Moving to the UK with my Irish car

GradEngineer

Hi All,

I am moving to the UK soon and I am thinking of bringing my Irish car with me but im wondering how I will be fixed legally?

There is surely a period of time after which I will need to register it in the UK??
How long will I be ok for on the Irish plates and what is the situation regarding tax and NCT while driving it over there on the Irish plates?

Is it possible to keep the Irish plates indefinitely if I will be bringing it home occasionally?

I have been looking around online and cant find this info so thanks in advance for any advice!

coylemj

GradEngineer wrote: »

I have been looking around online and cant find this info so thanks in advance for any advice!

Didn't that tell you something? It's because it makes no sense. Sell the car here and the money will buy you a much better car over there.

You may have no choice in the matter because you may not be able to insure a car in the UK with Irish plates and even if you can, you will be considered a 'migrant' worker and will probably have to pay a sky-high premium.

GradEngineer wrote: »

Is it possible to keep the Irish plates indefinitely if I will be bringing it home occasionally?

If you are a bona fide UK resident, there will be no problem bringing a UK-registered car here on holidays.

biko

GradEngineer wrote: »

There is surely a period of time after which I will need to register it in the UK??

How long will I be ok for on the Irish plates and what is the situation regarding tax and NCT while driving it over there on the Irish plates?

Is it possible to keep the Irish plates indefinitely if I will be bringing it home occasionally?

You must change after 6 months (car must have up to date insurance, nct and tax from Ireland during the period).

Yes, when you come back you get old plates back, I'm only 90% sure on this though.

CiniO

GradEngineer wrote: »

Hi All,

I am moving to the UK soon and I am thinking of bringing my Irish car with me but im wondering how I will be fixed legally?

There is surely a period of time after which I will need to register it in the UK??

AFAIK it's 6 months.

How long will I be ok for on the Irish plates and what is the situation regarding tax and NCT while driving it over there on the Irish plates?

You definitely will need NCT.
Tax is discussable, because there's hardly any UK regulations requiring Irish tax, but some people say you might run into trouble by driving Irish registered car without valid tax in UK.

Is it possible to keep the Irish plates indefinitely if I will be bringing it home occasionally?

I don't think so.

I have been looking around online and cant find this info so thanks in advance for any advice!

Also worth looking up insurance.
Your insurer might provide full cover only for months or maybe 3 while you are abroad. After that period only third party cover will be valid.
Also when you become resident in UK, your Irish insurer won't renew your policy.

coolbond

also i think if speedo is in km/h it has to be chsnged to mph which may cost a fair bit

GradEngineer

CiniO wrote: »

AFAIK it's 6 months.

Also worth looking up insurance.
Your insurer might provide full cover only for months or maybe 3 while you are abroad. After that period only third party cover will be valid.
Also when you become resident in UK, your Irish insurer won't renew your policy.

Thanks for that info.
Do you know if an insurance company in the UK will honour my Irish no claims bonus??

Also, will I have to exchange my Irish drivers licence for a UK one??

Mr. Chrome

You probably know this but your speedo must be in mph.

GradEngineer

coolbond wrote: »

also i think if speedo is in km/h it has to be chsnged to mph which may cost a fair bit

Really???

That sounds like a mad rule!!

Mr. Chrome

Snap!

CiniO

coolbond wrote: »

also i think if speedo is in km/h it has to be chsnged to mph which may cost a fair bit

That's only if OP will plan to register car in UK.
As I can see, he isn't.

Fred Swanson

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coylemj

So to summarise the OP's situation, this is what will happen if he moves to the UK and brings an Irish-registered car with him....

1. He will continue to pay Irish car tax which as I understand is far higher than UK tax

2. He will need to get the speedo to changed to mph

3. He will be restricted in what type of insurance cover he can get, if any

Can't really see any benefit in doing it.

CiniO

coylemj wrote: »

So to summarise the OP's situation, this is what will happen if he moves to the UK and brings an Irish-registered car with him....

