Driving in the UK

corblimey

I've just spent about a hour googling for this and either I'm not doing it right, or this question has never been asked.

I want to take my own car up to Norn Iron, across to Scotland, down to England and back to Ireland. In terms of both licence and insurance, do I need to make any sort of arrangements beforehand?

I'm thinking my licence is fine - it usually works when I rent cars in the UK - and I'll have my passport with me aswell, but I've no ideas on insurance, without ringing my insurance company (which I can do, but thought some nice people could answer me better)

(I also posed this question to the AA but they never responded: I've got roadside assistance over here, does that apply to the UK aswell?)

CJhaughey

You should be fine. AFAIK the old green card system is no longer in force. Once you have insurance you are insured in the EU (and possibly EEA).

corblimey

Cheers, both. My licence is fine too, I assume?

Overature

as long as you have a full EU driving license you should be fine

corblimey

Overature wrote: »

as long as you have a full EU driving license you should be fine

Well I have a full licence, which I assume is EU-friendly?

slimjimmc

Make sure your motor tax is up to date and will not expire while in the UK, they don't take kindly to foreign cars which are not road legal at home using their roads.
Previous thread here.

ballsymchugh

corblimey wrote: »

(I also posed this question to the AA but they never responded: I've got roadside assistance over here, does that apply to the UK aswell?)

unfortunately the AA cover doesn't apply in both countries. i was a member in the UK and before i moved home they called to see if i wanted to upgrade, but they said it won't apply.

Alanstrainor

Ring your insurance company to make sure. Some policies only allow you to drive for a certain length of time outside of Ireland.

mantaraver

One big thing to remember is to take a copy of your insurance with you. If you are stopped in the uk and cannot prove you have insurance they can impound the car till such time you can prove it. Usually a faxed copy from the issuing company will do. However, if the insurance company don't answer the phone, like on a saturday night or such....well...you could find yourself with some forced accomodation till the monday morning.:eek:
This has happened to a mate of mine not so long ago, although it was on a motorbike though and he happened to be stopped in a welsh police district well known for it's anti-biker stance:mad:
On the flip side though, the chances of that happening to you are very small.