Car off road, no tax, no nct, no insurance. Can it just be parked?

arleitiss · 04-06-2014 02:14PM #1

Hey, I got a car for free, it has no NCT, no tax, no insurance, can I just declare it off road and leave it stationary in my estates? I see lots of other cars without tax and there seems to be no problem?

Anything I should know specifically about such case?

Thanks.

Cleveland Hot Pocket · 04-06-2014 02:19PM

Once it is not on a public road, yes you can.

djimi · 04-06-2014 02:20PM

You can park it in your driveway. If its not on private property then it needs to be taxed, insured and NCTd.

arleitiss · 04-06-2014 02:21PM

Cleveland Hot Pocket wrote: »

Once it is not on a public road, yes you can.

I assume if it's in estates it may not be public road? my estate rules state: Ample parking, and it has lots of spots for free, I guess that means it's private area then?

Cleveland Hot Pocket · 04-06-2014 02:22PM

arleitiss wrote: »

I assume if it's in estates it may not be public road? my estate rules state: Ample parking, and it has lots of spots for free, I guess that means it's private area then?

If it is the road through the estate, then no that is a public road.

djimi · 04-06-2014 02:23PM

arleitiss wrote: »

I assume if it's in estates it may not be public road? my estate rules state: Ample parking, and it has lots of spots for free, I guess that means it's private area then?

Nope. Public road means any road that the public have free access to. Unless its a gated complex, its a public road.

arleitiss · 04-06-2014 02:24PM

djimi wrote: »

Nope. Public road means any road that the public have free access to. Unless its a gated complex, its a public road.

I see, I guess best bet would be to just pay tax then and have it stationary?

pred racer · 04-06-2014 02:25PM

arleitiss wrote: »

Hey, I got a car for free, it has no NCT, no tax, no insurance, can I just declare it off road and leave it stationary in my estates? I see lots of other cars without tax and there seems to be no problem?

Anything I should know specifically about such case?

Thanks.

It's technically not off the road, but you should be grand unless your neighbours are **** not nice:P

arleitiss · 04-06-2014 02:26PM

pred racer wrote: »

It's technically not off the road, but you should be grand unless your neighbours are **** not nice:P

I have a neighboor with 2000 E46, tyres are flat and cracked and it seems to have no discs on it whatsoever, yet it's still there for quite a few years

djimi · 04-06-2014 02:27PM

arleitiss wrote: »

I see, I guess best bet would be to just pay tax then and have it stationary?

And insurance; it has to be insured also if its on a public road.

arleitiss · 04-06-2014 02:28PM

djimi wrote: »

And insurance; it has to be insured also if its on a public road.

Really? I thought car needs to have nct and insurance only if it's driven?

djimi · 04-06-2014 02:28PM

arleitiss wrote: »

Really? I thought car needs to have nct and insurance only if it's driven?

It in use on a public road; it needs to be insured. "In use" does not necessarily have to mean in motion!

dubjay · 04-06-2014 02:32PM

the problem with just leaving it in your estate is that it takes away somebody elses right to park their car. it was giving to you for free for a reason

pred racer · 04-06-2014 02:36PM

djimi wrote: »

And insurance; it has to be insured also if its on a public road.

arleitiss wrote: »

Really? I thought car needs to have nct and insurance only if it's driven?

Unless it does a Christine on you, I'd say you are safe enough;)

djimi · 04-06-2014 02:37PM

pred racer wrote: »

Unless it does a Christine on you, I'd say you are safe enough;)

Take your chance if you like, but you are using an uninsured car on a public road, and risk the consequnces of this if caught.

arleitiss · 04-06-2014 02:38PM

dubjay wrote: »

the problem with just leaving it in your estate is that it takes away somebody elses right to park their car. it was giving to you for free for a reason

Well there is always a space to park, there is more parking spaces than houses, I would say if every house had 5 cars, even then there would be space left.

pred racer · 04-06-2014 02:42PM

djimi wrote: »

Take your chance if you like, but you are using an uninsured car on a public road, and risk the consequnces of this if caught.

So all the parked up cars around the country are just an arrest waiting to happen...........bollocks!
Your definition of using and mine (and the gardai it seems )are very different.
I'm not disputing that you may be technically correct but in the real world......

slimjimmc · 04-06-2014 02:49PM

djimi wrote: »

Nope. Public road means any road that the public have free access to. Unless its a gated complex, its a public road.

