Paying VRT

magic_murph

Quick question for those that have gone through the process.

If I do a vehicle look op and the VRT to be paid comes up as €2879.00 for example is it safe enough to get a bank draft made out to that amounnt along with a print out of the quote ?

Should the actual price be slightly higher I could pay the outstanding balance by laser.
Should be it lower I get a refund?

How have you guys handled this situation - considering there is a low daily transaction limit allowed on standard laser cards.

Cheers

rocky

Get the draft for 3-400 lower and pay the rest by card, I don't think you can get a refund if the draft is higher.

CiniO

According to NCTS website you can pay with following methods:

6. How and where can I pay my VRT?

The NCT Centre will also collect the VRT charge (and other tax liabilities) on behalf of Revenue. You can pay this charge either by

Bank Draft or postal order (made payable to Applus Car Testing Service Ltd)
Cash (Up to a limit of €250)
Laser/Debit Card (Up to a limit of €1,500)
Credit Card excluding American Express (this method of payment will incur a 1.5% surcharge)
Company cheque with TAN numbers only (to a limit of €10,000 payable to Applus Car Testing Service Ltd)

I had the same trouble as you, as my VRT was coming up as over 2000, so neither cash nor debit card was suitable, and I didn't want to get draft for set amount, which in fact could come different.

So I went to NCT centre without anything, thinking that when he tells me the price, I'll pop over to the town to get a draft.
However on the spot he said that we can try debit card, and it worked no bother, even though value was over 2000 euro.

magic_murph

Cheers guys, good stuff
If VRT is 2000 I guess a bank draft for 1000 and the rest on laser should be good as th eprice shouldn't change that much.

Also - did you have any shocks when paying as in expected 2k but it turned out to be 3.5k - the quote form the revenue.ie site was way off or is it usually on the money?

sean1141

Just make sure everything matches up like the co2 rating. I got a quote off the website but when it was vrt'd it was more expensive as I clicked a lower rating

CiniO

Mine came up exactly as on revenue calculator.
Also price of VRT lowers when some months pass by, so it's actually more worth to VRT car on 1st May comparing to 30th April.

I did a quote on mine in March. Came as 2074.
I booked VRT for beginning of April (I have legally 30 days to do inspection), and from first April quote was 2058. So I saved 16 quid by delaying it until next month.

PS - this trick might not work on all months, as AFAIR on summer months value doesn't decrease.

magic_murph

Great stuff lads- sounds like a handy enough process.
Have my eye on a car here but it's fairly over priced so will be more than happy to head across the pond as the saving will be more than worth it.

Also good to know there's a 30 day clearing period - I assume you are free to drive the car here, once insured and possibly you have proof of VRT appointment.

sean1141

I think you have to book it in for vrt within 7days of bringing it into the country. Ferry ticket will be needed for proof. I think the same applies if you bring it down from the north only the recipt of purchase has to be within 7 days

magic_murph

Cheers Sean - worth noting.

I am sure theres plenty of chancers driving around without clearing - what sthe penalty - fine and car gets taken away to the pound etc?

Hardly worth the risk especially if after paying the VRT you have still saved a nice amount on the new car.

Seems to be a more and more common activity heading up north / UK to get a car or perhaps I am only noticing now as it's only in the past few months I have started looking at cars etc.

neddynasty

When I VRT'd my car (It was 4 years ago) the bill came to approx €2300. If I remember correctly they just put the laser card through twice for the amounts €1500 & €800.

Merch

Theres a few VRT threads going it seems so bear with me if this isn't the best one to tack onto, it seems better to jump into an existing thread rather than start a new one.

My question is,
contestant no.1
The car being brought from the UK, is already booked for an inspection, but the first available date is 9 days after it gets off the boat,
Prior to that its on UK plates.
Could Irish insurance be transferred to the car yet? (I dont think so but just to confirm)

Contestant no.2
While it has cover from a UK policy for a certain amount of time to get here, which allows it to be driven here.
As its just waiting on the test, would it be ok to drive it prior to the test as the legitimate owner and not have any issues with anyone if stopped? (Gardai/Customs and Excise) given its already checked in and the NCT cant be booked until the VRT is done.

CiniO

Merch wrote: »

My question is,
contestant no.1
The car being brought from the UK, is already booked for an inspection, but the first available date is 9 days after it gets off the boat,

You have 30 days to do it.

Prior to that its on UK plates.
Could Irish insurance be transferred to the car yet? (I dont think so but just to confirm)

I'd say there shouldn't be a problem.
I tried it with different insurers and they were always happy to transfer my insurance to UK registered car.

Contestant no.2
While it has cover from a UK policy for a certain amount of time to get here, which allows it to be driven here.
As its just waiting on the test, would it be ok to drive it prior to the test as the legitimate owner and not have any issues with anyone if stopped?

Of course. If car is road legal (had insurance and valid test) then you can drive it.

(Gardai/Customs and Excise) given its already checked in and the NCT cant be booked until the VRT is done.

NCT test can be only booked after car is registered in the state, so you will have several weeks when car is already registered in Ireland, but has no valid NCT. Driving it them will be illegal.

