French Lad working in Ireland

[BritinBretagne]

Chancer loves to be the lad, the rebel but in other posts he drops his guard and stands out as the conservative fuddy-duddy he is who talks the talk but has never done anything without having his back securely covered.

Read his posts here and there on various forums, not all is as it seems in Northern France.

[idun]

Wow Martin, what a post! You have presumed so much and strangely when I get comments such as yours do, as you say, defend myself and why not? Or do only your opinions actually have worth, or 'count'????

Well obviously to you they do!

I find all my french friends are reticent until they get to know someone well, and then is the time when things change and GREAT friendships can be formed. And I love my gobby french friends dearly. When there or apart,in many situations I hear Monique's voice and her 'comments' echo in my mind and often I would love to be as direct as her, but am not. I often think, nay know what she would say, to posts on here, and don't.

But I have learnt a lot from Monique especially. There is little point in beating around the bush and just get on with things. I was young when I got to France, I received a wonderful 'formation' french style as I matured.

This family can look on Irish websites or the EU websites and get sorted properly, or not, ca m'est egal. Will you come on here bleating about any fines etc incurred? Again , ca m'est egal. And I am being polite, whether you believe me or not!

[Chancer]

The poor kid has probably only been there a couple of weeks if he is getting stopped most days and he is being accused of being a criminal, of driving without valid insurance etc, his family assuming he is not estranged, emancipated or orphaned are also being roundly slated, its always the same way whenever a mention is made of a UK plated car being used permanently in France, slating a French lad trying to improve his life in the UK is plumbing new depths.

 

Its a curious phenomenen which from day one I have never understood, you certainly wont find the same on the French ex-pat forums, its amusing how my username (which is not my choice) brings out adverse reactions in some, the combination of a thread about a UK plated car or in this case a French one together with a contributor called Chancer seems to be the perfect storm for the self righteous and obsessive.

 

[mint]

Poor old Chancer, yes, yes, we know you are a hell of a guy and probably very pleasant to have a conversation with at a chance meeting[:D]

But how on earth did you get from people suggesting that it is best that the young man concerned sorted out his affairs sensibly and for his own and other people's protection to accusing them of being "self righteous and obsessive".

I'm sorry to say that streetwise and smart as you undoubtedly are, you have hardly been schooled in the field of presenting your argument and drawing logical links to come to an acceptable conclusion.  It is simply ridiculous to jump sequences of a proposition to the conclusion you have arrived at.

I nearly didn't reply as I realise that it's fruitless to argue with those that form their conclusions BEFORE looking at the evidence...............sigh...............

[alittlebitfrench]

You are of course right Chancer. Your username does indeed influence peoples opinion before you have said your piece.

I remember that fatal day I joined FE with a user name 'alittlebitfrench'. I reminisce.

My first thread did get a load of abuse from a load spiteful old codgers. Most of which have moved back to the UK. Is there a correlation between the two...or three ?

If I resurrect on a forum am going to call myself 'Bo Peep' and see what happens. LOL. Or 'fluffy'....no one is going to shout down 'fluffy'. Fluffy is all cuddly and nice.

PS...BIT in France, lay of everyone you big girls blouse.

[richard51]

Chancer: It seems rather bizarre that your username is not your choice. Just change it!

I don't see why you use the terms self righteous and obsessive to refer to other posters - It should be just common sense to avoid doing illegal things. The guy in Ireland presumably will not chance to get away with not having valid insurance or other paperwork - the consequences could be grave.

[Chancer]

I should have written self righteous or obsessive and then maybe to pander to peoples sensibilities used the word "some".

 

There is only one poster on this forum with an obsession with what he/she percieves me to be from my username so I definitely should have said "or".

 

The self righteous is regarding the posters who at the very mention of a car remaining on UK plates start huffing and puffing about them having no insurance being non law abiding therefore probably a drink driver and imagining the conséquences of them mowing down a bus stop of mothers and children, happens every time and always makes me think of this clip:

https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=1R8bCdUfIE0

 

Richard51, a now banned contributor used to call me a Chancer all the time as a pejorative but I found it quite flattering so when he was removed I changed my username in his memory, never intended it to be permanent but I enjoy the reaction it creates with the easily led, as BIB says I am really the most god fearing conservative person imaginable.

 

[Chancer]

Several people now have alleged or accused the person of not being law abiding and of being uninsured, a terrible accusation to make and completley unfounded.

 

His situation is no different to anyone on this forum who moved to France with their UK vehicle, he is reaching out via Martin for help which his neither his entourage in Ireland nor his family is able to give him.

[andyh4]

Well said Chancer. It seems the vigilante hanging posse is out in force.

If he is now effectively resident in Ireland I can understand that Groupama cannot help - they are not permitted to do so. But nowhere does it say that they have withdrawn his insurance.

