Steps for moving into the north, re-registering car

dingus12

I'm looking for advise on how to go about getting my documents, and car register'd in northern Ireland

The only UK document to my name is my birth certificate,as I was born in northern Ireland, but I have lived all my life in the south.

I have only recently moved into the north, to live with my Grandmother, as I have got a new job, I am paying rent in cash, I have no utility bill to my name as proof of a address, One of the obvious first steps is to open a bank account, However to do that I need proof of address.

Once I have a bank account, I can then change over my southern Drivers licence, to a UK one,

Once I have done so, I should be able to insure my car using the vin number on a temporary basis. Although not easily, as most insure's won't touch a dodgey imported car with no uk reg etc.

Once I have insurance, I can get the car mot'd on the vin number,

Once I have a valid mot,

I can get a certificate of conformity from BMW.

Once I have that, I have to notify customs are revenue uk that I have imported the car to NI with in the last 14 days

Only then can I send all documents to DVLA (including the old southern log book) and get a v5 for the car along with a new reg number

My question is, how to I get the ball rolling and get proof of address when I am only renting a room from a family member for a small cash amount per week.

dingus12

anyone?

slimjimmc

If you want proof of address get your relative to agree to put a utility (such as broadband) in your name and start paying the bill. You might even get a new subscriber discount.

Zcott

My wife was able to open an account with First Trust in the north with an address in the south. Helpful if you still have an address down south.

keithclancy

Get your employer to send a letter to your home address.

td2008

Yes it is a pain and I've gone through it. Found BOI were the only
helpful bank when setting up and account. I was able to get a letter from work for proof of address and that was fine. Clements covered me on insurance , bit more expensive then switched to direct line once the car was changed over. I also kept my irish licence.

Clearlier

You're bringing back some nightmares! I imported my car into the UK when I moved over. There were costs for various tests that added up to a bit more than I expected but the biggest issue by far was the hassle and the reams of information that they asked for.

They ask for an enormous amount of information however they don't actually require it all. I was struggling to understand some of the questions being asked so called them and a helpful person told me that they didn't really need the information I was calling them about and then went through the form with me so that I could note the questions that they actually needed answers to.

The in-laws followed us over shortly afterwards and I strongly recommended that the MIL not import her Rover 75. She loved the car though and decided to go ahead. The highlight of her experience was when she was told her car (no modifications whatsoever) had failed a test and was considered unsuitable for British roads due to the height of her indicators on the front sides of the car.

Persistence will get you there and if your car is important to you then it'll probably be worth it but I would almost certainly not do it myself again.

Advice I would offer (aside from don't do it) is to call them whenever you have any questions. I always found them to be personally helpful albeit completely unable to look outside of whatever process they're following.

Sheldons Brain

Given the hassle involved and the differential in car prices, consider selling the car in the 26 counties and buying another one.

dingus12

It's a 2004 BMW m3, so there is a 2500 euro vrt refund to be had, which will make the hassle of it a little less annoying, So I'll try bank of Ireland first,

Yes I understand that uk civil servants would never go outside the normal procedure,

However as far as I know, the m3 should not need to go through any conformity check, as a certificate of conformity can be got from BMW in the north to state it is suitable for uk roads.

it should pass the mot aswell, as it's only after being nct'd.

thanks for the answers.

Clearlier

dingus12 wrote: »

It's a 2004 BMW m3, so there is a 2500 euro vrt refund to be had, which will make the hassle of it a little less annoying, So I'll try bank of Ireland first,

Yes I understand that uk civil servants would never go outside the normal procedure,

However as far as I know, the m3 should not need to go through any conformity check, as a certificate of conformity can be got from BMW in the north to state it is suitable for uk roads.

it should pass the mot aswell, as it's only after being nct'd.

thanks for the answers.

That's it's over 10 years old makes it a little easier - you need less documentation and just an MoT by way of testing IIRC.

Don't count on passing the MoT just because you passed the NCT. I thought that I would be ok and I failed on several points.

With regard to the MoT it's worth noting that it's not an independent test system like in Ireland. Almost all garages offer MoT's and a service as a package with a view to offering any necessary repairs as well. This is fine if you're confident that the garage is good but unless you're absolutely certain of the garage I'd advise seeking out an independent test centre i.e. one that doesn't offer to repair. It's just too easy for an unscrupulous garage to tell you that a few parts that you've never heard of need replacing. See DubDani's comment below.

Good luck with it and be prepared to lose a few hair follicles!

DubDani

Clearlier wrote: »

That's it's over 10 years old makes it a little easier - you need less documentation and just an MoT by way of testing IIRC.

Don't count on passing the MoT just because you passed the NCT. I thought that I would be ok and I failed on several points.

With regard to the MoT it's worth noting that it's not an independent test system like in Ireland. Almost all garages offer MoT's and a service as a package with a view to offering any necessary repairs as well. This is fine if you're confident that the garage is good but unless you're absolutely certain of the garage I'd advise seeking out an independent test centre i.e. one that doesn't offer to repair. It's just too easy for an unscrupulous garage to tell you that a few parts that you've never heard of need replacing.

Good luck with it and be prepared to lose a few hair follicles!

That's actually not correct in NI. It is actually an independent test, very similar to the NCT, run very uniformly by the DVANI. There are only about 12 centres in the whole of NI. Very different system to the one in the rest of the UK, and Garages cannot do MOT's here.