chocolate_o_brian

iTrader: (22)

got a query regards this.

i have a polish friend at work called anna, nice lass and works in security.

anywho, her parents are buying her a 2000 plate 1.8t audi a3 quattro. but its being bought in poland and then driven back over here so its a left hooker polish registered etc.

now currently she has a polish licence and an english car (little honda civic), and thus had english insurance road tax etc.

so what i wanna know is when she drives her new car back from poland, whats the crack with uk road tax/insurance. her mum works in insurance in poland so is onna sort her out.

do foreign cars have 6-12 months free road tax etc? i dunno about this and she is confused as not to be running illegally.

Ginge !

iTrader: (1)

can be here for 12 months then shes gotta either register it here or take it back for 24 hours then come back i belive

i know thats the rules in malta as fast cars are VERY VERY expensive to import so some of the big power cars stay registered in england/where ever and they visit italy ect for the weekend then come back

BMWhere?

My understanding of the EC rules are that you can maintain the car on non local (Polish in this case) plates as long as you maintain a permanent address (where the vehicle is registerd) to which you intent to return. The same is also true for your license! The 12month rule is actually only 6 months, but due to some strange rule (can't remember what exactly) you can't be forced to changed until after 12 months and then only if you no longer maintain the registered address or don't intend to return.

The key points here are maintaining the address - meaning any mail sent to the address would be received by you within a reasonable timescale - and your intention to return - something that is almost impossible to prove either way!

I could be completely wrong about this, but this is my understanding of the current situation and have successfully used this excuse with both police and border guards when previously driving my RB5 on UK plates with UK license after 5 years in Germany! But maybe I'm just a convincing liar I stand to be corrected on this point!

As far as insurance is concerned, all insurance companies in the EC must provide a minimum 3rd party insurance in all EC countries (and some others e.g. Switzerland), regardless of international policies. Quite often UK companies will issue a green card and state that your cover is for a maximum of 30 days, however, this just means you are covered at the full insurance level for 30 days, following that you are basic 3rd party cover only, but are covered!

In theory, you could get insurance from any EC country to cover a car registered in any other EC country, however in practice, most insurance companys will not insure when they consider the risk too high. There are a couple of UK companies that will insure a UK registered car based at a foreign address for an unlimited period. I'm sure there are also companies that will insure a foreign registerd LHD car in the UK, but expect to have to shop around a lot and pay way over the odds on the premium! Just a guess, but I think its probably become quite popular for Polish insurance companies to offer long term insurance cover for Polish cars register in UK

Ian

iTrader: (10)

also thet dont pay congestion charges inlondon, speeding sickets, parking tickets etc etc, well the ones i know dont

boxst

This is a personal annoyance of mine, that you can quite happily drive here without paying roadtax and/or insurance for in theory up to 6 months. In reality it is virtually impossible to validate how long the car has been here and as such is more or less exempt from road tax.

With regards to congestion charge, speeding and parking tickets they do actually turn up in Poland eventually. Of course they are not then actually enforced but they are trying.

Steve

chocolate_o_brian

iTrader: (22)

well basically anna is permanently living here, has done for around 3-4 years since the start of the influx. shes one of the good uns, hard working etc, and her english is better than mine

were quite good friends, she has met nat etc, and we regurlarly natter on msn. but as she had a uk car before and her parents are buying her this audi (today i think) in poland, she was unsure what to do. naturally the less honest of her polish compadres insist she needs no insurance/tax/m.o.t. etc as its "impossible" to enforce on foreign cars. i said if you wanna risk that on a £5k plus car your a "silly irresponsible person"

boxst

She DOES need insurance, it just can be in Poland. Insurance is much cheaper and it is on the car rather than the person who drives it. She also needs a tax disk (albeit a Polish one) and a Polish MOT.

Steve

BMWhere?

Its all very well having a go at the Polish for not paying UK road tax, MOT, speeding/parking fines etc. but there are probably far more Brits doing exactly the same with their British registered cars all over Europe!

The point is, you still have to have a legal car wherever you drive it, which means it has to have a valid road tax and MOT for the country of registration and valid insurance for wherever you are driving it. Overall, everything balances out due to the number of Brits taxing their cars in the UK and living abroad.

Sooner or later there will be a Europe-wide system which will allow the police in any EC country to trace a vehicle to any other member state. The Police can already do it, but its currently cost prohibitive - the cost to trace the car cost more than the unpaid fines - so it only gets done in extreme cases!

