bringing irish car over to scotland

canadabound1

hi,
I am starting work over in Scotland in a month's time. I was thinking of bringing my irish car (irish registeration plates) over to Scotland (larne to stranaer by ferry and vice-versa). I will be coming home to Ireland every 2 weeks for the weekend. Just wondering will my irish driving licence by ok when driving in Scotland and will my irish insurance be ok in Scotland as well?

thanks

bkehoe

Your licence is valid up until you're 70 and there's no requirement to convert to a UK one even if you're a permanent resident in the UK till you reach that age.

The fact you'll be driving around while a resident (and not a student) in the UK in a foreign registered car for a long period of time is where the issues could eventually arise. Your insurer is required by law to cover you for third party cover when driving in the EU, but their T&Cs may include clauses that invalidate the cover if you spend more than a certain amount of time abroad. Some co-workers brought an Irish car over a few years ago and were forced to go through the process of registering it in the UK which cost them quite a bit.

You'd be far better off to sell your car in Ireland and buy a higher spec car for the same money in the UK. Road tax will probably be less as well, although you'll find it a little hard to get your first years insurance at a good price as not all insurers will recognise a foreign No Claims Bonus. And if you've been resident in the UK for more than 6 months you can bring the car back to Ireland and avail of a VRT exemption too!

PS a return ferry trip twice a month with a car is going to cost you a lot!

Dr_Bill

If your travelling back for 2 weekends a month it would probably work out cheaper for you to fly over on the Ryanair and hire a car via the Ryanair website they run some great deals. Its worth checking out.

celticbest

Sell your car in Ireland and buy a higher spec car in the UK with the money, cars in the UK are cheaper.....