Settling up before you leave

When you're leaving the Gulf, the car is usually one job on a very long list. The worry we hear most is that something small, a forgotten fine or a missing letter, will hold the car up at the last minute. Fear not. That can be avoided almost entirely by settling up in the right order and starting earlier than feels necessary.

Why settling up comes first

Before a Gulf car can be deregistered or put on export plates, the traffic authority wants to know nothing is owed against it. That means finance, fines and tolls.

Until those are cleared, the authority generally won't release the car, and until the car is released, it can't be loaded. So this step decides the timing of everything after it, which is why we always ask about it first.

The detail of the deregistration itself is in our guide to export plates and deregistration. This page covers what you need to clear beforehand.

Finance and the bank clearance letter

If there's finance on the car, it has to be settled in full before export. Paying it off is only half the job, though.

You'll normally need a clearance letter from the bank confirming the loan is closed. The traffic authority uses that to lift the bank's interest from the registration. Without it, the record still shows a lender, and the car stays where it is.

Banks can take a little while to issue these letters, so ask for the settlement figure and the clearance letter at the same time. Keep the letter with your other originals, because it's part of the ownership story you may need later.

Fines and tolls, across every emirate

Traffic fines need to be cleared before the car can come off the register. In the UAE, so do toll accounts: Salik in Dubai and Darb in Abu Dhabi.

Fines follow the car across emirates. A speed camera on a weekend trip to another emirate will still be attached to the registration, even if you've never had a letter about it. Check the car's record as a whole, not just the emirate you live in.

Toll balances are worth a look too. Settle anything outstanding, and once the car has gone, make sure the tag or account is closed in the way the operator asks so nothing new gets charged to you.

Elsewhere in the Gulf, the same principle applies with different names. In Qatar many owners check fines through Metrash, and in Saudi Arabia through Absher. Our country pages, such as Qatar and Saudi Arabia, go into the local picture.

Cars registered to an employer or leasing company

Plenty of Gulf cars are registered in the name of a company, either because the employer provided it or because it was leased.

If that's your situation, the car has to be transferred into your name before it can be exported. The authority will only release a car to its registered owner, and right now that owner isn't you.

This depends on someone else's paperwork as well as yours, so raise it with your HR team or leasing company as soon as you know you're moving. It's often the slowest item on the list, simply because it involves another organisation.

Insurance, from your driveway to ours

Keep your local insurance in place until the car has been collected. Up to that moment it's still a local car on local roads, and you're still responsible for it.

From collection onwards, the car is in transit. We offer transit insurance for the full value of the car, so it's covered on its way to our own site in Castle Donington, Derby. We'll confirm exactly what the cover includes in your quote.

That's why we ask you for a realistic value when you request a quote. It means the cover is based on what the car is worth to you.

Do it while you still have a local number

Almost every Gulf government service now relies on a local mobile number for one-time codes, and many rely on a local bank account for payments and refunds.

Once you've cancelled your phone contract and closed the account, logging in to a traffic portal or paying a last fine from abroad becomes far harder than it needs to be. It's a very common reason for a car to be held up after its owner has left.

So settle up first, and cancel last. Keep the number and account open until the car is collected and you've confirmed nothing else is outstanding.

A sensible order of jobs

Every move is different, but this order works for most people:

1. Ask for a quote so we can talk you through the timings for your car.
2. If the car is registered to a company, start the transfer into your name.
3. Request the finance settlement figure and clearance letter.
4. Check and pay all fines and tolls, across every emirate or region.
5. Send us copies of the Mulkiya or Istimara, your passport and proof of ownership.
6. Agree a collection date, then deregister or arrange export plates close to it.
7. Keep local insurance until collection, then let transit cover take over.
8. Only then close the bank account and cancel the phone contract.

If you'd like the whole move in one place, our leaving checklist covers the car alongside everything else. And if you're still deciding whether the car is worth bringing at all, have a read of ship it or sell it.