Buying car in uk

Fifi18

Hi,
I’m living in the uk at the moment but will be moving back to Dublin in a couple of weeks.
I am hoping to buy a car here in the next week but wondering what do I need to do with regards to insurance/tax for the week or 2 I’ll have the car in the uk. Should I just go ahead and insure it though an Irish provider or is there a short term insurance I can get in the uk so that I will be safe to drive it here?

Thanks!

bazz26

I'd imagine you will have to tax it in the UK as you cannot tax a car over here that is not on Irish plates. You can probably claim the unused UK tax back once you permanently bring it over here. There is probably info on how to do that on the DVLA website.

Irish insurance will be trickier though, they normally have no problem transferring a policy over to a UK plate when driving the car back to Ireland until you reregister it here. However as you don't already have a policy here they may not want to start a policy on a car still on UK plates. Best thing to do is ring a few insurance companies and enquire. But it might be worth and easier to insure it in the UK which should cover you to drive it abroad for 30 days or so. When you get it over here and registered on Irish plates cancel the UK policy and then insure it with an Irish insurance here.

BTW are you aware of VRT? It's a tax you will have to pay as part of changing the UK to Irish plates here.

Fifi18

Thanks for the advice. Yeah I am awareness of VRT. It should still work out a little cheaper though as cars are a fair bit cheaper in the UK. Thanks!

deletthis

You can pay tax by DD monthly to DVLA. Cancel after first month. Wont get any refund though, only get refunds for full unused months.