"Transit" insurance...

It should be the simplest in the country the car is registered in. Depending on the country, the previous owner's insurance may cover the buyer during a transition period (e.g. in Germany)

Not ending statements with preposition is the rule of which I am the least fond :-)

Hi, you will need to insure it in the country that it is registered. BUT, beware, if it has been out of that coutry for more than 6 months or it has no mot then you are treading on very dodgy ground and the insurance becomes a grey area. I'm sure insurance companies will take your money but won't necessarily pay out should an event take place.

Thanks for the advice but this is all wrong. It's not necessary to insure it in the country it is registered. It's the opposite of that (it should NOT be insured in the country it was registered).

You are not making it easy :-)
No idea, sorry.

szocske wrote:

You are not making it easy :-)
No idea, sorry.

No, I know. It's very difficult. I've asked all the insurance companies and plenty will insure a foreign registered car OUTSIDE of its country of registration but at a very high price.

I don't want to take the car back to its country of registration (a very long way from Hungary), or register it in Hungary because I want to take it to a 3rd country to register and insure it there. 

I need at least EC basic insurance to drive it from Hungary to the 3rd country.

fluffy2560 wrote:

I don't want to take the car back to its country of registration

Is that really necessary to insure it?
I've switched insurance companies for my car every year for 6 years, every time over the Internet, with no proof of the car even existing...

I hope we never "bump" into each other. At least I know I'm insured. I wouldn't want to fall into a grey area where I think I should be insured but then find out I'm not. Insurance companies don't need a great deal of reasons not to pay out and you may find yourself funding a hefty bill. Will it not be eaier to sell your car and buy a new one in the new country? That's what we ended up doing. We learned the hard way, lost a lot of money on our car but are now at least in the system and drive legally and it's going to be much easier to move up the ladder.

PDIinHungary wrote:

.... buy a new one in the new country? That's what we ended up doing.....

This is the "new" car. I was able to insure it to drive it to Hungary but that insurance ran out. For one reason and another I was not able to take it directly to the 3rd country for registration.

I've seen some oddball registrations in Hungary - Paraguay, Nigeria, Kuwait, Dubai, even Cook Islands.

These drivers must have some form of temporary insurance but where do they get it?

I know for a fact that there are several English registered cars permanently driving around Eger that are owned by Hungarians who don't have any insurance, mot etc. One guy drives an Irish registered car and has an mot posted over from Ireland without having to take his car back each year!! Another guy with plenty of money drives over to England every 2 or 3 years to buy a car and then brings it back here and drives it around with no insurance. Cars are so much cheaper in the UK than here and many police don't speak much English so there is less chance of getting stopped, couple that with saving on insurance, parking anywhere and not having to pay a fine etc etc etc and it's an appealing gamble for some people. My wife was stopped in our English car and the policeman didn't speak any English let alone know what English documents he should be looking for. She showed him the mot certificate and he was happy with that. She could have shown him anything with the car's details on and he'd have accepted it. When I got stopped the only word in English the guy knew was "passport".

PDIinHungary wrote:

.... many police don't speak much English so there is less chance of getting stopped, couple that with saving on insurance, parking anywhere and not having to pay a fine....

I get stopped in my foreign registered car quite regularly and also have been fined for speeding etc. I don't think the police would not stop you just because you're a foreigner - well, at least in Budapest. In the past they used to stop you to extract money.

You're in Budapest, I'm in Eger. Believe me there's a big difference.
In many ways I'm glad I'm so far away from BP. I don't like big cities, there's a massive cultural difference, there are far fewer drunken tourists, people are more pleasant to each other, fewer Hungarians speak English. This to me is the real Hungary.

PDIinHungary wrote:

You're in Budapest, I'm in Eger. ....This to me is the real Hungary.

I think that's very true. On the the other hand, I've never seen any drunken tourists here in Budakeszi but it's the burbs and just families with kids. We do have our share of odd ball characters but they are all harmless (I suppose). I hardly ever go into the centre of Budapest unless I really need something from there. It's certainly handy having all the facilities in easy reach and there's a big hill between us and the city. We seem to be in a village but we're only a few km from Moscow Square.

Back to cars and cops.....My wife was fined for speeding several months ago and the cop said (more or less), "Phew, I'm glad you speak Hungarian....". Still got fined but in an apologetic way. On the other hand, the cops got us for speeding in Austria (on that S1 road near the airport with the stupid 100 km/h limit) and they all spoke reasonable English unfortunately. Playing dumb didn't work and didn't stop them being typically Nazi-like when it came to the fine.

szocske wrote:

fluffy2560 wrote:

I don't want to take the car back to its country of registration

Is that really necessary to insure it?

Uh oh, I get it now, I was completely ambigous!

What I meant to say is:

Is it really necessary to take the car back to its home country of registration and insurance just to renew the insurance?

szocske wrote:

Is it really necessary to take the car back to its home country of registration and insurance just to renew the insurance?

Not really. Some countries (like the UK) will not insure cars unless they are in the UK government vehicle database. There's no way around that unfortunately.

It used to be that one could insure on the VIN temporarily regardless of the registration plates but that's seems no longer possible.

So the point is, with a foreign registration, no insurance from the car's home state and wanting to drive it from Hungary to yet another country for registration, how do you insure it while you are in transit (all within the EC)?