Extend your export insurance while the Portuguese registration runs

• waiting for the national homologation number from the IMT;
• waiting for an inspection appointment at a CITV;
• the DAV at customs and the calculation of the ISV;
• the IMT file, or the ISV exemption on transfer of residence;
• a delay in transport, or a buyer who is not ready yet.

Plan ahead: the DAV is due within 20 working days of entry, and a request made in time lets the new cover follow on from the current one without a gap.

1. Send your request via WhatsApp, email or the form on this page. Photos and documents go through the WhatsApp button next to the form, or by email.
2. We check the request and ask the insurer for approval.
3. We confirm the approval and the price: from €120 per 14 days. Heavy or unusual vehicles can cost more; the price is always confirmed beforehand.
4. You pay by bank transfer. The new insurance certificate with Green Card usually arrives by email within 15 minutes, as a PDF.

If the insurer does not agree, you pay nothing. You can extend more than once, each time by 14 days and each time after the insurer agrees. At our desk in Hengelo it is possible too; the Green Card document is then usually ready within 15 minutes. For several vehicles or a long-term relationship a discount is sometimes possible, always agreed in advance.

You do not need to come back to the Netherlands. The extension is arranged online, via WhatsApp, email or the form, and the new Green Card arrives by email as a PDF. Tell us in which country the vehicle is now and where it is going, so the insurer can assess the request. If papers or plates also need to be sent, documents go out insured with tracking.

• the registration number;
• the current Green Card or policy, as a photo or PDF;
• the end date of the current cover;
• where the vehicle is now, and its destination;
• the details of the policyholder and the driver.

Apply in time, so the new cover follows on from the current one. The policy and Green Card state in which countries and for which driver you are insured.

• The export plate itself is not extended. On Dutch roads you may drive for 14 days after deregistration and never longer than the APK (the Dutch roadworthiness test) is valid.
• Still in the Netherlands after those 14 days? Then the vehicle can only travel on a trailer or transporter.
• In Portugal the Portuguese rules apply. During the ISV payment period, a car with a valid foreign registration may only be used with a copy of the DAV and driven by the owner or their spouse or partner. Whether a Dutch export plate still counts as valid registration after its 14 days is not clear, and the rules vary by country: check with customs before you drive, especially if you are resident in Portugal.
• Cover already expired? The vehicle is uninsured between the old and the new cover and must not be driven in that gap.

Background on export insurance for Portugal, white export plates and the Portuguese registration steps.