832 How can I keep my car in Italy?

I wonder if anyone out there can give me any help or tips on how I can keep a car at my house in Italy. I have bought a house in Italy but am resident in the UK, and am told that I cannot insure a car in Italy unless I am resident. If I insure it here then I believe it can only be used abroad for a maximum of 90 days, when in fact it will be in Italy all year! I shall be going out every six to eight weeks or so for long weekends and longer periods Xmas Easter etc. and having a car there is essential. Any help would be much appreciated.

Category
General chat about Italy

Insurance in Italy works differently from here... you insure the car and not the person. so. If you had a friend or something you could insure the car in his name... I think it is perfectly ok to do so, but you should check with your insurer in Italy.

Paola

I did some research on this a while ago, and I did find that the Saga Insurance policy allows up to 12 months usage abroad, but you need to be over 50 to take out their cover !

Graham

[QUOTE=ferginitaly] If I insure it here then I believe it can only be used abroad for a maximum of 90 days, when in fact it will be in Italy all year! /QUOTE]

Is this a sure thing? I don't think you have any time limit with your insurance over here as to how long you can be abroad, as long as you keep paying your insurance over here and you get European Breakdown Cover you should be covered comprehensively.
If anyone knows otherwise, please post!
Patrizia

this is a dificult one, but if you intend to keep the car in italy for over
a year, i do remember something about having to registar the car there,
which means insuring it their as well.

Hi ya

I tried to insure my car with UK plates in Italy; I was told that my car must have Italian plates to get insurance.
I read on this site a few months ago that there is a British Company that will insure your car in Italy for a whole year, however when the MOT expires the is uninsured unless you return it to the UK for a MOT .

At this point I gave up and I’m getting Italian plates at a cost of about 400 Euro

Hope this helps

[QUOTE=ferginitaly]I wonder if anyone out there can give me any help or tips on how I can keep a car at my house in Italy. I have bought a house in Italy but am resident in the UK, and am told that I cannot insure a car in Italy unless I am resident. If I insure it here then I believe it can only be used abroad for a maximum of 90 days, when in fact it will be in Italy all year! I shall be going out every six to eight weeks or so for long weekends and longer periods Xmas Easter etc. and having a car there is essential. Any help would be much appreciated.[/QUOTE]

Hi ya

This link may help you
[url]http://www.italymag.co.uk/forums/showthread.php?t=517&highlight=insurance[/url]

[QUOTE=latoca]Insurance in Italy works differently from here... you insure the car and not the person. so. If you had a friend or something you could insure the car in his name... I think it is perfectly ok to do so, but you should check with your insurer in Italy.

Paola[/QUOTE]

Thanks very much for your reply Paola. I knew that in Italy it was the car not the person which was insured - which was why I much preferred to be insured in Italy. However, I've been told by the companies I have approached that they won't insure me unless resident. I do have a few good friends who would be willing to have the car insured in their names, but wouldn't the insurance company want to know why it was a British Registered Car and wouldn't they need to know in whose name the car was registered?

Linda

[QUOTE=libero]Hi ya

I tried to insure my car with UK plates in Italy; I was told that my car must have Italian plates to get insurance.
I read on this site a few months ago that there is a British Company that will insure your car in Italy for a whole year, however when the MOT expires the is uninsured unless you return it to the UK for a MOT .

At this point I gave up and I’m getting Italian plates at a cost of about 400 Euro

Hope this helps[/QUOTE]

Thanks for your quick reply. I don't mind in the slighest getting Italian plates (even at the cost of Euro 400!) But have you been able to get them without proving residency? That is the catch 22 as far as I can see. We are all supposed to belong to the EEC but Italians coming to this country can buy, tax and insure a car with British number plates without any problem!

Linda

Very many thanks to all of you who have taken the time to answer my query. I'm going to follow up a few suggestions, but it makes me feel a lot less anxious just reading all your points of view! I'm booked to go out on July 28th (with car) so will post a note on exactly what has been resolved in due course.
Linda

Ok here's a thought that just occurred to me: suppose you buy a house as a company, or alternatively as a trust, could the company or trust own a car in italy? If it could would the rates be exhorbitant? If so it might get round the residency rules.

You may have already sorted yourself out but Stuart Collins in the UK will insure you: [url]http://www.stuartcollins.com[/url]

I'm going in August for at least a year and will not be resident. Stuart Collins have quoted me £500.00 for fully comprehensive cover for a 3 year old VW Golf - comparable to my UK cover. I haven't worked out the MOT thing yet. If the worst comes to the worst I'll make a trip home a drive and get it done then or investigate Italian plates .