Registering/Insuring a car in Bulgaria

[vit4]

Bit of an odd one, as I've heard anecdotes about this a few times now.

Allegedly, it is possible to drive a UK car to Bulgaria, get it registered/MOT'd etc, and take out insurance in Bulgaria to cover the whole of the EU, the idea being that it's a lot cheaper than doing so over here. I can't find anything solid on the internet about it so thought I'd put it to the font of all knowledge .

If this is true, it would be of great interest to me simply because I'm getting screwed hand-over-fist due to my postcode (19 years old, nearly 2k insurance, clean license, 2 years NCB, 1.4 Astra Very irritating because whilst I could afford to run something a bit nicer I can't justify 3k upwards insurance and very, very little is cheaper than the Astra ). What are the costs involved, and is it simply a loophole or is it illegal either here or in Bulgaria?

[Alfahorn]

I've worked in Bulgaria, you will find most of the cars registered there have been bought in from other European countries including the UK, simply because it's cheaper.

Not sure how you go about it though.

[vit4]

Alfahorn said:

I've worked in Bulgaria, you will find most of the cars registered there have been bought in from other European countries including the UK, simply because it's cheaper.

Not sure how you go about it though.

Interesting, so it's definitely possible

Any other takers?

[EDLT]

If you need to get it registered in Bulgaria I assume you need an address? I know insurance is expensive but buying/renting a flat in the arse end of nowhere can't be that cheap.

[hairykrishna]

No so useful if you want to use it in the UK. From directgov;


UK residents are not allowed to use non-UK registered vehicles on UK roads. The only exceptions are:

- if you work in another EU member state and use an EU-registered company car temporarily in the UK for business and private purposes
- if you lease an EU-registered car and use this temporarily in the UK

[vit4]

hairykrishna said:

No so useful if you want to use it in the UK. From directgov;


UK residents are not allowed to use non-UK registered vehicles on UK roads. The only exceptions are:

- if you work in another EU member state and use an EU-registered company car temporarily in the UK for business and private purposes
- if you lease an EU-registered car and use this temporarily in the UK

Bugger End of that idea then.

How do people get away with that then?? Surely if a certain number was picked up frequently enough on ANPR etc it would be investigated?

Edited by vit4 on Tuesday 5th June 19:52

[Welshbeef]

Also it's registered address would be in Bulgaria not the UK so how would you square the circle when the car resides I the uk... You work I the uk so infact te cars real residence is your UK home. Suddenly under a claim situation insurance null and void plus you have to pay out for the repairs

[TheHeretic]

Unless you are a 5 year resident, you will have to have a company with which to register the vehicle. You then have to got through the whole KAT car registration nightmare. Insurance is cheap. A hundred or 2 leva per year. Oddly enough I did hear about a 'green' ticket, for about 15-20 leva which covers you throughout Europe. I'll try to find out more tommorrow. It seems like a lot of hassle to be honest.

[Engineer1]

I'd guess it depends on if you have an address in Bulgaria as I can't see them letting you register it to a UK address. Also what are the roadtax, MOT and other clerical bits like, also if you are doing it as a way to dodge UK costs which I get from your initial post check all the details of driving foreign registered cars in the UK as believe it or not there are rules.

[vit4]

Welshbeef said:

Also it's registered address would be in Bulgaria not the UK so how would you square the circle when the car resides I the uk... You work I the uk so infact te cars real residence is your UK home. Suddenly under a claim situation insurance null and void plus you have to pay out for the repairs

That makes sense, although I was under the impression that because Bulgarian insurance covers the car as opposed to the driver, the address wasn't taken into consideration? I'm guessing that's a mistruth then

TheHeretic said:

Unless you are a 5 year resident, you will have to have a company with which to register the vehicle. You then have to got through the whole KAT car registration nightmare. Insurance is cheap. A hundred or 2 leva per year. Oddly enough I did hear about a 'green' ticket, for about 15-20 leva which covers you throughout Europe. I'll try to find out more tommorrow. It seems like a lot of hassle to be honest.

That's it - green card cover. It is looking implausible, which is a bummer because briefly it was looking like I'd found a (legal ) way out of the stupidity I'm having to endure now, but if it's no trouble I'd be curious to find out anyway

O/T, checked your profile, it's nice to see a Frontera being used properly! Very underrated cars IMO