ni driving license...southern car... plates question

dvdee

hello,
I have a northen ireland license passed a few weeks ago, i have a southern car insured on it. do i have to use R plates?
should i just apply for a change over license to the south?
feeling quite confused don't want to be pulled over on something silly thanks!

Marcusm

dvdee wrote: »

hello,
I have a northen ireland license passed a few weeks ago, i have a southern car insured on it. do i have to use R plates?
should i just apply for a change over license to the south?
feeling quite confused don't want to be pulled over on something silly thanks!

Presumably you would have to use R plates in NI. Is it your car, OP? If you haven't changed residence in the last couple of weeks, make sure that your insurer knows that while our car has ROI Plates, your usual place of residence is in NI. You should also be aware that there are limitations on NI residents driving foreign ( in this case ROI) registered cars in the UK (meaning including NI). If you are stopped and these rules apply to you, the car coud be seized. Difficult I imagine if your life routinely straddles the border.

dvdee

I have a northen address because im a student there but i could easily move to the south if you know what i mean (parents house) i cross the border daily so im wondering what the best bet is. Right now its my mums car, (my car is ready tuesday) but i have ni license and southern insurance etc ... should i change to roi license, would i have to do the test again? and so you think i should stick to the R plates for now?

munchkin_utd

you would presume that the terms of your licence is that you display the R plates.
That law is presumably only enforceable in Northern Ireland.

So my guess would be that you should have R plates displayed when in Northern Ireland regardless of the origns of the vehicle.

What are you going to say to the policeman when he stops you?
"Sorry. I know my licence says I must have R plates displayed when I'm driving, but seeing as I drive a car with Irish plates I am most obviously special and exempt from that rule on my licence"

dvdee

munchkin_utd wrote: »

you would presume that the terms of your licence is that you display the R plates.
That law is presumably only enforceable in Northern Ireland.

So my guess would be that you should have R plates displayed when in Northern Ireland regardless of the origns of the vehicle.

What are you going to say to the policeman when he stops you?
"Sorry. I know my licence says I must have R plates displayed when I'm driving, but seeing as I drive a car with Irish plates I am most obviously special and exempt from that rule on my licence"

Come on now, i would definitely be nicer than that to a policeman ... that is a fair point. Although could i say, i have sent my license away to be changed to an ROI one and im waiting on it to come back? (and actually be considering it like)

Our man in Havana

No Licence whilst driving = Big trouble.

Marcusm

OP

Do you live in NI or just study there? The reference to crossing the border daiy confuses me. To get an NI licence you would either have to be living there for 6 months or have been a full time student there for 6 months (this is actually a licencing category in NI). Seems like your mother's car is only a temporary measure so the question then is whether you car from Tuesday is registered and insured in the same place where you live. Given that Tuesday is a bank holiday in NI, I'll bet it's an ROI car. If you're living in NI, make sure that your insurer knows your correct address to ensure that there is no question f them seeking to avoid liability to you or recover costs from you in the event of an accident. Prepare also for questions from PSNI as while students are permitted to drive foreign registered cars for the duration of their course, most will likely ave foreign rather than NI licences.

On to the last point about exchanging your licence, you can generally ony do that if you reside in ROI and that means more than having an address! No doubt you'd be issued with the licence but it might not be valid. again you'd be risking the same insurance issues depending on the company.

mathepac

dvdee wrote: »

sent my license ...

licence

dvdee wrote: »

... ROI ...

Irish

Del2005

Technically you've gotten an illegal NI licence. In order to apply for a licence you need to be resident in the state. Since you're a student you don't qualify as a resident in NI your residence is still in the RoI and you should have done an Irish test.

Is the car UK or Irish registered? If it's UK you can't drive it, in Ireland, till you transfer to Irish and pay the VRT. If Irish then you may run into trouble with the fact you're Irish resident driving an Irish reg car on a new NI licence.

I think the best bet is to transfer your licence, with the added bonus of not having to display R plates and being able to go over 45mph in Norn Iron.

dvdee wrote: »

I have a northen address because im a student there but i could easily move to the south if you know what i mean (parents house) i cross the border daily so im wondering what the best bet is. Right now its my mums car, (my car is ready tuesday) but i have ni license and southern insurance etc ... should i change to roi license, would i have to do the test again? and so you think i should stick to the R plates for now?

