If you have had a vehicle registration request refused and one of our documents is involved, please read below.

We are a research company and our primary duty on each paid service is to present researched information to you about your vehicle. The purpose of our service is to present our researched information to you, the service buyer. The product, when the product is a EUROCERT ICOC Conformity Certificate, is a written report stating researched information about your vehicle. Its purpose is to furnish you with a hard copy of the key facts and type approval, if applicable/relevant. Beyond the delivery of this service and product it is up to you, the document holder and vehicle owner, what you use the document for. We do not offer any guarantees about any uses you choose or make any promise about what its issue may lead to. We do offer free advice and after-sales support but we cannot be held responsible for frustration and losses resulting from a chosen use of one of our documents.

Spainj, France and other Western European [EU] countries

If you go to a Prefecture in France or a similar office anywhere in Western Europe, to register your vehicle that was previously registered within the EU (any EU country, and others with any special legal agreements like EEA) - you need your UK V5C or any other EU member state vehicle registration document. Presentation of your vehicle registration document along with a summary of the vehicle's key EU registration facts, including type approval number if applicable (our Independent Certificate of Conformity) is - legally - all you need.

Legally, there is no other document or test required, as per EU law (EC directive number 2007/C68/04). In practice, for the vast majority of the time, the process goes smoothly and the registration is accepted. The officer will type the information from our document and your registration document in to a computer portal that actually requires very limited information (all of which is presented on our document). Note: our document and your registration document must match on key data sections.

If your vehicle was registered in an EU country WITHOUT a type approval number (eg. in the UK, through an IVA test, or because it simply wasn't written on the registration document at the time of registration), even though we may present a type approval on our document, the registering officer may ask you to undergo an additional local test regarding EC road compliance. In this instance our document is still good to book that test, and may have other uses for you in the future (e.g. toll roads, further registrations, sale of vehicle, etc.).

Fact: our documents, with, and sometimes even without, an accompanying registration document, are accepted all over Europe, on a regular or daily basis. We have many many repeat customers, trade customers (car dealers and sellers) and many ongoing recommendations, even from car manufacturers, such as TOYOTA.

Limitations: unfortunately, it has become very clear to us that in France, where most of our customers are, many officers and Prefecture clerks view transactions as personal transactions. This causes problems from time to time. Our own experience is also that French bureaucrats can sometimes be difficult for no apparent reason and even when the law and procedure is on the side of the 'client'. It is also the case that sometimes in France, and Spain, and elsewhere, the officers cannot work the PC input system properly and repeatedly ask for additional information. Or different information. If this has happened to you we sincerely regret your situation but please accept that this is not our fault. We provide researched and/or verified information on documentation that has been tried and tested and is supplied in accordance with the law. We also make a special effort to tune our documents in to the operating portal used. There is no need for any additional  information (such as length of vehicle) which is not required for a registration.

Common errors by staff in administrative offices in Spain, France and elsewhere:

(1) The D2 field does not have enough characters, has too many characters, won't go in the computer, contains asterisks or special characters -  The D2 field on the portal is not obligatory and can contain 'NON DISPONIBLE'. The operator can skip this field and in fact it is not legally required. In the UK blanks for D2 is perfectly acceptable. We do not know why this field causes so many problems among PC operators in France. Commas (say "pas de virgule") do not seem to help matters.

(2) In Spain there seems to be a (rare) tendency for officers to try and 'sell' a report by a local engineer instead of accepting our document or similar from similar companies to us. We think this may be discriminatory or slightly opportunist. it is not in the spirit of the EU and may not be legal, by EC law. It should be dismissed by the registrant and a fuss made.

3) In Spain, France and Portugal, an administrative clerk will sometimes take one look at the client and one look at our document and the V5C and say 'NO', 'you have to go to the manufacturer', or other things. This is due solely to inexperience and, again, though we sympathise with your situation, we cannot endure this and under no circumstances will we consider this any fault of ours. We cannot become involved in personal disputes between clients and administrative officials. At the end of the day, they are in charge and their decision goes.

4) In Spain, if using our document to help book or initiate a vehicle test at an ITV centre you may be asked for section 50 and 51 information. This refers to information on the original CoC from the manufacturer. However, we cannot make any sense of this. 51 is about exemptions.

We hope that if you have suffered a rejection, you may be able to go back and ask exactly what the problem is and get clear answers. If we can modify our document or write a supporting letter we will. Otherwise, please accept our sympathies and consider that our document may and probably will have future uses, like when you come to sell the car, or for use in toll systems, or re-register again, etc.

Site ownership details:

DVLA ADVICE AND ADMIN SERVICES
179 Whiteladies Road, Bristol, BS8 2AG