Vehicle docs stolen while abroad: Croatia-Bosnia-Montenegro(Serbia). HELP!
 

I left London about a week ago and have had a fantastic time covering the 2000 miles to the massive island of Krk in Croatia. So far the route's been: London (eurotunnel), France, Switzerland (SE from Davos was amazing), Italy (Dolomites and Marmalado in particular were excellent, Slovenia, Austria, Slovenia again (Bovec region is great) and now Croatia. I think today's my sixth day.

And to my current dillemma: At some point yesterday I had some vehicle documents stolen from a pannier. I keep all the important stuff beside me at night so it must have been whilst stopped at a petrol station or cafe... God knows where! The result: I still have my passport, UK driving licence (and paper counterpart), UK insurance document (Ebike) and tax disc. However, I no longer have my V5 vehicle registration, no MOT and no green card.
Thankfully I'm in Croatia where no green card is required but the vehicle registration is much more of an issue. So far I didn't have to produce any documents until the Slovenia-Croatia border where a wave of a passport was all that was required. So that would suggest that I could just backtrack my route and as long as I have no accidents and no police stops then it should be fine. But a bit risky!

I was hoping to continue south to Dubrovnik, pop through Bosnia to get to Montenegro (Serbia) to see a friend. What are those two border crossings like? Are there minor borders there where its possible to slip through without checks?

I don't fancy the long retracing of my steps so far and have a better alternative: to continue down to Dubrovnik, catch a ferry (as a foot passenger) to Kopor in Montenegro, see my mate, back to Dubrovnik and then catch a ferry with the bike to Italy. At least I'm then back in an easier EU country to deal with things.

So... any tips on the Croatia-Bosnia and Bosnia-Montenegro (Serbia) crossings?

And can a UK embassy do anything about a stolen V5?

Cheers,
Charlie

Just found out that I can take a ferry from Rijeka straight to Dubrovnik. That will skip Bosnia and just leave the Montenegro border... The Dubrovnik idea is looking even more likely. Would still like to be able to bike the 10 miles from there to my friend in Tivat, just by Kotor.

And there are loads of sailings to Bari, Italy from there so that would work well too...

So just the one border crossing now: Croatia-Serbia(Montenegro)

Sorry to hear about your lost V5 Charlie
Simplest way might be to contact the DVLA

I have checked with them this morning and they will ONLY send a replacement V5 to the original address.

You might want to ask your friend to SCAN a copy front and rear of the main page when the new one arrives which can then be sent to you electronically- You then print a good colour copy and have it laminated- then just say it is your V5 - which it is-

For the original, if you are still travelling, you will need someone at your address to forward it to you- either by DHL who will keep it at their office until you collect if you do not have an address to give them.

good luck

Thanks for the advice; the DVLA were amazingly helpful. I've ordered a new V5, which should arrive at my UK address within a few days. For now I need to fax them a page about what's happened, my details and a number to fax me back on. They will then send me out some proof that I am the registered owner/keeper of the bike... just got to find a fax machine that accepts a UK number (one tried so far but it didn't work).

Re: the green card. I've been reading up on here and it seems that most people simply buy insurance at the border when so required. Getting my second international drivers licence would be helpful though... Time to do some DHL'ing I think (or wait until the new V5 comes through and then get them both sent out...).

Right, time to find a fax machine and then go and get my bike serviced.

Cheers,
Charlie

:thumbup1:

I'd still consider someone in UK scanning the V5 and emailing it to you.
It's an alternative -
USB sticks are fab for that- passport etc all scanned for the very reason you experienced-
Insurance can usually be bought (even if often not worth the paper it's printed upon) at borders so would not stress about your green card or the international permit provided you have your original.

Well, after two days of serious hassle and inconvenience the DVLA managed to get a faxde copy of a temporary registration certificate to me. God that was a nightmare to sort because the Export Section's fax doesn't work properly... And they insisted it did!

So Croatia to Bosnia was just a wave of my passport. Met some great bikers in Sarajevo and after an awesome day today an now in Dubrovnik. Again, Bosnia to Croatia required nothing at all: just a huge grin from the border guard who loved having so many bikers fly past!

Long may this document free travelling continue!