Hi:
In order then…
1) If you are getting a mortgage from the UK then House Buildings insurance is compulsory anyway and most Spanish mortgage brokers will insist on it too.
If paying cash for a property then the choice is yours, most banks and insurance companies have a range of buildings and contents insurance available, so shop around.
As for making a claim, Insurance companies worldwide will do their utmost to avoid paying out on claims; in this respect Spain is no different from any other country
If you are renting it would be worth having contents insurance for your stuff.
2) Cars…If you bring a car over on UK plates, then legally you have a maximum of six months in which to transfer it onto Spanish plates. Depending on the vehicle this could possibly be expensive since the headlights will need to be replaced with ones that dip to the right; the rear fog light if singular needs to be on the left hand side of the vehicle rather than the right so the rear light clusters may need changing depending on the type.
In order to re-register it onto Spanish plates you will need a Certificate of Conformance from the vehicle manufacturer. Your local main dealer in the UK should be able to supply this or the UK HQ of the vehicle manufacturer.
The vehicle must have current UK Road Tax and MOT all the time it is over here and the only way to get an MOT is to return the vehicle to the UK.
The Spanish ITV certificate (Spain’s equivalent to the MOT cert.) has no relevance to a Brit reg vehicle and cannot be used to re-tax the car through DVLA.
If the UK Road Tax or MOT become out of date over here then the vehicle is illegal throughout Europe and cannot be driven anywhere.
In some cases depending on the Insurer’s small print an invalid MOT or Road Tax cert may also invalidate the Insurance.
DVLA will not send tax discs to anything other than a UK address.
SORN certificates are not valid outside the UK.
It is unlikely that a UK insurance company will insure a Brit registered vehicle for any longer than 3 months of European use. So best to get insured in Spain. There are several UK companies who have offices in Spain for just this purpose.
To avoid import tax on the vehicle you should ensure that you have proof of ownership covering the previous six months.
3) Dog Passports… Best to get the whole thing done in the UK including Rabies shots and the subsequent blood tests. its no good having the Rabies shots entered on the Passport without the blood test report since the main condition of the passport is to prevent Rabies carriers entering the UK. All dogs too need to be microchipped and the details recorded in the Passport. You need to get this done before leaving the UK; Port authorities WILL check the chip against the passport details before allowing the animal out of the UK.
Congrats on asking all the right questions; only another half million to go!
Hope this helps…
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