Foriegn license and points on your driving record?

pastyp

Hi my wife is French and recieved a notice in the post that she had being speeding - 68Klm in a 60Klm zone. She has a French license and paid the fine. She has now recieved in the post the notice that 2 points have been entered into her 'driving record'.

Question - I understand that these points do not apply to her French license, but does she have to delcare to her insurance company that 2 points have been added to her driving record? In order so that the insurance is valid and legal??

I called the citizen's advice bureau and they did not know the answer, they suggested calling the insurance company - obviously not going to do that straight away.

Any suggestions would be appreciated - her insurance is due for renewal in September.

seamus

The points are applied against her PPSN.

Strictly speaking, the points don't take effect until they're applied to her licence, so I would say that perhaps she doesn't have to tell the insurance company - check the fine print of the insurance documents for the wording that they use.

Her insurance will always be valid, even if she doesn't tell them, but most insurance compies now do an extra excess if you don't inform them - i.e. if you're in an accident, you'll have to pay the first €2,500 of any claim.

The downside is that the points won't go away until/unless she applies for an Irish driving licence. When she gets the Irish licence, the points will go on and last for 3 years.

That's the way it used to be anyway, hopefully though they've devised a less moronic system since then.

markpb

I remember hearing about a record being kept of all points for when (if) you ever change to an Irish license. Not 100% sure about that though, seems a bit too open to accidents and bureaucratic mixups.

craichoe

pastyp wrote: »

Hi my wife is French and recieved a notice in the post that she had being speeding - 68Klm in a 60Klm zone. She has a French license and paid the fine. She has now recieved in the post the notice that 2 points have been entered into her 'driving record'.

Question - I understand that these points do not apply to her French license, but does she have to delcare to her insurance company that 2 points have been added to her driving record? In order so that the insurance is valid and legal??

I called the citizen's advice bureau and they did not know the answer, they suggested calling the insurance company - obviously not going to do that straight away.

Any suggestions would be appreciated - her insurance is due for renewal in September.

Forget about it .. the French license cannot get points. Don't bother ever swapping it for an Irish license.

pastyp

You're correct, she'll never change her license for an Irish one but there is still the legal issue that she has been issues 2 points on her driving record. Does this invalidate her insurance if she does not give this information to the insurance company?

craichoe

pastyp wrote: »

You're correct, she'll never change her license for an Irish one but there is still the legal issue that she has been issues 2 points on her driving record. Does this invalidate her insurance if she does not give this information to the insurance company?

No, the Irish government cannot at present put points on any license that is not Issued by them.

There is no legal implication as she has never recieved points on her french license.

She doesn't have any points as theres nothing to apply them to.

Alanstrainor

pastyp wrote: »

Does this invalidate her insurance if she does not give this information to the insurance company?

Let's put an end to this once and for all. NO you can't just "invalidate" your insurance for not declaring something, If a learner permit holder crashes while driving unaccomp, they are covered, if you crash into someone while drunk, this does not invalidate your insurance.

Esel

Alanstrainor wrote: »

Let's put an end to this once and for all. NO you can't just "invalidate" your insurance for not declaring something, If a learner permit holder crashes while driving unaccomp, they are covered, if you crash into someone while drunk, this does not invalidate your insurance.

The things you describe are not the same. Not declaring that you have ten points, or that you have a very non-standard engine etc. etc. could very well lead to a situation where the insurance company could repudiate any claim.

biko

She can/should tell insurance company.
2 points does not change insurance cost and she's be better off coming clean so to speak.

Steve

pastyp wrote: »

You're correct, she'll never change her license for an Irish one but there is still the legal issue that she has been issues 2 points on her driving record. Does this invalidate her insurance if she does not give this information to the insurance company?

The only way to be sure is to actually read your policy - they are not all the same and vary between insurance companies. Even within the same company, they issue different terms and exceptions / inclusions depending on the circumstances and age of the policy.

My policy was started before penalty points were introduced and so says nothing about them - It does however stipulate that I declare material facts such as a driving conviction (paying a fixed penalty notice and getting is not a conviction, going to court and getting fined and points is.)

What I'm getting at is, everyone replying here is giving their view based on their own circumstances and can have no idea what the terms of your policy are.

I would guess that telling them or not about 2 points will not be an big issue for them as most companies don't seem to care below 4. If she omits that when applying for a new policy it would be different.