Irish Reg in the UK

cazmcco

Hey!!

I'm transferring to a college in Scotland in September and I was wondering if anyone knows what the story is with having an Irish reg car in the UK for about 9 months of the year? Iv read before that you can have a foreign (EU) reg car in the UK for up to 6 months in any 12 month period legally.

I wont be living there permanently, just during college terms ect. I would probably bring the car home during christmas and definately during the summer, would this allow me to get around the 6 months in every 12 month period?

Selling my car and getting a new one over there isn't really an option and I would like to bring the car because the college that Ive been accepted into is a short drive away from where i will be living.

If anyone can give advice id really appreciate it.

Thanks in advance !!!!

L1011

Legally obviously you have to re-register it. From experience, you actually get away with it - theres no VRT to chase you for, their road tax is relatively low and they get most of their road funding from fuel duties higher than ours so there isn't that much impetus to chase down drivers... absolutely imperetive you've full insurance that covers you outside the country - IIRC Quinn will cover you for 365 of 365 out of the country, but other insurers are as low as 90 days.

You could re-register it there - there is minimal cost - and when you come back after finishing college get your Irish plates back at another minimal cost.

cazmcco

Cool! Thanks for replying!!

Whats the story with having Irish road tax and insurance (obviously as long as i have full insurance as you said), can they pull you up on this?

If I was to re-register it, then come home for Christmas/summer how would the gardai be with regards that? My brother buys his cars in from the UK on occasion and hes been caught by the guards with having UK reg plates on the car (even though he was waiting for paperwork etc before the plates could be changed)?

What would the minimal cost be for with re-regestering it back here at home when I was finished college? VRT or anything like that?

Thanks again!!

L1011

If you were stopped by the Guards you'd just show them your ferry tickets and say you're home for Christmas and resident in the UK. For the full summer it might be a bit harder to convince them but you'd still be within the law as you're "visiting". I used to leave an Irish Ferries window hanger in the glovebox for those eventualities!

As goes the UK, they'd be more likely to question you if you didn't have current Irish tax than if you did!

(points out again that its illegal and wrong and all that to do what's being suggested )

There's no VRT on re-importing a car that was already registered, just an admin fee I think. Its not much either way.

whacker30

i would leave it on the irish plates over there, as you cannot be caught by any of the fixed speed cameras and also they are alot more strict with out of date tax on your english reg car with automatic number plate recognition for issue of fines etc. My brother had his car for two years in the uk and was able to drive hassle free, he just made sure his insurance and tax details were up to date. customs and the garda can be on ur tail very quickly when they see the same uk reg car driving in a area over a period of a time. One in three uk reg cars are in ireland illegally so there is a lot of unclaimed revenue floationg around

Jeanious

if its only for 9 months, then just keep your nose clean for the first 3 months and youll be grand. The real problem arises when, for example if your gonna be there from october to june: if you get caught speeding or something in october, then get caught again in may, theyll clearly know youve been there over 6 months.

basically if ya can survive until january without drawing attention to yourself, you'll be golden. might be worth your while booking your ticket home for the summer early-ish, cos then at least you'll have some evidence that youre not gonna be there permanently.

L1011

coyle wrote: »

might be worth your while booking your ticket home for the summer early-ish, cos then at least you'll have some evidence that youre not gonna be there permanently.

That you can get them for about a third of the price booking early is just an extra reason!

Jeanious

win-win situation!

I'm almost certain students are exempt from having to reregister their cars. At least the reverse it true. You cannot legally bring a car with you back to ireland without VRT if you were studying abroad.

Our man in Havana

Just make sure the irish insurance will cover you for the full stay.

Carawaystick

fbd cover you anywhere in the EEA for the whole year if you need that.
you could always "change the ownership" through the 9 months if an extra owner wouldn't affect the value too much - to your name in Irish or someone else with the same name as you... So you'ld have 2 sets of 4.5 months

Random

You should also declare your new address to your insurance company I'd have thought, rather than just overseas cover or whatever.

cazmcco

Hey Everyone!!

Thanks a million for replying to my post.

Ill be over there for 2 nine month stints, as the course is two years long. Ill have to have a better look into the insurance situation, and see if ill be covered etc.

Thanks again to everyone!!!:D

ardmacha

Students are not resident where they study. You do not have to register your car in the UK, but if you do then you are not entitled to drive it here on holiday etc. Of course you may get away with it. As for escaping fines and the like I wouldn't draw attention to myself, having a lot of unpaid fines would be bad if you ended up stopped for something. Also penalty points between the ROI and the UK are coming and they could hit you all at once.

Our man in Havana

It is a long way off yet.

There will be legal challenges if they ever tried to impose very old points at some point in the future.

Carawaystick

ardmacha wrote: »

Also penalty points between the ROI and the UK are coming and they could hit you all at once.

Have they linked penalty points between the 6 counties and britain yet??? wasn't done after years so I wouldn't hold my breath for transfer of points between Scotland and here...