. No matter that you have paid your premiums faithfully for years. This could now be a very serious matter for the owner who will be liable for the full extent of the damages caused. We sometimes wonder why the police don't make more of an effort to take these cars off the road as they are a danger to all road users. If I suffer serious damages from another driver and that driver is one such example who effectively has no insurance I am the one who is the loser. The police have much to do to keep them busy so perhaps they give a person enough rope to hang themselves. This would be very cynical on their part, so I hope it is for other reasons they don't act.

The thing is that I first noticed this car eighteen years ago. I think it's time something was done to rectify this situation.

Copyright (c) 2017
Eugene Carmichael