Very close ,but what you've described is a "public place", which may or may not be a "public road". A public road is one which is maintained by a roads authority. It makes no difference where motor tax, insurance and NCT are concerned but it's good to know the difference since certain traffic laws only apply to "public roads", e.g. Traffic Wardens have no authority in privately held "public places" (shopping centres, ungated estates not taken in charge by the Local Authority, etc)

arleitiss · 04-06-2014 02:58PM

slimjimmc wrote: »

Very close ,but what you've described is a "public place", which may or may not be a "public road". A public road is one which is maintained by a roads authority. It makes no difference where motor tax, insurance and NCT are concerned but it's good to know the difference since certain traffic laws only apply to "public roads", e.g. Traffic Wardens have no authority in privately held "public places" (shopping centres, ungated estates not taken in charge by the Local Authority, etc)

Well all lawns in estates are mowed by private companies, could it mean it's a private area kind of?

djimi · 04-06-2014 02:58PM

pred racer wrote: »

So all the parked up cars around the country are just an arrest waiting to happen...........bollocks!
Your definition of using and mine (and the gardai it seems )are very different.
I'm not disputing that you may be technically correct but in the real world......

In the real world the OP can take the technically correct information and choose what to do with it themselves. Any car that is parked in a public place (thanks slimjimmc!) must be insured. If the OP chooses to take their chances and hope that a Garda doesnt see it then more power to him. Im not going to tell someone that its okay to park an uninsured car in a public place, because there is a chance (no matter how slim you might feel that chance is) that it wont be okay.

djimi · 04-06-2014 02:59PM

arleitiss wrote: »

Well all lawns in estates are mowed by private companies, could it mean it's a private area kind of?

Its not a private area unless the entrance is guarded by a locked gate or some other such way of preventing the general public access.

slimjimmc · 04-06-2014 03:40PM

arleitiss wrote: »

Well all lawns in estates are mowed by private companies, could it mean it's a private area kind of?

djimi wrote: »

Its not a private area unless the entrance is guarded by a locked gate or some other such way of preventing the general public access.

As djimi said.
Regarding the lawns, our estate has been taken in-charge by the L.A. but the L.A. will only commit to mowing the public areas twice a year, so, with the consent of the landowner (the L.A.) the residents pay for additional mowing. All work is done by private contractors but it's still public space and the roads are still public roads.

dar83 · 04-06-2014 03:52PM

arleitiss wrote: »

Well all lawns in estates are mowed by private companies, could it mean it's a private area kind of?

The lawns in my estate are cut by the council...

As said previously, if you're leaving it on the road, even parked up there, you'll need it taxed and insured. Doesn' really matter if there are plenty of spaces available, you run the risk of it being spotted and whatever may happen then even if that risk is very small.

If you're happy to do so, then so be it and good luck to you.

Marcusm · 04-06-2014 09:00PM

djimi wrote: »

Nope. Public road means any road that the public have free access to. Unless its a gated complex, its a public road.

Not quite; if the public have access, it's likely a "public place". A "public road" is one in respect of which a public authority has a maintenance requirement.

That being said, if the car is parked in a "public place" it must be taxed.

CiniO · 05-06-2014 12:36AM

djimi wrote: »

You can park it in your driveway. If its not on private property then it needs to be taxed, insured and NCTd.

As far as I know, it's not an offence to have car without valid NCT parked in public place.

slimjimmc · 05-06-2014 03:40AM

CiniO wrote: »

As far as I know, it's not an offence to have car without valid NCT parked in public place.

It is, unless this regulation has been revoked.
http://www.irishstatutebook.ie/1999/en/si/0395.html

5. A person shall not use in a public place a vehicle to which these
Regulations apply unless there is displayed on the front windscreen of the said
vehicle a valid test disc.

"Use" includes parking.

from_atozinc · 05-06-2014 03:48AM

arleitiss wrote: »

Hey, I got a car for free, it has no NCT, no tax, no insurance, can I just declare it off road and leave it stationary in my estates? I see lots of other cars without tax and there seems to be no problem?

Anything I should know specifically about such case?

Thanks.

I know this is off topic, but what is the point in you even taking this car if you are just parking it up ?

05-06-2014 04:09AM

The car will never even come to the attention of the Gardaí. Unless you go looking for trouble off them, you're probably not gonna get any off them.

Park the car up. Nobody will care (and 99% of people won't even notice).

Henry Ford III · 05-06-2014 06:15AM

Can't be done legally. All it would take is a report from a member of the public to the Gardai that cars are being left abandoned in a certain area and you'd be in trouble OP.

Is this car of any interest/value? If so consider putting it into storage.

Gumbo · 05-06-2014 09:01AM

The worse thing that can happen with non insurance is if some youths decide your car is their Bon fire tonight and it goes up and damages cars around it, then you have no insurance to fix the other cars so you will have to pay out if your pocket.

corktina · 05-06-2014 09:29AM

That's what hey have their own insurance for. It wasn't your fault, so no liability on you. Slightly different if there was an electrical fault in your car caused it of course.

Car off road, no tax, no nct, no insurance. Can it just be parked?

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