EF'ers help please and bear with me for the background context:
We're UK passport holders, and long term Swiss residents, planning to move permanently to France.
However we've just learnt about the French rule apparently stating that bikes over 100cv without factory fitted ABS cannot be road registered. 2 of our bikes fall foul of this, and the design of the bikes mean that fitting limiters and/or even an aftermarket ABS is proving difficult.
So our default (given we don't want to sell those 2 bikes) is to transport and import those back to the UK (where they were originally purchased and registered prior to being imported to CH) and to register them there, store them at our UK holiday house, and ride them whenever we visit Blighty.
However.
To date we've not found an insurer prepared to cover us 1. because we're not UK residents and/or licence holders, and 2. are not prepared to live in the UK for at least 6 months of the year.
Do any of you have any direct experience with this type of situation please?
Have yoiu checked with DVLA if a non resident can actually register a vehicle? I think you are on to a bit of a hiding to nothing on this one, unless Stuart Collins can offer a UK based soloution for non UK residents. Have you researched using a French insurer?
Since Brexit the authorities here are really clamping down on 2nd home owners registering vehicles, and A LOT of under the radar Brit's who never bothered to follow the rules for import/registration, and are now getting caught out. Basically they are scrapping perfectly good UK plated vehicles because:
1 - the fines for breaching the rules in addition to duties/tax make the import costs insane,
2 - they would have to traileer the vehicle back to Blighty to sell,
3 - and they can't sell here as there is no form 846a, as that can only be applied for when the vehicle 1st arrived in France... then see 1.
My CBR (Swiss bike) fell foul of the ABS rule, and after 14 months and just ending up at dead ends, I sold it for spares or non road use, and it's now a French track bike.
Hopefully you can find a legal workaround, but.....
DVLA happy to register a non resident vehicle, probably helped because it will live at a property in the UK that we own. BUT they (rightly) insist that the vehicle must be insured.
My French insurer isn't keen to cover a vehicle that is mostly outside of France. And this was the case also prior to Brexit - I remember when I lived in the UK, my insurer there wouldn't cover my bike travels into the EU for more than 90 days in a year....
Have a lead on 2 insurance firms who might consider expat insurance, will share updates as I have them..
Have just had a policy offered today by a UK insurer prepared to cover me for the 955 - amazing!
However, same insurer NOT prepared to cover the Rocket III and will not share a reason.
Have a lead on another 2 insurance firms to try. Have heard zip back from all our contacts at Triumph dealers and from Hinckley HQ regarding options to instal limiters on these bikes, or a solution for aftermarket ABS fitment.
Am also currently working through the French authority that has to sign off on the validity of limiters - hoping they can give me a list of the brands that are acceptable and then I'll pursue those contacts...
Desperately, desperately hoping not to be in a position where we're forced to sell the bikes. Yes, we have others, but these 2 are real favourites...