Driving to Belgium tomorrow, and can't find my V5

[Darrell]

The reason the VED might matter abroad is because it gives them an idea if the car has been in the country over the prescribed legal limit which is a maximum of 6 months in any one year. If the VED is not paid, there is a very good chance the car does not have a valid MOT, which means the car does not have valid insurance and has been there for longer than allowed. The Spanish especially are red hot on this and have been for around 10 years as it allows them to levy spurious fines and charge (illegal) importation fees and impound fees for overage vehicles.

Same as in Greece.

 

[Headhurts]

Well if you do take it never leave it in the car as it's a gift to anyone who steals your car.



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[Deleted member 6183]

I wouldn't say frequently but as I have traveled a lot through the continent it happened that I was stopped. Standard road checks, nothing serious.
Good evening sir, documents please.
Here you are
Thank you good bye.
That sort of checks.

I was curious because I've never been stopped in thousands of miles driving on the Continent.

Must have been lucky.

 

[mike_es]

I was curious because I've never been stopped in thousands of miles driving on the Continent.

Must have been lucky.

In 23 years of driving to and from Spain mostly through France in different cars every time at an average at one point of 1.5 trips per week, I was never stopped to have a document check. Couple of times for speeding, yeah, but document check, never.

 

[clk320x]

Called DVLA they emailed through a Temporary V5 so relaxed now haha

Great service on their part, now I've got everything will just show the BIB over their the doc on my phone if I get pulled over

 

[PenelopePitstop]

What if it's a lease car you would not have the V5.

If car is leased, you request VE103b document from lease company, confirming you are entitled to drive it.

Vehicle on Hire Certificates | BVRLA

 

[Deleted member 65149]

Well if you do take it never leave it in the car as it's a gift to anyone who steals your car.



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I only take a photocopy of the V5 with me when driving in Europe for that very reason. I've no idea whether or not it would be acceptable because I've never been asked for it in the tens of thousands of miles I've driven there.

 

[KillerHERTZ]

Lets be honest, unless its a brand new £100k car and your driving it wrecklessly your never going to get asked for a V5/ownership details...

 

[jdrrco]

Lets be honest, unless its a brand new £100k car and your driving it wrecklessly your never going to get asked for a V5/ownership details...

Not necessarily. We go to France every year and last year (for the first time) were pulled over coming through an Autoroute tollbooth. No issues, no speeding but just a random vehicle check. Had the V5, so not a problem, but no idea if it would have caused one without it.

 

[clk320x]

France in sight

 

[Dippo]

I find the best solution in Belgium is to insist on speaking German. They have 3 official languages - French, Flemish, and German, but only about 5% speak German.

 

[PenelopePitstop]

I would never travel abroad without car documents. I forgot it twice and as a result missed the ferry. It's good I don't live too far from crossing, so not losing hours to go back home.

I was never stopped on any of my travels but I could be unlucky on this particular occasion when without documents. You never know.

 

[markjay]

Been to france with the car twice this year.

Been driving a car with UK plates in the south of Italy some years ago.

Never been asked for documents.

Good luck....

 

[Darrell]

In France last summer and through my AA cover I had to call out the local garage because I flattened the battery. He wanted all my documents.

 

[clk320x]

Happy to report there were no issues whatsoever

I'm still yet to understand why the speed limits on French motorways change so often tho

 

[Bobby Dazzler]

Happy to report there were no issues whatsoever

I'm still yet to understand why the speed limits on French motorways change so often tho

Good to hear that your trip went smoothly.

I may not have driven on the stretch of motorways you've driven on, but there are a few things that spring to mind, based upon my understanding of driving on French roads:

1. Just like in the UK, temporary speed limits are put in place when there's an incident or roadworks in progress.

2. There are signs close to junctions which notify drivers that the speed reduces whilst driving on the exit road.

3. There are regular reminders that the speed limit reduces from 130 kph to 110 kph whilst it's raining.

4. There are reminders that speed limits are different for different types of vehicles, for example when towing.

 

[rf065]

A lot of bad advice on this thread, a few years ago one of the m/bike magazines sent one of their journalists to Europe to cover an event over there, on his bike.

Unfortunately at the time there was a lot of bike theft with bikes stolen in Europe being taken into Eastern Europe. He was stopped for speeding and could not produce his V5, so they impounded his bike and told him he wasn't getting it back until he produced the V5 and proved it was his property.

I think he ended up getting a flight home to pick up the V5 and returning for the bike. There used to be a lot of car theft in Europe where cars were driven over the border and sold in the next country. Not having your V5 is a big risk.

Russ