Moving Back to Ireland - Best Choice of Licence?

Mr.David

Think I will be moving back to Ireland this year, currently in the UK on an Irish licence. Obviously contemplating changing to a UK one to avoid points in Ireland (for the moment at least!). Questions:

1. Will my insurance premium be any higher for a UK (still EU) licence than Irish?

2. Car insurance - the part where you declare how long you have held your licence I presume that would be when I got my Irish licence not when I changed for a UK one? Sounds odd, but the technically correct answer to the qu 'How long have you held this licence' would be very short?? I presume its how long have you held any licence for?

3. Any other reason why I should not change? I've looked into the legalities and am happy that its all legit.

si_guru

Change it back..

Some companies give more discount for a clean irish license.
You got your licnese when you passed your test (for a certain vehicle), not when your "swapped" license was issued. I have an Irish license dated 2009, but it clearly shows I got my car (and other) license in 1985.
If you don't change you may have increased premiums from some companies as they won't know if you have penalty points or not.
Also if the address on your UK license is no longer your normal residence you face a £1000 fine if stopped by the police in the UK and will find it hard to hire a car - or rather might find yourself driving a hire car uninsured.

Mr.David

si_guru wrote: »

Change it back..

Some companies give more discount for a clean irish license.
You got your licnese when you passed your test (for a certain vehicle), not when your "swapped" license was issued. I have an Irish license dated 2009, but it clearly shows I got my car (and other) license in 1985.
If you don't change you may have increased premiums from some companies as they won't know if you have penalty points or not.
Also if the address on your UK license is no longer your normal residence you face a £1000 fine if stopped by the police in the UK and will find it hard to hire a car - or rather might find yourself driving a hire car uninsured.

A quick online quote with Axa seemed to show no difference in premium for either.

On the DVLA website it says you do not have to inform them of change of address if moving abroad with UK licence:

Moving to another country
If you move to another country, you should check with the driving licence authorities there for information about driving and exchange of licences. You don't need to notify DVLA of a change of address when moving to live abroad.

the culture of deference

It makes no difference with insurance, and the points thing will be resolved soon, so keep the one you have. Also if you have Uk license you have to carry the counterpart when hiring a car.

I just checked my license and it is a UK credit card valid until my 70th birthday, but its is 10 years issued now. living here 9 years. So it expired in may 11. I may finally have to change it for IRl version.

_Conrad_

Mr.David wrote: »

Obviously contemplating changing to a UK one to avoid points in Ireland (for the moment at least!).

How about driving properly and with some degree of caution...and not getting points? It's not that hard.....


Unless you have no self control.

dr.fuzzenstein

Been driving here on a German licence for quite some time.
It has no expiry date and allows me to drive quite a number of vehicles, for example rigid trucks up to 7.5 tons without trailer.
A broker once told me that my premium would be loaded by 25% for having a "fordeign" licence but a quick check with the ombudsman quickly cleared that up, I was informed at the time that all EU licences must be accepted without any penalties.
Never had a problem with it since, all insurance companies seem to accept it no problem and I don't see any reason to change it.
As for accidents: there had been two accidents (none of which where my fault) and there was never any question, having a EU licence from another state was never even mentioned as a point.
So from a practical point of view it has never been a problem for the last 15 years.
As for points, you will get points as far as the database is concerned, but since I only ever got one points notice (10 years ago) I don't know what happens when you get too many.
In other countries they ban people on foreign licences to drive in their country even if they cannot take the actual licence away, that's a quick, easy, logical solution that easy to implement, so it will never happen here.

Welease

I swapped from UK to Irish about a year ago, and they refused to convert some categories (16 seater was one iirc).. So if you need them it may be worth keeping the UK license.

mcwhirter

wouldn't move back here, its a shhithole

Mr.David

_Conrad_ wrote: »

How about driving properly and with some degree of caution...and not getting points? It's not that hard.....


Unless you have no self control.

Thanks for the revolutionary notion :rolleyes:

How about getting off your high horse? I always drive with caution - not necessarily the same as always driving within the speed limit.

But good for you......you clearly 'got the point not the points' :rolleyes:

pow wow

I only noticed a difference in the quotes with one or two insurers. The question asked is how long you have held a full licence (not necessarily the licence you have at the moment if you do switch it) so you put in the date you got your first Irish one. Personally I haven't come up against any issues driving in Ireland with my UK licence.

Marcusm

The insurance companies shouldn't be capable of treating you differently.

The UK one also has the advantage of being more sturdy and of being carried easily as supplementary id. The provisions are in place for sharing of points etc but unimplemented.

On a practical level, I would have thought that all pointed to a UK licence.

CiniO

dr.fuzzenstein wrote: »

A broker once told me that my premium would be loaded by 25% for having a "fordeign" licence but a quick check with the ombudsman quickly cleared that up, I was informed at the time that all EU licences must be accepted without any penalties.

Heh right.
But what Aviva does is they are giving up to 20% discount for not having any penalty points. And one of rules of this offer, is that you have to have irish licence, as otherwise you can't prove you have no points.

So in other words, they are not loading you premium on foreign licence, but they are lowering your premium for having irish licence with no points.

Seems legal IMHO.

dr.fuzzenstein

CiniO wrote: »

Heh right.
But what Aviva does is they are giving up to 20% discount for not having any penalty points. And one of rules of this offer, is that you have to have irish licence, as otherwise you can't prove you have no points.

So in other words, they are not loading you premium on foreign licence, but they are lowering your premium for having irish licence with no points.

Seems legal IMHO.

I'm ok with that.

Hiace.