1. He will continue to pay Irish car tax which as I understand is far higher than UK tax

2. He will need to get the speedo to changed to mph

It's either 1 or 2.

Speedo in MPH is only needed in UK registered car. So before he registeres it in UK there's no need for MPH speedo. Once he register it there, there won't be any Irish tax to pay.

biko

GradEngineer wrote: »

Also, will I have to exchange my Irish drivers licence for a UK one??

No

GradEngineer

Ok thanks all!

Anybody want to buy a much loved and well treated Ford Focus?
Going cheap!

Marcusm

Follow this link for the official guidance.

https://www.gov.uk/importing-vehicles-into-the-uk/registering-an-imported-vehicle

In reality, check relative prices in each country for the car to see if it's worth the hassle.Keep you Irish licence until it expires as that way you won't get any "real" points; check if insurance is cheaper with UK licence by doing two runs with same details on confused.com or comparethemarket.com. Many companies do business in both countries so you have a better than average chance of your NCB being accepted but make sure that it is before bying.

corktina

many speedos on older cars already show miles as well as KMs.

If you have no tax/NCT on the car, be prepared for the UK police impounding it , they would be likely to do this and ask questions after and you can't get it out unless you have the relevant docs (how would you get an NCT?)

Fred Swanson

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GradEngineer

corktina wrote: »

many speedos on older cars already show miles as well as KMs.

Yea mine has large kMPH with a smaller MPH inside! Would that suffice??

Fred Swanson

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CiniO

GradEngineer wrote: »

Ok thanks all!

Anybody want to buy a much loved and well treated Ford Focus?
Going cheap!

If you decide to take it with you to UK, you can get VRT repayment for it in Ireland.

nogoodnamesleft

coylemj wrote: »

Didn't that tell you something? It's because it makes no sense. Sell the car here and the money will buy you a much better car over there.

You may have no choice in the matter because you may not be able to insure a car in the UK with Irish plates and even if you can, you will be considered a 'migrant' worker and will probably have to pay a sky-high premium.



If you are a bona fide UK resident, there will be no problem bringing a UK-registered car here on holidays.

My bollox! The above is simply not true. I brought my car over about 2 years ago and didn't have that much hassle (partly because it was registered in the UK as I bought it and imported it into Ireland in 2007). Whole thing was done in the space of 30mins in my local DVLA.

The documentation that is required is as follows (as per the thread in the abroad fourm):

http://www.boards.ie/vbulletin/showpost.php?p=82380236&postcount=6

I would give the DVLA a ring to see what documentation is required for the "Irish" car. As having the car is a god send for bringing stuff over and back.

My insurance is reasonable as I provided my no claims bonus from Ireland and I am a member of one of the enthusiasts fourms and they have a group discount.

Play To Kill

Good info in this thread http://www.boards.ie/vbulletin/showthread.php?t=2056354186

One word of advice Id have is that if you are changing your licence get insurance before giving your Irish licence to the DVLA. I had to change my licence because the company I came to work with would only accept a UK licence to drive their vehicles because they could easily get records on points etc from the DVLA. When I looked around for insurance for my own car I got ridiculous quotes because as far as the insurance companies were concerned I only had a full licence for a few weeks. It took a while to sort out before I eventually got a reasonable quote.

corktina

Fred Swanson wrote: »

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have you a link for that?

corktina

Fred Swanson wrote: »

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the police in the Uk are not like our Gards. If they suspect the car is not tested or not road-legal in any way they will impound it first and ask questions after.

Fred Swanson

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CiniO

corktina wrote: »

the police in the Uk are not like our Gards. If they suspect the car is not tested or not road-legal in any way they will impound it first and ask questions after.

I wouldn't demonise it that much...

They won't impound a car only on suspicion, as then they could be sued for doing it if it came up, that suspision had no grounds.

