The beauty of the “Unified Europe” is that people can migrate freely in it without any hassle, petty administrative rules or insurmountable problems. So far the theory; now back to the real world. In Belgium one does not need a license plate for a 50cc Vespa scooter. In Italy you do. Well, if it’s only that, you might say. Indeed, getting the license plate for my Vespa was relatively easy. Two visits to the vehicle registry office of Reggio Emilia and I was happy to receive my brand new plate. So far so good. However, since my Vespa was from now on registered in Italy, my Belgian insurance was no longer valid. No problem. Christine and I went to the first insurance office we came across in order to ask for a price offer for both my Vespa and her car. The answer was:
- “Impossible. Before we can make any offer, you must present to us the official document from your former Belgian insurance stating your bonus-malus category.”
- “But surely, if we tell you that we’re in the lowest category and that we haven’t had any accidents for the past 20 years, you must be able to tell us more or less how much an insurance with you would cost? It’s not like we’re already signing a contract, is it?”
- “No. Not without this document!”
Christine grabbed her phone and called our Belgian insurance agent. He said he could produce a statement saying that we’re very decent drivers and send it by fax”.
- “That’s not good enough”, the Italian agent said, “I need the original copy.”
- “But we won’t receive the original copy until we’ve returned our Belgian license plate! So, what should we do in the mean time? We can’t drive around without plates or insurance, now can we?”
The man’s stunning reply was:
- “Well, you can always go by bus?”
We left the office totally devastated. A bit further down the road there was another insurance broker, but we got exactly the same story there. Be it that this lady eventually did produce a simulation based on our claim that we were in the lowest bonus-malus scale.
Eventually, we returned to the first broker (who had - to be honest - produced a quote for insuring my Vespa based on me being a “new” driver and who turned out to be quite a bit cheaper than the others). In the end, for a Vespa the difference between the starter bonus-malus category and the best category wasn’t all that high and I wouldn’t pay a lot more than I did in Belgium. Our Belgian insurer had in the mean time also gone at great lengths to send us some documents which we could use to convince his Italian counterpart. As far as Christine car’s concerned, we still want to wait a while because she still wants to return to Flanders for a week or two in September. Apparently the Swiss customs are peculiarly picky about Italian license plates. But we’re certain that eventually we can arrange everything. In the mean time, we can already drive around on my Vespa along the beautiful Emilian mountain roads. Which we’ve already done in abundance over the last week. In this kind of weather, there’s no better and enjoyable way of transport around here. The Vespa is just made for these winding roads through the forests and across the hills (downhill that is – uphill with two persons on the scooter is more like a stationary view of the local scenery), where you can expect yet another spectacular view after every curve.
All in all, it’s perhaps all of these administrative problems that make the difference between the people who can make their dream to move to a new life come true and those who can’t make it. I can very much understand that many would already have given up by now. But I have to give Christine all the credit here because due to her perseverance, we’re still here, stronger than ever. And we eventually WILL make that dream come true. You can rest assured of that!
- “Impossible. Before we can make any offer, you must present to us the official document from your former Belgian insurance stating your bonus-malus category.”
- “But surely, if we tell you that we’re in the lowest category and that we haven’t had any accidents for the past 20 years, you must be able to tell us more or less how much an insurance with you would cost? It’s not like we’re already signing a contract, is it?”
- “No. Not without this document!”
Christine grabbed her phone and called our Belgian insurance agent. He said he could produce a statement saying that we’re very decent drivers and send it by fax”.
- “That’s not good enough”, the Italian agent said, “I need the original copy.”
- “But we won’t receive the original copy until we’ve returned our Belgian license plate! So, what should we do in the mean time? We can’t drive around without plates or insurance, now can we?”
The man’s stunning reply was:
- “Well, you can always go by bus?”
We left the office totally devastated. A bit further down the road there was another insurance broker, but we got exactly the same story there. Be it that this lady eventually did produce a simulation based on our claim that we were in the lowest bonus-malus scale.
Eventually, we returned to the first broker (who had - to be honest - produced a quote for insuring my Vespa based on me being a “new” driver and who turned out to be quite a bit cheaper than the others). In the end, for a Vespa the difference between the starter bonus-malus category and the best category wasn’t all that high and I wouldn’t pay a lot more than I did in Belgium. Our Belgian insurer had in the mean time also gone at great lengths to send us some documents which we could use to convince his Italian counterpart. As far as Christine car’s concerned, we still want to wait a while because she still wants to return to Flanders for a week or two in September. Apparently the Swiss customs are peculiarly picky about Italian license plates. But we’re certain that eventually we can arrange everything. In the mean time, we can already drive around on my Vespa along the beautiful Emilian mountain roads. Which we’ve already done in abundance over the last week. In this kind of weather, there’s no better and enjoyable way of transport around here. The Vespa is just made for these winding roads through the forests and across the hills (downhill that is – uphill with two persons on the scooter is more like a stationary view of the local scenery), where you can expect yet another spectacular view after every curve.
All in all, it’s perhaps all of these administrative problems that make the difference between the people who can make their dream to move to a new life come true and those who can’t make it. I can very much understand that many would already have given up by now. But I have to give Christine all the credit here because due to her perseverance, we’re still here, stronger than ever. And we eventually WILL make that dream come true. You can rest assured of that!
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