ELECTRICITY PRICES
You probably already know that the powers that be who supply us with electricity have increased their prices across the board from 1st June. For those who are not aware our Electricity has been increased certain times of the day with cheaper off peak prices at certain hours and all weekend. We are told that the Electricity suppliers are leaving it to the client to save money where they can and to use electricity off peak as much as possible. Well this is isn’t always possible as not everything wants to leave all their washing and housework to the weekend. So for those of you who are unsure the times of the different peaks and off peaks as follows:-
Off Peak (cheapest): 00:00 – 08:00 daily and all weekend
ELECTRICITY REDUCTION OF VAT!!!
We are now informed that due to the rise in electricity rates the Electricity Suppliers in their infinite wisdom have now decided to reduce the rate of VAT at least until the end of the year from 21% to 10%.
3 BILLS!! So it now looks like we will all receive at least 3 separate bills for the month of June. The 1st invoice will be for the first few days of the month before the new tariff comes into force, the 2nd invoice will be for the period for the new tariff to 26th June and the 3rd invoice will be from June 26th which will incorporate all the new changes and reduction in VAT.
It looks as if we cannot make a comparison on costs for these chnges till we have had a full month, so perhaps July! Good luck to try and understand the workings of these companies!
UK DRIVING LICENCES
We have had a complete panic with several clients who did not make the change from UK to Spanish licence in the period coming up to December 31st and the Government extended the use of UK licences to the end of June. Unfortunately since the beginning of January all new applications for the change of licences have been closed so we have had many clients who haven’t been able to make the change. We were told that we had to wait for the UK Government had made another agreement and I am pleased to confirm that the change of licence date has been extended to October 31st. In a bulletin received it states:-
The Spanish Government announced it would extend the validity of UK driving licences in Spain post Brexit until October 31st 2021 rather than the previous deadline of June 30th.
The UK Embassy in Madrid shared the news on its Facebook page saving that they know that many Ex-Pats in Spain have been anxious about the recognition of UK driving licences was set to end of June 30th.
Once we have an update on how to make the change from UK to Spanish (without taking a Spanish test) we will let you know.
Just to also confirm that if you do not live in Spain but have holiday homes here and private cars, you are perfectly legal to drive with your UK driving licence. This does not need to be changed to Spanish.
NEW INTERNATIONAL CERTIFICATE OF INSURANCE (PREVIOUSLY GREEN CARD) ICI
The Spanish Motor Insurers Bureau (Ofesauto) is the organisation which manages coverage abroad for customers insured by Spanish insurers, has modernised and adapted the former green card to current needs. The current document in place is the International Certificate of Insurance (ICI), draft copy document below:
UPDATES:
The new document is white
It includes a QR code which makes it possible to access from a mobile phone
It is valid for the entire ongoing insurance policy
WHEN IS IT REQUIRED
The ICI is required for travelling outside the European Union and associated countries, such as the United Kingdom and Morocco. It is NOT required in any European Union Country (France, Portugal, Germany, Italy….) nor in Andorra or Switzerland (both of which are associated countries).
CHANGE OF PHONE SYSTEM OFFICE
Apologies to everyone if people have been having some problems with our phones over the last few weeks. Our Movistar Centralita system seemed to go from bad to worse daily, we couldn’t hear anyone from the landlines and our internet was so bad we had days we had to work from home! Also having electricity cuts galore due to poor electricity installation in our office kept knocking the entire system out and taking 10 minutes to reboot. So I made a decision to move from Movistar to Orange. Therefore after much negotiations we now have Orange for our total office installation and also have the luxury now of Fibre internet from Avatel!!! So after a very frustrating time it looks like we are now all sorted!
COVID AND TESTING and DIGITAL CERTIFICATE
We are still very slow in Spain for everyone to be vaccinated but hopefully most of us when reading this will have received at least one of our vaccines. Astra Zeneca vaccines have a 12 week wait period for the second dose, although I am told that they are trying to bring this forward to 10 weeks and that anyone who is eligible for the second dose early will be contacted.
Once 2 vaccines have been administered you are able to download from the Certificate from the Salud app to save on your phone or to print off. The Certificate has a barcode so can be scanned in at any airport or other authorised office needing to confirm the validity of the vaccine.
We are forever hopeful that Europe and the UK will soon recognise everyone who have been fully vaccinated to enter their countries without the need for such rigid testing. We all understand the need to comply and not to travel without a negative test so safeguard others but surely the UK with 3 tests in the space of 8-10 days is totally unnecessary? This and the fact that Spain is still on the Amber List hasn’t helped clients with properties here who are still worried about travel and the cost to return to the UK with all the testing involved and quarantine. Tourist rates in the UK have slumped to an all time low due to their rigorous procedures on entering the UK. It hasn’t however stopped the virus from escalating again out of all control with the Delta variant!
Lets again hope that the end of the year will see a more back to normal for everyone and for us to be able to visit our families again. Its at least progress to allow us all out in the open without masks, lets hope it continues.
REMINDER MOTOR POLICIES WITH LIBERTY SEGUROS
Did you know that our Motor insurance policies for Ex Pats include extended cover in the event of total loss or theft:-
100% of value as new if vehicle is less than 2 years old
80% of value as new if vehicle if between 2 and 3 years old
70% of value as new if vehicle is between 3 and 4 years old
Book Value plus 30% extra for vehicles over 4 years old
No other insurer offers the above!!
CASHBACK FOR EXISTING CUSTOMERS TAKING OUT NEW POLICIES TILL 27TH JULY!!
We have our cashback offers still on for any new policies taken out before 27th July with Liberty, existing customers can be awarded 60 euros !!!
Qualifications:
New Car Insurance policies over 360 euros a year!
New Home insurance policies over 250 euros a year!
Has to be paid through the bank by direct debit to qualify. If you have anything you need to be covered (has to be a new policy) then Cashback credited directly after 30 days.
UK VEHICLES SORN OFF ROAD
No longer can car owners declare their vehicle off-road indefinitely.
Changes made in April 2021 now mean that the longest time a vehicle can be on "temporary leave" is a year.
The owner must then request an extension of the disablement, or the vehicle will be automatically re-registered, meaning all taxes and fees will be applicable.
The extension should be applied for from Traffic Headquarters no more than two months before the initial period ends
The DGT made the rule change to avoid occurrences whereby owners would evade the need to take the vehicle to an Authorized Treatment Centre (CAT) and correctly dispose of it at the end of its life.
DGT data shows this type of deceit has doubled in 15 years, going from nearly 61,000 in 2004 to over 132,000 in 2019.
FOR ALL YOUR INSURANCE NEEDS UNDER ONE ROOF CONTACT
EU INSURANCE DIRECT
www.euinsurancedirect.com email:info@euinsurancedirect.com
0034 952830843/ 951080118 /635592610 Speak to Wendy, Ashley, Emma or Claire
