Temporary moving car to UK

eass82

So I've been trawling boards but cant find a situation like mine and would appreciate any advice - I moved to the UK late last year to do a course, but left my car behind in Ireland.

When leaving the tax was on the verge of expiring so I didnt renew that, but the NCT and Insurance remain good on the car up till June. So Im in the UK until next September with it being 50/50 that I will be returning to Ireland at the end of the course. I'm missing the car now and would love to bring it over for the summer to get out of the city and explore.

Am I being realistic in thinking I can get things sorted out in the next week to bring it across?

Specifically:
Insurance - My policy mentions that I can get a 'Territorial Extension' but does not mention how long this is possible for. Has anyone experience of this? What will happen when my insurance lapses in June?

Tax - As this is now expired, I would only be getting it taxed for literally a day and leaving the country, am I better off leaving this off until I return? Im guessing UK cops dont care if an Irish reg car is untaxed in Ireland?

NCT - Good till June - Can I leave this off until I return in September (if I return?) Ideally I'd like to get it done to have it, and as peace of mind as the car has been largely unused the past 6 months.

SEAN_DUB

I Agree with OSI UK Cops are much more strict and will not hesitate to take the car off you for no tax/nct. It wouldn't hurt to ring the insurance company and ask them about the period of time allowed as this differs from company to company.

nogoodnamesleft

You will have to have your car in order either in the UK or Ireland (i.e. tax, insurance or NCT/MOT).

Your insurance covers you fully comp (if you have it for a period of 30 days in other EU countries). I was insured by Zurich who covered me for 60 days fully comp in another EU state. After the 30 or 60 days elapse you will be covered for 3rd party fire and theft for the duration of your policy.

If your a student you can leave your car on Irish plates for the duration of your studies but if you are in employment in the UK you have 6 months to re-register the vehicle. Its a lot cheaper in the UK in my case!

Capt'n Midnight

http://www.ncts.ie/bookings.html

If you have a 2009 registered vehicle you can have it tested up to 6 months early that means you could get a cert for 2 years and 6 months!

If it's older then you can do it 3 months in advance.

CiniO

eass82 wrote: »

So I've been trawling boards but cant find a situation like mine and would appreciate any advice - I moved to the UK late last year to do a course, but left my car behind in Ireland.

Where are you resident? Ireland or UK?
Because that makes a lots of difference when it comes to insurance.
Generally if you are studying abroad, you are still considered resident in Ireland, but once you start working there, and plan to do so for more than 6 months, or do it for 6 months, then you become resident there.

When leaving the tax was on the verge of expiring so I didnt renew that, but the NCT and Insurance remain good on the car up till June. So Im in the UK until next September with it being 50/50 that I will be returning to Ireland at the end of the course. I'm missing the car now and would love to bring it over for the summer to get out of the city and explore.

Am I being realistic in thinking I can get things sorted out in the next week to bring it across?


Specifically:
Insurance - My policy mentions that I can get a 'Territorial Extension' but does not mention how long this is possible for. Has anyone experience of this? What will happen when my insurance lapses in June?

You have to contact your insurer and agree what kind of cover and for how long they provide abroad. Many insurers limit full cover abroad to only 30 days. (some do 60 or 90). There are some insurers which do unlimited cover abroad.
Whatever it is, it only applies to extra covers like Fire, Theft, or Comprehensive part (own car damage), Windscreen cover, and all other extras. You third party cover which is the only one required by law, stays valid for the whole period of the policy. This however would leave you without covering your car against anything (theft, damage), so if it's newer and worth more money vehicle, this might not be an option.

However very important part is as I mentioned above - your residency.
In general if you are resident in UK, your Irish insurer might just cancel your policy. Becoming resident in other country is definitely one of the things that needs to be revealed to your insurer.
Also if you are resident there, there is no chance they would renew your policy.

So in general, if your course is kind of college, university, then most likely you can still be resident in Ireland and keep your policy and renew it.
If you are resident in UK, there isn't really any way to do it.

Tax - As this is now expired, I would only be getting it taxed for literally a day and leaving the country, am I better off leaving this off until I return? Im guessing UK cops dont care if an Irish reg car is untaxed in Ireland?

AFAIK there is no law which would require you to have a valid Irish tax on your Irish registered car when driving abroad.
And as this is absolutely normal on the Continent, some UK cops might not be aware of this, and demand road tax from your car. They could probably seize the car, even though that driving there without Irish tax isn't illegal.
Once this happens, you can surely fights for your rights in court, and possibly win, but this will take time, costs and hassle.
It all depends how much you want to risk.
BTW - I drove through UK many times in Irish reg vehicle without tax and never was bothered by cops, but I actually never got pulled over, so I don't know what would happen.

NCT - Good till June - Can I leave this off until I return in September (if I return?) Ideally I'd like to get it done to have it, and as peace of mind as the car has been largely unused the past 6 months.

Definitely do NCT. Driving not tested vehicle anywhere is big offence, especially in UK. It might be hard to do it within a week when you are here, but if you ring them everyday and ask for cancellation, you might get lucky.
I wouldn't even try driving a car without valid test, especially abroad.

Fred Swanson

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keithclancy

Fred Swanson wrote: »

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Just point them to:
http://ec.europa.eu/internal_market/insurance/consumer/motor/index_en.htm

Specifically:

The directive:

obliges all motor vehicles in the EU to be covered by compulsory third party insurance (all passengers are covered, throughout the EU)

And the fully comp part (Also Fire and Theft)

The directive does not regulate:

so-called “comprehensive cover” (for physical injury of the driver, material damage to vehicles, vehicle theft, etc).

Marcusm

Irrespective of where you get to on residency, I think you're going to hit a problem when they ask you where the car is usually kept overnight; given that you'll be taking it out to bring it to the UK for 6 months, failure to disclose could lead to a void policy later. The insurance company would have to pay out for any claim before the policy was voided but could seek to recover from you. As you'll only be using it in the UK for the foreseeable future, any claim (maybe unlikely) would arise there.

Fred Swanson

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