Mr.David wrote: »

Think I will be moving back to Ireland this year, currently in the UK on an Irish licence. Obviously contemplating changing to a UK one to avoid points in Ireland (for the moment at least!). Questions:

1. Will my insurance premium be any higher for a UK (still EU) licence than Irish?

2. Car insurance - the part where you declare how long you have held your licence I presume that would be when I got my Irish licence not when I changed for a UK one? Sounds odd, but the technically correct answer to the qu 'How long have you held this licence' would be very short?? I presume its how long have you held any licence for?

3. Any other reason why I should not change? I've looked into the legalities and am happy that its all legit.

I drove on a UK one for about 7 years until it ran out.
Great job all together, no extra insurance costs or fuss.
No penalty points recording etc. etc. etc. to worry about.
And most Cops could not be bothered with them and the awkward paperwork when you're caught speeding etc., they just give you a bollocking and send you on.
I also got extra categories in the UK that were not on my Irish licence, and kept them when I had to get an Irish licence when the UK one ran out.
If you can get a UK licence before you come home, I highly recommend it.
You can always change it to an Irish one if you ever need to.

But most important of all, you'd be loo lah mad to come back to Ireland unless you have no choice whatsoever.

mickdw

Not wanting to be too personal but dont you work on the development side of things with Jaguar?
Not alot of that type of work going over here:D

Mr.David

mickdw wrote: »

Not wanting to be too personal but dont you work on the development side of things with Jaguar?
Not alot of that type of work going over here:D

I do indeed. Considering a move back home, would love to take the job with me but its for life reasons as opposed to career.

I will miss driving Ferrari 458s and 911 Turbos and getting paid for it, have to store those experiences in the automotive **** bank

dr.fuzzenstein

Mr.David wrote: »

I do indeed. Considering a move back home, would love to take the job with me but its for life reasons as opposed to career.

I will miss driving Ferrari 458s and 911 Turbos and getting paid for it, have to store those experiences in the automotive **** bank

Don't do it!
I know a few people who came back here after living abroad because of sweet memories of home.
They all now say "Why the fcuk did I come back here?!"
You might end up in a drab celtic tiger era house (i.e. crappily and cheaply built with three inch thick walls and no insulation) and driving a Corolla to a soul destroying job, because with such a small population Ireland only sustains accountants, solicitors and civil servants, aside from working in a shop or in manufacturing.
And, trust me on this one, the weather is MUCH worse than you remember!
If you have a good life abroad, you will suffer here (unless you have a squillion in the bank).

Tigger

dr.fuzzenstein wrote: »

Been driving here on a German licence for quite some time.
It has no expiry date and allows me to drive quite a number of vehicles, for example rigid trucks up to 7.5 tons without trailer.
A broker once told me that my premium would be loaded by 25% for having a "fordeign" licence but a quick check with the ombudsman quickly cleared that up, I was informed at the time that all EU licences must be accepted without any penalties.
Never had a problem with it since, all insurance companies seem to accept it no problem and I don't see any reason to change it.
As for accidents: there had been two accidents (none of which where my fault) and there was never any question, having a EU licence from another state was never even mentioned as a point.
So from a practical point of view it has never been a problem for the last 15 years.
As for points, you will get points as far as the database is concerned, but since I only ever got one points notice (10 years ago) I don't know what happens when you get too many.
In other countries they ban people on foreign licences to drive in their country even if they cannot take the actual licence away, that's a quick, easy, logical solution that easy to implement, so it will never happen here.

you only get 10 years on a german lisence in ireland

in my experiance

Tigger

dr.fuzzenstein wrote: »

Don't do it!
I know a few people who came back here after living abroad because of sweet memories of home.
They all now say "Why the fcuk did I come back here?!"
You might end up in a drab celtic tiger era house (i.e. crappily and cheaply built with three inch thick walls and no insulation) and driving a Corolla to a soul destroying job, because with such a small population Ireland only sustains accountants, solicitors and civil servants, aside from working in a shop or in manufacturing.
And, trust me on this one, the weather is MUCH worse than you remember!
If you have a good life abroad, you will suffer here (unless you have a squillion in the bank).

this

dr.fuzzenstein

Tigger wrote: »

you only get 10 years on a german lisence in ireland

in my experiance

Don't know, no one has said anything to me yet.:)

CiniO

Tigger wrote: »

you only get 10 years on a german lisence in ireland

in my experiance

I read about it somewhere, but who's gonna enforce it? And how?

2 stroke

I don't understand why people are so keen to exchange licences. If you think an english licence is desirable, why not pass the test again, and keep both?

CiniO

2 stroke wrote: »

I don't understand why people are so keen to exchange licences. If you think an english licence is desirable, why not pass the test again, and keep both?

Because you are not allowed to do so legally.

You can't have more than 1 licence from any EU member state at each time.

2 stroke

Thanks. Didn't know that.

dr.fuzzenstein

CiniO wrote: »

I read about it somewhere, but who's gonna enforce it? And how?

That is true.
In Germany (speaking from experience, not comparing), you have to register yourself with the local authority and inform them every time you change address.
One very good benefit is that you can go into a bank with a passport or ID card and open a bank account without having to have 27 pieces of paper, whilst having to juggle a few burning torches and chainsaws whilst riding a unicycle and supporting a seal standing on your head. (stupid, retarded, pointless and any gangster who wants to launder money will make sure he has all the fake ESB bills he needs and, for that matter, I could forge all that paperwork on my PC in 5 minutes and so could a 5 year old)
On the other side, if you have any piece of paper that you should exchange within a certain time-limit, you will be gently but firmly reminded to exchange it.
This is somewhat different here and the Irish state and computers never had an easy or successful relationship. Or an inexpensive one at that.