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Hello all,
My husband & I have been really appreciating the informative nature of this website. We live in Canada and are really intrigued by the “Camper Van Life” within Europe. I have been having some trouble trying to figure out the legalities, guidelines and insurance to name a few things on purchasing a campervan as a non EU resident. Any thoughts, links, advice would be much appreciated.
Happy trails
Friendly Camper
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I’m portuguese and i can try
I’m portuguese and i can try to see how you can do what you want under de portuguese laws.
Is de reverse possible? It’s possible for a non canadian resident to buy a used caravan and travel in the american continent? The idea it’s by 2013/2014 began a big travel from north america to Argentina (1 year long)
The cheapest RV that I can find are from germany, in Portugal are a flurescent market of imported old and very old rv from germany.
Best regards
Nuno
Hi FriendlyCamper
Very glad
Hi FriendlyCamper
Very glad you are enjoying the website.
In the UK at least, and most likely throughout the EU, anyone can own a vehicle, even a non-resident. The receipt from the sale proves ownership. Once you own the vehicle you must also have the V5 document (in the UK. Often called the Log Book). The V5 proves the registered keeper of the vehicle, which is the owner 99% of the time. To become the registered keeper you need a postal address. Once you apply as the new keeper the documents come to you within about 2 weeks.
The only problem you might have is insurance. Insurance is compulsory. As a non-resident your options are more limited.
Downunder Insurance offers campervan insurance for non-residents, including Canadians.
http://www.duinsure.com/sites/duinsure.nsf/PagesBySection/Policies_Van_Insurance
You’ll no-doubt pay more than a resident.
Superquote also offer something similar
http://www.superquote.com/foreign-licence-international-insurance/
Finding and owning a vehicle is fairly straightforward. The UK has many great and cheap vehicles, and obviously English is spoken. But we drive on the left-side of the road.
If you speak French then consider buying a vehicle there, as they ride on the right-side of the road, in-line with the rest of Europe.
Spain and Portugal don’t have as many cheap vehicles as UK or France.
Germany is also a good place to buy a used vehicle. Many people speak good English there, and are helpful.
I hope this helps, and if you do come to experience the CamperVanLife perhaps you’ll post your experiences here to help others.
All the best
Darren
Dreaming of Europe
Thank you very much for the response Darren.
We have found a few companies two in Netherlands and one in Germany that would register and insure a van for us as we do not have a postal address to do it ourselves. (Do you know of any other businesses or people that provide that service as well?) With that said, is it possible for a non resident to obtain a Postal Box address for example to legally own, register, and insure my own van without the “middleman”? Our plan is to sell the van after our trip.
Is there a more direct term or definition for what these companies are providing? We have been searching far and wide with the help of Google (20+ hours) to find a wider range of companies offering this service to get a better idea of the range of costs and have had a hard time finding closure due to the limited results we are getting. The conclusion we have come to with our research is that there is only three companies openly offering this service. If that’s the case, we should open up shop 🙂 *confused…We think we need the forum’s wisdom in this circumstance.
You did mention anyone can own, but getting it on the road
is what’s holding us back from feeling confident before we leave our country.
What we are trying to do is get a vehicle for 6 months or longer and enjoy the rural areas of the UK and Western/Central Europe. The idea was to work off our limited budget and try to make it last since this type of trip will only come once in our lives. We have been saving for this trip for 10 years as of February 13. We have sold our home and moved into the inlaws and are trying to make sense of the Schengen policies, green card insurance, the inability to own a vehicle without a postal address and are realizing renting a campervan can be a very costly thing for a young Canadian couple.
If you could be so kind as to provide us with any helpful strategies or insight, this advice could save us a fortune and allow our once in a lifetime opportunity to be a success!
Cheers
Friendly Camper
P.S. we attached an image of one potential option that shouldn’t require insurance, but safety may be an issue! lol
Perhaps the first decision to
Perhaps the first decision to make is whether you want a left-hand-drive vehicle or right-hand-drive vehicle. The latter is best for UK and Ireland, but less convenient for continental Europe. For the latter you should perhaps go with the Netherlands or Germany option. If you’re not bothered then you can consider getting a vehicle in any country.
I don’t know of any business that offer the Postal Box option.
In terms of getting a vehicle ein your name, you only need a postal box for 2 reasons. To receive the registration documents, and then to receive the insurance documents. Once you have these you will not need to re-visit the postal box, as you won’t receive any more documents.
If you have any friends in Europe perhaps you can receive the documents at their home. Or if you are going to stay at a hotel when you arrive, perhaps they will let you receive the mail there? If you buy a vehicle from a dealer perhaps they will allow you register the vehicle with their postal address, especially if you agree a buy-back policy with them once you have finished your trip.
Once you have these documents you can leave for your trip without expecting any more documents.
As you say, renting is a very expensive option, with lots of limitations. Much better to buy.
As far as I know, then Schengen policy is very simple. When you enter a Schengen country (e.g. entering France by air) immigration see you through to all of the Schengen countries. If you then drive to Spain you can simply drive over the border. There are no border patrols or checks. I have sometimes driven over the border without realising. Occasionally there might be a random border check, but the authorities are checking passports and rarely vehicle documents. I have been stopped in France, Spain and Portugal, and each time the police wanted to see in the back of my vehicle, where they did not enter, just looked inside the door. And a quick look at my passport. Then I was on my way. These were random roadside checks, not at borders. I have never seen a border check when crossing between Schengen states. UK and Ireland are not Schengen states, as they are islands.
I like the rickshaw camper idea, very nice. I suspect the hills of the Alps might cause a problem 🙂
So like I say, the postal issue needn’t be a problem. You just need somewhere willing to allow you to accept mail. You will need to wait about 2 weeks to get all of the documentation.
Looking for companies
Hi Friendly Camper,
I am about to head to Europe and was hoping to buy a VW van to tour around for the summer. I have had a hard time finding companies like the ones you mention (that will help with registering and insuring the vehicle…and perhaps selling too?). Can you let me know what websites you have found for these companies?
Thanks!