Exporting a car from France
Discussion
This will either be really easy, or a royal PITA..
My dad died recently, and left me his car. My parents were living in France at the time, and are/were in the process of moving when he fell ill. My mum is now in the UK having completed the sale of the house a couple of weeks after he died. His (French registered) car has been brought over, and is currently sat on my drive collecting moss.
I need to get it into the UK system. This is easy, all the forms are in my native language, and the car is UK Spec and previously registered here.
I also need to get it out of the French system, this isn't so easy, as my french language skills are poor (I can order lunch, but not argue over the bill).
The complication is there are forms (Declaration de Cession -for example) that I believe need to be signed by my late father - as his name is on the Carte Gris.
Will the French authorities accept a pp signature on his behalf - perhaps with a copy of his death certificate? There are numerous forms, the most likely appears to be cerfa N° 13754*03 - is this correct for this purpose - however there's no explicit suggestion or tickbox for exportation - will it be implied by a foreign address for the new owner?
There's also the issue of cancelling the French Insurance - Should I get my insurers to contact the French ones to transfer responsibility - it appear the French system won't allow a cancellation of insurance without evidence of onwards insurance.
Anyone been through similar?
My dad died recently, and left me his car. My parents were living in France at the time, and are/were in the process of moving when he fell ill. My mum is now in the UK having completed the sale of the house a couple of weeks after he died. His (French registered) car has been brought over, and is currently sat on my drive collecting moss.
I need to get it into the UK system. This is easy, all the forms are in my native language, and the car is UK Spec and previously registered here.
I also need to get it out of the French system, this isn't so easy, as my french language skills are poor (I can order lunch, but not argue over the bill).
The complication is there are forms (Declaration de Cession -for example) that I believe need to be signed by my late father - as his name is on the Carte Gris.
Will the French authorities accept a pp signature on his behalf - perhaps with a copy of his death certificate? There are numerous forms, the most likely appears to be cerfa N° 13754*03 - is this correct for this purpose - however there's no explicit suggestion or tickbox for exportation - will it be implied by a foreign address for the new owner?
There's also the issue of cancelling the French Insurance - Should I get my insurers to contact the French ones to transfer responsibility - it appear the French system won't allow a cancellation of insurance without evidence of onwards insurance.
Anyone been through similar?
This may be boring.
I recently told a friend who was moving back to the UK how I thought he should do it for his own car, and apparently it worked, however your new owner thing is more complicated.
If your dad was resident in France and his car was declared as part of his estate, then the notaire who dealt with that will have some way of providing you with a certificate of cession dealing with the French side of things. You then draw two lines across the carte grise and write "carte grise cede le XX/XX/XXXX (date)" between the lines. Then send that with the completed UK form to the UK authority.
As you say, french cars (sort of) must always be insured and the certificate of cession is needed to cancel it . But if you are on good terms with them an email, letter, or phone call should suffice.
So, speaking as someone who had another friend who sold used ladies panties in Exchange and Mart that hadn't been used as the purchasers thought*, I suggest that you do actually have a certificate of cession, signed by your dad, not long before he died. Don't send it to the prefecture, it is only the fr insurers that are interested in this and that should be the only fr doc that you need.
Here's what I sent to my friend:
As far as the authorities (and insurance) here are concerned, a normal certificate of cession should be enough. Fill it out showing you at your UK address as the new proprietor, and send it to the prefecture with an explanatory note, and likewise to your insurer requesting cancellation. All the carte grise stuff is supposed to take place online now, but I doubt the online form will accept a UK address. When you sell a car you pass the carte grise suitably annotated to the new owner, so your handing it to the UK authority is similar really. Always worth keeping photocopies of everything though...…..Beware of fake government websites doing cessation stuff for fees (plus 1€/minute help lines), (likewise for CPAM). The printable cessation form link is here: https://www.service-public.fr/particuliers/vosdroi... … Good luck!
I recently told a friend who was moving back to the UK how I thought he should do it for his own car, and apparently it worked, however your new owner thing is more complicated.