Merch

CiniO wrote: »

You have 30 days to do it.

I know there is 30 days to get the VRT sorted alright, what I mean is, within the 9 days, is it ok to drive it on UK plates as the owner, even though it has UK plates and insurance, but as a resident here with an Irish licence?

CiniO wrote: »

I'd say there shouldn't be a problem.
I tried it with different insurers and they were always happy to transfer my insurance to UK registered car.

Ok, I suppose I will have to see, my Insurance is up for renewal soon, I'll have to check with them if they are willing to do this. It may not be worth doing this as it would entail, changing the vehicle on the policy which might incur an admin charge. If it can be driven on the UK policy then I wouldnt bother changing to my current Irish policy.

CiniO wrote: »

Of course. If car is road legal (had insurance and valid test) then you can drive it.

Its road legal, in the sense it has a recent UK MOT and is on UK plates and has a policy from the UK to cover a certain amount of time here.
(and may have an Irish policy if its allowed).

What I'm interested to know is, as an Irish resident with an Irish licence,can I drive a UK plated car here with a UK insurance, while Im waiting on the VRT inspection.

CiniO wrote: »

NCT test can be only booked after car is registered in the state, so you will have several weeks when car is already registered in Ireland, but has no valid NCT. Driving it them will be illegal.

I understand that, but what Im wondering is, if it can be driven without problems prior to the VRT'ing? I cant be fined for no NCT on a car that cant have an NCT I'd imagine, as I'm waiting for the VRT on the booked date, it cant look suspicious as Im not trying to evade it when I have a booking made.

CiniO

General answer is - yes - you can drive it here no problem, even though you are Irish resident and car is UK registered.
If pulled over you might be asked to provide a proof that your brought a vehicle within last 30 days, and that you arranged VRT booking withing 7 days of bringing it - so it might be wise to carry such documents with you.

BTW - where did you manage to get an UK insurance policy which would cover non-uk resident?

In relation to NCT - before car is registered in Ireland then Irish regulations in regards motortax and nct don't apply. Car should have UK MOT valid, but I don't believe gards here would check that.
But once you register it in Ireland, then legally from that moment law expects you to have valid NCT on that car (provided it's over 4 years old).
And you can't have NCT straight away, because it takes few days before you can even book it, and then after it might be few weeks before you get an appointment.
So legally you can't drive the car for those few weeks after registering, and if you do you can be prosecuted.
In reality it's probably impossible that anyone would prosecute you for that, considering it's impossible to be done. But that just shows how badly designed is Irish law which requires you to have NCT straight away after registering car here, but doesn't give you oportunity to get it straight away, so therefore law enforcement people (like garda or courts) must turn blind eye on this. That's not normal situation.

Merch

CiniO wrote: »

General answer is - yes - you can drive it here no problem, even though you are Irish resident and car is UK registered.
If pulled over you might be asked to provide a proof that your brought a vehicle within last 30 days, and that you arranged VRT booking withing 7 days of bringing it - so it might be wise to carry such documents with you.

So, any questions, what you are saying is just floor it
Yes, best keep everything for proof.

CiniO wrote: »

BTW - where did you manage to get an UK insurance policy which would cover non-uk resident?

Someone there, got it added onto their policy that will cover it. eees a dodgy geezer, so I wouldnt ask anymore questions govnr
Its all legit, as a 3 pound note,
nah its ok

CiniO wrote: »

In relation to NCT - before car is registered in Ireland then Irish regulations in regards motortax and nct don't apply. Car should have UK MOT valid, but I don't believe gards here would check that.
But once you register it in Ireland, then legally from that moment law expects you to have valid NCT on that car (provided it's over 4 years old).
And you can't have NCT straight away, because it takes few days before you can even book it, and then after it might be few weeks before you get an appointment.
So legally you can't drive the car for those few weeks after registering, and if you do you can be prosecuted.
In reality it's probably impossible that anyone would prosecute you for that, considering it's impossible to be done. But that just shows how badly designed is Irish law which requires you to have NCT straight away after registering car here, but doesn't give you oportunity to get it straight away, so therefore law enforcement people (like garda or courts) must turn blind eye on this. That's not normal situation.

It seems perfectly normal to me, and if they were waiting outside the centre for me, I'd have to say, its a fair cop, unless it was a judge, then Id assume it was some guy one in fancy dress or someone with a weird fetish and just floor it.

In reality, you think it would be simple they would make an allowance (in the law/rules) of a number of days to book and attend the test after VRT and an allowance if the booking has been made but only a certain date can be given, in fact the NCT should probably show the booking time/date to prove you did the booking within the allotted time.
(To account for the real world)

Merch

I see also you have said VRT goes down by a certain amount, its booked for the end of the month, I might reschedule that by a few days.

A minor update, my insurance company will cover a car on a UK plate so long as there is the intention/effort to get it officially to Irish reg plates.
I dont really want to drive it here under someone elses insurance anyway, its just for the purpose of getting it here insured.

Thanks for the replies