If a Polish person chooses to drive without tax/insurance, then that is their risk - they are breaking the law and can be prosecuted in either England or Poland if either authority decides to check. If they have an accident, then they would be in serious poo! But again, before having a go at the Polish, just think how many Brits are also driving illegally abroad (particularly in Spain!), not to mention how many Brits are driving illegally in the UK!

chocolate_o_brian

iTrader: (22)

please dont assume i was having a pop at any one nation, that wasnt my intention.

from your replys basically what your saying is its a case of everything "at least" being from the country of original registration. il pass this onto anna

cheers

Beastie

iTrader: (2)

I have found the biggest problem is the MOT or European test. A polish Car will need an EU test after 4 years then every two years after that. We do not carry out an EU test in Britain we carry out an MOT test after 3 years and then every year afterwards.

To keep the car legal with her Polish insurers she will need to keep a valid EU test on the car, this will involve at least going to the continent or maybe even Poland to get this cert.

My story - UK car in Greece - Could insure in Greece - now no insurer will insure on British Plates in Greece - Could insure in UK but car has no MOT cert as its in Greece - cost for Greek plates right now = 16000 quid car only cost 8000. Result = car not being used - law should change this year in Greece and i should then get Greek plates ...... i hope...... Failing all that book it in for an MOT in UK and drive it back on UK insurance but 2000 miles quite a long drive for MOT

Scoobyspanners

What happens when an uninsured foreigner runs in to you? Only ask because the SW (Bridgwater any way) where I live is now flooded with these people and I know of one instance where a German Woman "Borrowed" her Greeks mates car and crashed it whilst *issed up. No one else was involved. She legged it from the car and nothing came of it. Don't think the law is set up to cope with these people, you can report uninsured/untaxed cars but you need to inform the DVLA (I think it is the DVLA) of where the car is parked how long it has been here and the address of the owner/user of the car.

boxst

If someone uninsured runs into you then you report it to the Police and your insurance company will pay for your repairs. It will TRY to find out the other owners details, but who knows if they bother. There are agreements (especially within the EU) to get the registered keepers details.


Steve

Scoob99

iTrader: (1)

Choc, pop over to 5ive-0.org/forum and ask one of the traffic boys who may be able to help you.
Cheers
Colin

Joeblunt

All foreign vehicles must register with DVLA if they are a visitor to the UK if their vehicle has been here 6 months in any 12 month period. If however there's intent to reside i.e. there's evidence that the keeper intends to reside in the UK permanently - then they must register their vehicle immediately.
So in this Polish ladies case she is a permanent UK resident so she cannot keep or use a foreign registered vehicle, as soon as she receives this vehicle she must register it and insure it with a UK Insurer and it will need to be MOT test to ensure it reaches British standards. Its the same with any country outside the UK just using this Polish lady as an example.
She can keep her Polish Photocard licence until it expires.
What I would say is proof of residency is: British National Insurance Number, UK Driving Licence, Owns or Rents a Property in the UK, Children attend UK School, Works in the UK, Pays any UK tax (i.e. Council tax, PAYE, etc) because any visitor would not do / have any of the aforementioned.
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speedking

AIUI the law is soon to be changed so that foreign drivers can be asked to pay a 'deposit', equal to the cost of the fixed penalty, if they cannot prove that they have insurance / MOT etc., or they have an unroadworthy vehicle (Source = ABD). If the evidence is not forthcoming then the deposit is forfeit.

Thus the revenue is obtained without any court proceedings, but no points can be dished out.

hodgy0_2

that it my understanding too

Joeblunt

What defines whether or not a foreign vehicle vehicle has to be registered is the Keepers status in the UK. If they are a visitor genuinely here for up to 6 months on holiday thats fine but if they intend to reside here that rule does not apply irrespective if its taxed or insured in the country of origin. Most get 'Green Card' insurance to cover European travel as a visitor, in eastern Europe that's peanuts, on that green card it shows their permanent place of residence in their country of origin however if they now live on a housing estate in West Midlands then the insurance is void because they are not visitors. Had their insurance known they permanently lived in the UK their premium would be considerably higher - That is Fraud.
The trouble is UK Police have no resources to check a Latvian MOT or if a driver from Moldova has kept up his payments on his insurance.

Scooby Snacks 23

So where's the photos then chocolate

HankScorpio

Are Polish Audis much cheaper than UK Audis then?

Seems like a big faff unless they're half the cost.

LeeMac

iTrader: (1)

Not exactly rellevant but may be of interest

In France - some insurers wont insure a UK reg'd car after a few months, I have insured our UK car here for 5 years no probs, my french insurance (french or UK reg'd cars) wont insure outside of France for more than 3 months, same as most UK insurers.

for what its worth on the no road tax bit (which I wont pay on my french reg'd car when in England) I had to pay 450 euros to register the car in my name due to its BHP/CO² rating

And 2nd hand cars are more than double here than in England

Aaron1978

iTrader: (12)

this is an old thread

HankScorpio

Never noticed till you mentioned but maybe this should have provided a clue...



(Sorry CoB!!)

Aaron1978

iTrader: (12)

thats what made me notice (again sorry COB).

Aaron