What address to give . . .

[busa_rush]

If I was to sell my house and travel around Europe staying in hotels, guest houses and in a camper van for 6-8 months, what address should I give DVLA for my license and the registered keeper address for my cars ?

I couldn't give an address that I don't live at, that wouldn't be legal. Any suggestions ?

[mojocvh]

Can't give you an answer 'busa,

but to be honest the idea of selling up and going on the road for a few months around europe does appeal AKA regi perrin style.......

MoJo.

[gone]

Just develop an Irish accent and pull a caravan and it won't matter anyway

[Dwight VanDriver]

Are you on good terms with a friendly obliging Solicitor ?

DVD

[busa_rush]

Dwight VanDriver said:

Are you on good terms with a friendly obliging Solicitor ? DVD

I am, but one of the benefits for me of travelling for a few months is not having any ties at all, no contact with anybody. Being able to stand in a field in nothing but a pair of shorts and know that it's just me and the birds and my shorts. I don't want to have to ring anybody or give an address every 4 weeks for mail to be forwarded etc. I'll get rid of my mobiles, my e-mail, my laptop etc.

If I genuinly don't have an address I guess I could use a local post office to get insurance and tax and after that ignore the fact I don't have an address. I have my NI number stamped in my head so I can sort out tax etc at a later date, it'll all be paid up to date before I go.

Just wondering about the camper van and the Dax as these will be coming with me.

[busa_rush]

Has nobody else done this ? I've asked DVLA and they're going to come back to me with a reply soon but if anybody else had been in a similar situation before I'd be interested to know what you did.

[pdV6]

Surely as its just for a few months, you let the post pile up at said solicitor's office and collect when you finish travelling?

[james_j]

busa_rush said:

Has nobody else done this ? I've asked DVLA and they're going to come back to me with a reply soon but if anybody else had been in a similar situation before I'd be interested to know what you did.

"Travellers" do it on a permanent basis. PO Box / accomodation address.

[gilbertd]

Go into your local Post Office and ask them to set a PO Box number for you. All mail will sit in the Post Office until you collect it.

[xxplod]

Mail Boxes Etc... just collect it when you come home.

[tim.tonal]

xxplod said:

Mail Boxes Etc... just collect it when you come home.

What would happen if you received an NIP of your outbound journey and didn't pick up your mail until you got back a few months later?

Come to think of it what would happen of you were just away from home on business but the vehicle registered to your address?

[busa_rush]

Heard back from DVLA. Right.

They will no longer accept a PO Box address - not for a V5 or a driving license. They will also not accept dual or joint ownership anymore.

So for both I will need a UK address - they will accept a "care of" address but only if there is somebody there who will open the mail and act on anything appropriately.

I said I could always leave the address as it is now and have the post office forward the mail to a PO Box number but they said their mail isn't forwarded by the PO !

They also said that the vehicle must be taxed wherever it is in the World or it could be impounded at border crossings. This sounds like it's bullshit with the possible exception of France, Belgium or Germany.

Overall, not very helpful.

[gilbertd]

busa_rush said:

They also said that the vehicle must be taxed wherever it is in the World or it could be impounded at border crossings. This sounds like it's bullshit with the possible exception of France, Belgium or Germany.

Strictly speaking this is quite correct. Any vehicle may be legally used in any country providing it meets all requirements that would make it legal in it's country of registration. So if the tax runs out while you are abroad, it isn't legal here so wouldn't be anywhere else. Admittedly, very few countries would know what to look for (although a tax disc in your windscreen that ran out last year might attract far more attention than no tax disc at all - until you get back to the UK). When a friend first moved to France his wife was running her car on UK plates. About two years after they got there, she was collared by the local Gendarme one morning while dropping the kids off at school. Due to the number of ex-pat Brits in the area, he was aware that a car on UK plates should have a disc in the windscreen but noticed that hers didn't. She was advised to either get one or transfer it onto French plates if she intended keeping it over there.