If your dad was resident in France and his car was declared as part of his estate, then the notaire who dealt with that will have some way of providing you with a certificate of cession dealing with the French side of things. You then draw two lines across the carte grise and write "carte grise cede le XX/XX/XXXX (date)" between the lines. Then send that with the completed UK form to the UK authority.
As you say, french cars (sort of) must always be insured and the certificate of cession is needed to cancel it . But if you are on good terms with them an email, letter, or phone call should suffice.
So, speaking as someone who had another friend who sold used ladies panties in Exchange and Mart that hadn't been used as the purchasers thought*, I suggest that you do actually have a certificate of cession, signed by your dad, not long before he died. Don't send it to the prefecture, it is only the fr insurers that are interested in this and that should be the only fr doc that you need.
Here's what I sent to my friend:
As far as the authorities (and insurance) here are concerned, a normal certificate of cession should be enough. Fill it out showing you at your UK address as the new proprietor, and send it to the prefecture with an explanatory note, and likewise to your insurer requesting cancellation. All the carte grise stuff is supposed to take place online now, but I doubt the online form will accept a UK address. When you sell a car you pass the carte grise suitably annotated to the new owner, so your handing it to the UK authority is similar really. Always worth keeping photocopies of everything though...…..Beware of fake government websites doing cessation stuff for fees (plus 1€/minute help lines), (likewise for CPAM). The printable cessation form link is here: https://www.service-public.fr/particuliers/vosdroi... … Good luck!
- more information on request......
Fatt McMissile said:
This may be boring.
I recently told a friend who was moving back to the UK how I thought he should do it for his own car, and apparently it worked, however your new owner thing is more complicated.
Thanks for your insight - I'll try to make what you've mentioned dovetail with my own research (the more I read the deeper into the rabbit-hole I go), I guess the worst that can happen is they'll write back saying I got it wrong..I recently told a friend who was moving back to the UK how I thought he should do it for his own car, and apparently it worked, however your new owner thing is more complicated.
Marcellus said:
When we brought our car back to the UK I don’t actually remember informing the French of anything... registered it in the uk, insured it in the uk and didn’t hear anything from anyone in Grance
I'd be tempted to do this if it wasn't for the (albeit possibly remote) chance of the French chasing my mum, as the inheritor of dad's estate, for unpaid RFL or insurance or whatever.. She is of the opinion the French authorities can be quite tenacious when it suits them.ouch said:
I'd be tempted to do this if it wasn't for the (albeit possibly remote) chance of the French chasing my mum, as the inheritor of dad's estate, for unpaid RFL or insurance or whatever.. She is of the opinion the French authorities can be quite tenacious when it suits them.
I imported my French registered motorbike a few years back. It was registered to my address in France. I just went to DVLA in Manchester and did the registration paperwork and gave then the Carte Gris.I assume they sent that back to France - I didn't do anything else apart from having to prove to the French insurers that I was insured in the UK before they would cancel the insurance.
Procedure might have change now though!
As far as French assurance is concerned just tell them it's sold.
It's a pain having a few cars here. I have had some off the road for more than a year or more due to working on them etc.
Last time I told them I had sold it. Two years later I told them I bought it back. They didn't like it mind.
Tough!
It's a pain having a few cars here. I have had some off the road for more than a year or more due to working on them etc.
Last time I told them I had sold it. Two years later I told them I bought it back. They didn't like it mind.
Tough!
ouch said:
I'd be tempted to do this if it wasn't for the (albeit possibly remote) chance of the French chasing my mum, as the inheritor of dad's estate, for unpaid RFL or insurance or whatever.. She is of the opinion the French authorities can be quite tenacious when it suits them.
I imported my French registered motorbike a few years back. It was registered to my address in France. I just went to DVLA in Manchester and did the registration paperwork and gave then the Carte Gris.I assume they sent that back to France - I didn't do anything else apart from having to prove to the French insurers that I was insured in the UK before they would cancel the insurance.
Procedure might have change now though!
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