So trying to arrange a ski holiday for February - looked at the government website to see what changes when we leave with a withdrawal agreement on 31st Jan - there is nothing - everything is still in place from months ago when it looked like a No deal Brexit was happening Phoned my insurance company - they have no idea either but are recommending a green card and international driving permit. - so 3 weeks to Brexit and no one has any idea what the arrangements are for travel on 1st Feb The problem with a green card is you have to define your travel dates and you need to order 1 month in advance ( though I am told usually they can be done in 2-3 weeks) - so I have ordered one to cover 2 weeks as I am not sure which week I am going yet. I then asked so what happens if I want to drive to Europe at short notice Insurance company tells me that will no longer be possible. not that it will be difficult - it will NO LONGER POSSIBLE to travel to France at less than 1 months notice in your own car - or presumably a hire car. Guess you have to park at Dover go over on foot and hire a car the other side. Of course there is no point going to the hypermarket for example as we will be limited to 5 bottles of wine or 1 bottle of spirits Also in case of an accident it claims will need to be dealt with in the local country - no longer can your insurer just sort it out As an aside you can forget taking your pet in future - you need 4 months to arrange that as pet passports will be gone So just one of many things which is worse after brexit What were the benefits again? oh yes Blue passports and control of immigration - both of which we could have had anyway without leaving
It's all about "Getting Brexit Done". Just like doing a great big ****, but having no toilet paper to wipe your arse.
The only thing that surprises me is that you expected that someone from this government would have any idea about anything
Feel your pain. We’re actually due to be flying back to the UK on the 1st Feb after a skiing trip and currently unsure of what to expect on that day. Perhaps it’ll all be ok and work out fine... who knows?? If not maybe we’ll just have to stay there
IIRC under the WA, we will have only left the political part of the EU on Jan 31st, so everything should still be the same except we have no MEPs or political representation. All other changes are currently due on December 31st 2020 and depend on negotiations.
Thats my belief as well - but the fact that my insurance company couldn't confirm that is a bit concerning - of course at the moment the WA isnt guaranteed as it still needs to be ratified by both the UK govt and the European parliament I believe - I suspect thats the reason why no one will confirm anything. The rest of my stuff about green cards etc will still apply From Jan 1 next year though unless a separate negotiation to keep us aligned for car insurance etc is concluded - I am thinking thats unlikely to be a priority but could probably be be negotiated back in in some form at a later date as it benefits everyone to have that and has nothing to do with freedom of movement or trade deals