F.e. friend of mine was pulled over in UK in Polish registered car. Car belonged to his friend so insurance certificate only listed the owner.
They said that as he wasn't listed on insurance cert that he wasn't insured to drive.
He explained that he was, as Polish insurances cover anyone to drive.
Even though they considered seizing the car, they didn't do it eventually.
I believe they could have run into trouble if they did.

coylemj

nogoodnamesleft wrote: »

My bollox! The above is simply not true. I brought my car over about 2 years ago and didn't have that much hassle (partly because it was registered in the UK as I bought it and imported it into Ireland in 2007). Whole thing was done in the space of 30mins in my local DVLA.

You were bringing a previously registered (in the UK) car back to the UK which means your situation bears no comparison to that of the OP's.

I never said that the OP would encounter bureaucratic hassle registering the car in the UK, what I suggested was that it wasn't worth his while bringing the car to the UK in the first place.

Bollox indeed!

minijuju

If I tax and insure my (our)irish car for six months before moving back to the UK, and make sure the nct is also up to date till that six months expires can I keep the car over there and drive it for that period of time without importing it officially?
I have been told that it is impossible to change the plates without insuring it first and that insuring an imported car would put the payments through the roof.
I feel it is best to sell it before we go but my husband is hell bent on keeping it..

slimjimmc

minijuju wrote: »

If I tax and insure my (our)irish car for six months before moving back to the UK, and make sure the nct is also up to date till that six months expires can I keep the car over there and drive it for that period of time without importing it officially?
I have been told that it is impossible to change the plates without insuring it first and that insuring an imported car would put the payments through the roof.
I feel it is best to sell it before we go but my husband is hell bent on keeping it..

First of all, get some facts and figures, rather than speculating.
Get quotes from UK insurers on insuring the car unregistered, and with different grades of cover (minimum V full comprehensive).
Then scout around UK car websites to get an idea of what the equivalent UK car would cost to buy.
Then look at Irish car sites to see what people are asking for their car, and remember asking prices usually much higher than actual sale price, and if you're looking for a quick sale you'll most likely have to drop your price substantially.

Once you have all the numbers you can make an informed decision on which option is less expensive.
If you do decide to sell can you manage without a car in the meantime, here and in the UK?

sunnysoutheast

minijuju wrote: »

I have been told that it is impossible to change the plates without insuring it first and that insuring an imported car would put the payments through the roof.
I feel it is best to sell it before we go but my husband is hell bent on keeping it..

You will need to insure the car on the chassis number, this is a restricted market and prices are high. A broker such as Adrian Flux is best. Bear in mind the policy only covers you to/from the testing centre usually.

You then need to MoT the car, and get the certificate of conformity if not previously registered in the UK, this is free from Honda, not sure about other manufacturers. I think this is where the issue with kmh/MPH would arise. You normally get the same reg. number back if a previous UK car.

The DVLA are quite helpful if you ring them (woman I spoke to was from Wexford ), and the pack tells you everything you need to send.

The issue with insuring it in Ireland and then taking it over is that the main use will then be in the UK and not compliant with the answers given to get the insurance, I would expect the Irish insurers would be asking you some searching questions should there be a large third-party claim.

Fred Swanson

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galwaytt

Fred Swanson wrote: »

Nope. They want a speedometer with miles being the prominent scale.

Link to this?

On bikes you can stick a sticker over your kms and it suffices. ..

Fred Swanson

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sunnysoutheast

Fred Swanson wrote: »

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I thought that the MIB is for uninsured/untraced accidents? In this case the Irish car would in theory be insured wouldn't it? Would the original insurer then not try to recover from the policyholder?

Fred Swanson

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fishy_fishy

Hi all,

Moving to UK soon and bringing my car with. Have read thr gov.uk site info about bringing car in but I'm wondering what the story is with proof of address. We'll be in an airbnb for the first month so I'm not sure how I'll be able to.prove where I live. Anyone got experience or advice with this?

It's originally an NI car and in great condition so I'm reluctant to part with it.