Insuring and NCTing a vehicle in Northern Ireland address

Moe7

Hello all ,

I moved up north and have a vehicle on a southern plate, I was initially planning to switch plates but it needed some TLC that I couldn't afford at the time, it's been in storage for about 18 months. I've recently started slowly bringing her back to life, she's ready for an NCT at this stage andI'd like to sell her on but as a road worthy, taxed vehicle.

My biggest issue is insurance and tax. I never declared it off the road (go easy on me, I know I should have) and its not insured.

So question is how do I proceed? I spoke to local insurance brokers here who said they wouldn't insure it due to the large gap in insurance. Can I setup temporary insurance even at higher rates ? Bear in mind I no longer have a local address.

Second question is where do I start with tax? Is there any way to retrospectively prove car has been off the road etc?

Thanking you all for your help in advance

CiniO

Having current insurance and tax on a vehicle does very little difference in sale price.
NCT have much higher influence of price.

If I were you, I'd NCT vehicle and advertise it for sale.
Forget about tax and insurance for it, especially that even if you purchased insurance, it wouldn't transfer to new owner so it makes totally no difference for a buyer if car has insurance or not.
Tax does transfer to new owner, but in your case you'd need to pay 18 months arrears + minimum 3 months tax, so it's totally pointless.

tcawley29

CiniO wrote: »

Having current insurance and tax on a vehicle does very little difference in sale price.
NCT have much higher influence of price.

If I were you, I'd NCT vehicle and advertise it for sale.
Forget about tax and insurance for it, especially that even if you purchased insurance, it wouldn't transfer to new owner so it makes totally no difference for a buyer if car has insurance or not.
Tax does transfer to new owner, but in your case you'd need to pay 18 months arrears + minimum 3 months tax, so it's totally pointless.

Insurance is handy in case a potential buyer knicks it.

As regards tax, the op can send off the log book and just add their middle name to the owner e.g Mr/Ms x y z

Once these two things are accomplished the car can be driven to an nct center

Del2005

tcawley29 wrote: »

Insurance is handy in case a potential buyer knicks it.

As regards tax, the op can send off the log book and just add their middle name to the owner e.g Mr/Ms x y z

Once these two things are accomplished the car can be driven to an nct center

If a potential buyer steals it the seller will have trouble getting an insurance payout, handing over the keys isn't covered by insurance.

Biggest issue is that with no NCT the OP will need to trailer the car to an NCT centre as without an NCT any insurance isn't likely to valid as insurance requires a car to be road worthy, a car that legally cannot be used on the road can't be road worthy, , the PSNI enforce traffic law.

Edit...
I wouldn't rule out switching to a UK plate. You can get a rebate for the VRT when you export it and IIRC you can drive to an MOT center without a valid MOT providing you have an appointment. What car is it?

Buffman

What car is it? The best course of action probably depends on where it will sell for the most money, north or south.

Moe7

Hello all , its a 2010 Renault grand scenic privilege 1.5dci in really good nick , just over a 100k and driven by my better half from Dublin to NI for work hence the miles truly are motorway miles, its an auto and partial leather, sat nav, integrated window blinds, alloy wheels etc ...

Not sure how much its worth in the Republic especially with the recent increase in VRT. As for reclaiming VRT , unless they've changed their scandalous 500 euro admin charge for processing these I doubt it would be worthwhile, VRT paid a few years ago was about 1.3k if memory serves me right.

I may have to go the towing to Dundalk route but it makes it that much more nerve wrecking to pass on the first try. Good points on insurance for and against, does anyone know if it can be insured with a northern address once it's road worthy?

Moe7

tcawley29 wrote: »

Insurance is handy in case a potential buyer knicks it.

As regards tax, the op can send off the log book and just add their middle name to the owner e.g Mr/Ms x y z

Once these two things are accomplished the car can be driven to an nct center

Can you clarify on this? So I send in my logbook requesting a change of name? What will that achieve? Is it 'change of ownership'?

Buffman

I would do the sums on the VRT rebate before deciding, the admin charge is €100, not €500.

If you really want to sell on Irish plates, I think the least amount of hassle would be to advertise as is and take the hit on asking price.

Second least amount of hassle is to get it towed for NCT.

I think you might have to take a hit on asking price anyway to get someone interested enough to go up north for it.

CiniO

Just to mention for VRT export refund, car needs to have valid NCT, and needs a visit for VRT export inspection - so effectively it needs two visits to NCT centre, so in OP's case that would mean towing it there anyway (or chancing driving it) and ideally setting both appointments for same day.
Cost of VRT export refund would be €100 off calculated VRT repayment amount and €32 for export inspection (edit:seen to be changed not to €90.75), so not that much.
Considering you get interest on top of calculated VRT amount, it's still worth it.

However I'm not sure, but it looks to me that vehicle owner has to be still resident in Ireland to make the repayment application, so might not be an option for op.

Moe7

Buffman wrote: »

I would do the sums on the VRT rebate before deciding, the admin charge is €100, not €500.

If you really want to sell on Irish plates, I think the least amount of hassle would be to advertise as is and take the hit on asking price.

Second least amount of hassle is to get it towed for NCT.

I think you might have to take a hit on asking price anyway to get someone interested enough to go up north for it.

Good points all thank you . The vehicle will be parked up in Dublin with a small time sealer dealer who has offered to sell her on for me, I'll take a hit with his commission but as mentioned from answer above it's a major headache to follow up VRT refunds at a time like this when I'm no longer resident, then again it's exactly a great time to sell a car lol

Buffman

Moe7 wrote: »

The vehicle will be parked up in Dublin with a small time sealer dealer who has offered to sell her on for me

That's probably the easiest way alright. The dealer should be able to NCT it for you easily enough also.

tcawley29

Moe7 wrote: »

Can you clarify on this? So I send in my logbook requesting a change of name? What will that achieve? Is it 'change of ownership'?

I have no first hand experience but a friend told me they done this before.

I also see it pop up here now and again.

It is change of ownership so you will be adding a new owner.