Deal or no deal Brexit and European motoring

[bainbridge]

Just had an email from my car insurer advising what to do and it appears they're (like most other businesses) operating on a no deal basis as a worst case scenario:

I don't want to start a stay/go debate but I've done a bit of driving in Europe and it's just so straightforward at the moment. We we're looking at doing a summer 2019 roadtrip but I'm waiting to see if we go deal or no deal before booking anything. We'll probably still go regardless but I'd like to know what's what before booking.

If we go no deal then would we really have to queue up to enter each country? Surely having no bordr barriers for so long will make this unworkable? Maybe it's some sort of electronic scanning system that pings if you've bought your greencard.

 

[Phil99]

If we go no deal then would we really have to queue up to enter each country? Surely having no bordr barriers for so long will make this unworkable? Maybe it's some sort of electronic scanning system that pings if you've bought your greencard.

There's basically no infrastructure to enable this, even if they wanted to. Once you're in the Schengen area you shouldn't expect any further routine checks, deal or no deal (in the same way as drivers coming in from other non-EU countries). As far as I'm aware the only way they'd find out you didn't have a Green Card would be by asking you to produce it after being pulled over by the police/after an incident.

Edit:

There's a chance you might need an IDP as well as a Green Card.

 

[Nasher]

On the plus side, they won't be able to chase you back in the UK for speeding tickets anymore

But yea as above, what's the chances of them actually noticing? It's not like the French can be bothered with this stuff and once your in mainland Europe there are no border checks anyway. Just flash your UK passport at Calais and off you go, whatever.

 

[Invertigo]

Keeping an eye on this as we're booked to go to France for 2 weeks driving in mid April. Hadn't considered that an IDP may be required, but it seems they're pretty easy to get a hold of if needed.

 

[johnny6]

Wouldn't a copy of your insurance certificate be proof of the minimum legal requirement for insurance?