Insurance Question

bkehoe

Hi,
I was just wondering if anyone may be able to help me out here.

Basically, I'm buying a year old Discovery from a main dealer in the UK. I've got everything arranged - flight, ferry, money, etc, for collection on Wednesday.
However, today the salesman rang me to tell me that the road tax is a few days out of date and that I'd need to bring a covering note from my insurance company so that he could get it taxed at the nearby post office.

I was just planning on doing the normal transfer of insurance over the phone when I'm over there, and a letter/cover note usually arrives a few days later.

First question; Will I be able to get a covering note off my insurance broker if I go to their office in person tomorrow? They are closed today and nobody answering the phone, so I cant check it with them.

Second question; If I do get a covering note, will he actually be able to tax this at all, as I don't live in the UK, or could he tax it to the garages address?

Final question; if I can't get a covering note, and he can't get it taxed, is this a serious problem in the UK, bearing in mind the tax only expired a few days ago. I would be heading straight for the ferry, and would have the ferry ticket with me, as well as the receipt for the vehicle. He doesnt seem keen on this option, and I'm concerned that he could even decide to delay the sale now that I've got flight, ferry, time off, etc arranged.

Thanks,
Brendan.

netwhizkid

Umm I'd like to find out the exact same thing as you can see from my post in the "Importing from the UK" Thread I am going over either Wednesday or Thursday and sailing home Sunday night with a shiny BMW 318 Automatic, Air-Con etc.

Dooom

bkehoe: My brother came over from England with his car, but there was an issue with tax, can't fully remember it, but there might be some info on the government site.

Mayshine

You'll probably get away with it if the dealer will sell to you, however I'm unsure if the dealer will sell it to you without valid tax on it

Be aware that the UK authority are very much on the ball when it come to motor tax. Their system will has details of the car and registered keeper, keeper insurance details etc, You need to actively declare you car off road before you tax expires.

They (the DVLA) do automatic monthly checks on their database and automatically fine owners with out of date tax.

Hence the reason I am not sure if the dealer will sell to you without first ensuring that it is taxed, which of course requires you to prove you are insured on the vehicle.

Perhaps you can ask the trader if they will tax it for the minimum period using their trade insurance.

Hagar

Remove a vital component so that it is not actually roadworthy and bring it back on a trailer perhaps?
Technically not on the road so road tax should be OK.
I'm not sure about about the insurance implications there though.

kdevitt

The last car I brought in was out of tax for 8 months - absolutely nothing said when I was getting the ferry. I honestly doubt you'll be able to tax it at all given the fact you won't have an address over there.

Get him to declare the car as off the road if he's concerned. You might also be clear if you can borrow some garage plates from someone over here.

mike65

netwhizkid and Spike, behave.

Mike.

bkehoe

Bringing it back on a trailer wouldnt be an option so somebody would have to be paid for a recovery truck, probably cost a small fortune.

Spike, I think you probably mean Irish tax. This won't be an issue as I'll be bringing it to pay the VRT after I get back into this country.

I've asked them if they can get it taxed themselves, but he doesnt seem to think so. Hopefully something can be worked out when I'm there, as they can't very well send me home empty handed (I hope!)!

Brendan.

bkehoe

OK, panic over thank goodness!

I rang my insurance broker today to see if I could collect a covering note this afternoon, and they said I could, so I rang the salesman in the uk to tell him.

So while I was talking to him, I once again started asking about whether I would actually be able to tax it or not. I think he thought that the UK tax would be fine for me over here, so when he got the message that I would have to spend €1000 over here for a years tax as soon as I got it over anyway, and when he realised that Ireland isnt in the UK any more, he decided that he'd forget about the tax, and sell it to me anyway. Only condition is that I'll have to sign a letter agreeing that the lack of tax is my responsibility, and that I can't blame them should the worst happen (it's illegal for them to sell something without tax).

So, got the draft this morning, and ready to head over in the morning.

Thanks for the advice,
Brendan.

netwhizkid

I have my flight booked €78 with Ryanair (cheap fares me Ar*e) and am heading over in the morning too, Hopefully everything will go good, Am going contacting the Insurance broker now and hopefully they will give the thumbs up too.

jayok

I don't understand why you need UK tax - ok the drive from the dealer to the Ferry is a risk but the dealer should sell it to you without any hassle. If the police stop you tell them you are exporting it and show them the cert. I don't imagine there's a need for it. And I certainly didn't have road tax when I imported my car - and I drove it for four hours to get to the Ferry.

michaelanthony

I had no road tax either and had no hassles getting on the ferry. The police just asked for my passport when I drove on to the ferry.