Q How can we repatriate our motorhome from Spain?
We have just been on holiday to Spain via the ferry to Santander for our eight-week tour, but we broke down. We had got as far as Mazarrón, in southern Spain, and up to then everything was fine.
We have European breakdown with a reputable motorhome company, which I won’t name for now as this is still ongoing.
It told us it would be with us within 90 minutes, but 21 hours later, I was told it would be later that day.
The company took our ’van and left us on the side of the road with two carrier bags. The ’van was transported 72 miles away and we didn’t know where it was going to until later that day when the breakdown people rang us.
We had some friends touring with us who had gone to a campsite so we got a taxi there. Due to being a bank holiday, everywhere was full bar two nights, so we stayed two weeks on the floor in a two-man tent in our friend’s awning – not good for two pensioners!
The ’van apparently went into storage for three weeks as the breakdown company missed a garage slot. We moved to the next site with our friends, but couldn’t go any further as we would have been travelling further away from our ’van. The ’van was moved to a garage further away in Murcia and that’s where it still is; we have had to fly home. We missed our ferry crossing as they hadn’t fixed it; we are just waiting for calls to see if fixed.
Our dilemma now is, if it gets fixed, the breakdown recovery will not ship it home, the MoT runs out in August, which I think it will then be illegal to drive it home not only in Spain but in this country. Does the breakdown recovery have to retrieve our vehicle back home?
Where do we stand legally? We desperately need some help. The company said if it’s not fixed, it will ship it home, but surely if the MoT has run out, then it’s not classed as roadworthy.
Sue Roberts
A What an unfortunate set of circumstances, a situation that no one could be expected to anticipate other than to be covered by good breakdown insurance cover.
How your breakdown provider responds should be down to the terms and conditions in your contract, as with any insurance. So, check the terms and conditions. If the breakdown cover was arranged through an insurance company linked to one of the major caravanning clubs or directly through one of the clubs, it may be worthwhile speaking to the club for help.
If the breakdown cover was through your motorhome insurer then give it a call for assistance. It may well just refer to the terms and conditions, but it also needs to help you with the legalities of driving without an MoT.
In the UK you can only legally drive on the road if you are driving to a prearranged MoT. For driving in the UK, this should not present a problem, ideally obtaining a MoT appointment on the day you land in the UK. This may mean booking into a garage near the ferry port, but with national companies like Halfords and Kwik Fit allowing you to book online it’s a relatively easy process and it gives you proof of a pre-arranged MoT.
Spain, clearly, is trickier and this is where you need to speak to your insurance company about driving across Spain to the ferry port. Spain does have its own MoT-type system called ITV; this cannot substitute for an MoT, it is only valid for Spanish-registered vehicles.
An insurance company could say driving without a MoT invalidates your insurance, although any possible refusal of a payout would probably only stand up if a fault that an MoT would have revealed was a material cause of the claim.
The basic premise of taking a UK vehicle into another European country is that to be legal you have to be legal in your own country. One could therefore argue that, by travelling direct from the Spanish garage to the Spanish ferry port, you are travelling to a pre-arranged MoT and the nearest testing station is in the UK.
This last point is something to refer to your insurance company from the point of view of insurance cover. However, this legal argument may not pass with a Spanish police officer.
The one certain way of getting the motorhome back to UK legally is on the back of a trailer or flatbed lorry. This will be expensive so check whether the breakdown insurance will cover this.
If you do attempt to drive across Spain, check all the basics like tyres and lights to ensure you are safe and legal and be scrupulous about complying with Spanish traffic law.