Marcusm wrote: »

OP

Do you live in NI or just study there? The reference to crossing the border daiy confuses me. To get an NI licence you would either have to be living there for 6 months or have been a full time student there for 6 months (this is actually a licencing category in NI). Seems like your mother's car is only a temporary measure so the question then is whether you car from Tuesday is registered and insured in the same place where you live. Given that Tuesday is a bank holiday in NI, I'll bet it's an ROI car. If you're living in NI, make sure that your insurer knows your correct address to ensure that there is no question f them seeking to avoid liability to you or recover costs from you in the event of an accident. Prepare also for questions from PSNI as while students are permitted to drive foreign registered cars for the duration of their course, most will likely ave foreign rather than NI licences.

On to the last point about exchanging your licence, you can generally ony do that if you reside in ROI and that means more than having an address! No doubt you'd be issued with the licence but it might not be valid. again you'd be risking the same insurance issues depending on the company.

Marcusm

Del2005 wrote: »

Technically you've gotten an illegal NI licence. In order to apply for a licence you need to be resident in the state. Since you're a student you don't qualify as a resident in NI your residence is still in the RoI and you should have done an Irish test.

Is the car UK or Irish registered? If it's UK you can't drive it, in Ireland, till you transfer to Irish and pay the VRT. If Irish then you may run into trouble with the fact you're Irish resident driving an Irish reg car on a new NI licence.

I think the best bet is to transfer your licence, with the added bonus of not having to display R plates and being able to go over 45mph in Norn Iron.

Can you explain the logic between her having an "illegal" licence but being able to exchange it for an ROI licence? I think that the NI licence would need to be valid prior to an exchange.

In any event, as DVANI has a separate category for persons pursuing a course of full time education, I wouldn't immediately assume that the licence was necessarily invalid (although it might well be). As a student, the OP might well be one of he few categories of NI resident who could legally drive an ROI reg'd car. Nevertheless, I think she needs to seriously consider her insurance position.

Our man in Havana

Usual insurance scaremongering.

ardmacha

Perhaps the OP is a student who did his test in the North in term time, but who is presently out of term time and driving in a border area? This scenario presently raises no major issues insurance wise.

Exchanging the licence would be one possibility, but this may raise a flag if it is very new and the OP was never really resident outside the State.

Many posters here on Boards would have used the NI licence to get a NI car to evade VRT and would have tolerated the R plates :rolleyes:

Del2005

Marcusm wrote: »

Can you explain the logic between her having an "illegal" licence but being able to exchange it for an ROI licence? I think that the NI licence would need to be valid prior to an exchange.

I thought that students couldn't apply for a licence in a country they weren't studying in, hence the technically illegal bit, but after a little checking it seems they can. It depends on how long they've been studying in NI, if the OP has been studying for 6 months they could apply for a licence if not they had to do it in RoI.

The licence is still valid even if the OP didn't meet the qualifying criteria for it as they've passed the test and being issued with it, loads of RoI people have bent the truth to get UK licences.

Marcusm wrote: »

In any event, as DVANI has a separate category for persons pursuing a course of full time education, I wouldn't immediately assume that the licence was necessarily invalid (although it might well be). As a student, the OP might well be one of he few categories of NI resident who could legally drive an ROI reg'd car. Nevertheless, I think she needs to seriously consider her insurance position.

They can drive an RoI car for the whole of their college study, they aren't resident so can't transfer it to UK plates. Once the OP gives correct info to the insurance company I can't see any issues. Only thing may be some hassle off cops or customs if they are stopped.

Marcusm

Our man in Havana wrote: »

Usual insurance scaremongering.

Ah, that's a bit harsh. In the current economy, more claims are being rejected or cost recovery being sought for administrative screw ups or misdeclaration at proposal stage. Some UK insurers are now imposing cost recovery in cases of drug or drunk driving etc. likewise with invalid licences or failure to update address or "where car is kept overnight" details. Given OP's insurance starts on Tuesday, don't think it's scaremongering to suggest that she checks that she's crossed her "i"s and dotted her "t"s.

Marcusm

Del2005 wrote: »

...

The licence is still valid even if the OP didn't meet the qualifying criteria for it as they've passed the test and being issued with it, loads of RoI people have bent the truth ....

thanks for correcting your statement about students' entitlements vis a vis NI licences.

However, a licence obtained via the making of a false declaration of status (explicit warning on application and written reconfirm on test date) very much renders it invalid. Additionally, such applicant will have committed an offence which,in extremis, can result in a prison sentence. UK Authorities take these sorts of offences much more seriously than the underlying offence (driving while unlicensed).