Driving a UK reg car in the state owned by brother

Mc-BigE

I friend of mine is driving his brothers UK reg car here in Ireland for a while now. The car is insured/taxed in the UK and my friend is a named driver on the UK policy.
His Brother lives in the UK full time, he is a small car saleman in the UK and has a car in Ireland for when he comes home for weekends / holidays etc.

Is all sounds very suspect to me, when I questioned him about it, he said he was doing nothing wrong, he didn't own the car, and his brother genuinely lives/works in the UK.

So, is he doing anything wrong? Sounds like the car has been in Ireland for over a year know so how does he tax it? And is there a time limit a UK car can be in Ireland without Irish plates? I saw 6 months mentioned on another thread.
How can an Irish resistant get put on as a named driver on a UK policy for a long period?

What do you think? Is this a loop hole? Or is my friend breaking the law?

Stephen

I reckon he's breaking the law.

alias no.9

AFAIK it's illegal for an irish resident to drive a foreign registered car here. There are some exceptions regarding temporary residency.

Alun

Of course it's illegal. If it was that easy, everybody would be doing it. Plus the fact that it's his brother, or the UK for that matter, is completely irrelevant.

As an aside, I wonder do the same people who dream up all these wizard schemes for avoiding this, that and the other law with regard to tax, insurance and VRT also sit in the pub all night (or on boards) whinging about all the Eastern Europeans over here doing exactly the same thing? Pot, kettle, black anyone?

rambler

alias no.9 wrote:

AFAIK it's illegal for an irish resident to drive a foreign registered car here. There are some exceptions regarding temporary residency.

This is not completly true, the Irish goverment had to do a U-turn on with regard employees with UK registered cars from UK employers, Your friend could I guess maybe somehow say he was an employee of his brother. Also have a look at the following link
http://www.irishdrivers.org/index.shtml

maidhc

I know the BBC correspondent resident in dublin drove a UK registered mondeo for a good while.

comanche

I don't see any reason why he can't go on his bothers insurace. He has a full driving licence (which is recognised throughout the EU)? If the insurace company will cover him then they are covered.

I don't see the problem here, I think that he is insured.

I think the problem is that the car needs to be registered here if they are here more than a certain amount of time (3 months is it?)

MrPudding

comanche wrote:

I don't see any reason why he can't go on his bothers insurace. He has a full driving licence (which is recognised throughout the EU)? If the insurace company will cover him then they are covered.

The issue is not really insurance. I am sure if he is named then he is OK. The problem is that a resident of the state is not allowed to drive a car in the state unless VRT has been paid on it.

As pointed out by rambler, there are cases where this is not the case. For example, if you are employed by a company from outside the state and the car is owned by that company and you use the car to carry on you business then yes, you will be granted a temporary exemption. Please do not expect the revenue to simple believe the story you cook up.

They will require proof that you work for the afore mentioned company, in a similar fashion to how they do not take your work for it when you say you have been living in the UK for a year. You will have to prove it.

MrP

Henry Ford III

I'd imagine if the car is here permanently (how does he keep it's MOT up to date?) the UK insurance would be void. Policies cover driving in the country of residence and limited holidays abroad usually.

Reregistration and VRT are other issues.