His options seem to be limited.

Re-register his van in Ireland with all the cost involved and take Irish insurance.

Purchase something in Ireland and find an insurer who will take his French driving experience into account. [Unfortunately he will be treated as a novice driver just because of his age].

Walk - probably impractical if he has tools to cart around.

[richard51]

Chancer, your first post on this thread (12.56) did seem to excuse illegal actions based on youth.

I cannot see where the lad has been accused directly of no insurance. For me,the possible issue of lack of insurance cropped up in retort to your defense of "youthful enterprise" and consequences thereof and other comments about drivers driving for years on Uk plates in France and vice-versa.

[Chancer]

And I had not realised (I have poor reading skills these days) that Martin in the first post stated that the problem, as percieved by the Gardia was that of insurance as all the discussion on the thread swiftly moved to insisting the guy must register his van, that there was no excuse for not having done so.

 

but he's being stopped practically every day by the Irish police at some sort of checkpoint, and it's now been made clear that he can't go on driving the van on his French insurance.

So as his registration has not been brought into question at this time the solution is to find a way to convince the officers at the checkpoint that he is indeed insured, that the carte verte is valid and remains in effect for the duration of his Policy.

 

He needs to find and print out a reference in English maybe something from the EU that preferably shows examples of the green card in several languages which explains their validity, I carry a similar thing from LegiFrance to present to any Gendarmes that insist that I must change my license to a French one.

 

The difficulty he will have will be his age, being able to put his point across respectfully in a second language in such a way that the officer does not lose face but I think he should for the moment (I am guessing he has not been there long) avoid all the complications of re-registration, finding RHD lights, UK insurance etc and just concentrate on his right to drive for the moment at least legally anywhere in the EU on his French insurance.

 

Once 6 months comes around it may be another challenge but one he will be better prepared for, at 24 all alone in a foreign country working and speaking a new language he has enough on his plate without adding to his problems, remember he is in total immersion which very few of you will have experienced,  it was unbearable for me when I was 20 years older than him.

 

Under EU law we have the right to buy motor insurance from any EU member state, my last insurer was Dutch, they went bust on me [:$]

[idun]

Unless I have misread something, the Europa site says that there are no specific EU rules about this and it is down to the different countries to apply their rules, or doesn't it say that?????? 

Car registration documents and formalities

Wherever you live in the EU, you must register your car in the country where you have your permanent residence.

You are not usually allowed to register your car in a country where you have a secondary residence or holiday house.

There is no EU‑wide law on vehicle registration. The following information reflects the practices in many member countries.

And in Ireland it says:

http://europa.eu/youreurope/citizens/vehicles/registration/taxes/ireland/index_en.htm

Registration rules

As an EU national moving to Ireland, you must register your car if

you are the holder of the registration certificate / owner of the

vehicle / user of a vehicle you do not own (e.g. a family members).

Exemptions from the obligation to register a vehicle

As an EU national moving to Ireland, you can use your vehicle here while it is still registered in your previous home country.

You can only use it for 30 days under the following conditions:

• You must make an appointment with the NCTS within 7 days of its
  entry into the State to have a pre-registration examination of the
  vehicle carried out.
• You must complete the registration process and pay VRT at the NCTS
  Centre within 30 days of the arrival of the vehicle in the State.

Time allowed for re-registering a vehicle

If you change your country of residence to Ireland, you have 30 days

to re-register a vehicle previously registered in another EU country –

measured from the date the vehicle entered Ireland.

To re-register a vehicle previously registered in another EU country,

go to a National Car Testing Service Centre, operated by Applus, on

behalf of the Revenue Commissioners.

National Car Testing Service

Lakedrive 3026,

Citywest Business Campus,

Naas Road,

Dublin 24

Phone: +353 1 4135975

• You must make an appointment with the NCTS within 7 days of its
  entry into the State to have a pre-registration examination of the
  vehicle carried out.
• You must complete the registration process and pay VRT(if
  applicable) at the NCTS Centre within 30 days of the arrival of the
  vehicle in the State.

Temporary registration plates

If you buy a car abroad, transit registration plates issued in

another EU country will not be recognised in Ireland for the purposes of

driving your car back to your place of residence.

Car tax

As an EU national, if you want to register and use your car in Ireland, you must pay the following taxes:

• Registration taxes: Vehicle Registration Tax

• All vehicles must be registered, but there are exemptions permitted from the payment of Vehicle Registration Tax

And it looks straightforward to me. And a rare old mess on and I personally would not do it.

[Gardian]

Very loudly & ungraciously put.

[idun]

. 

Loud yes, and I  did not reregister my french car in England when we first moved back. We sold it,

frankly I cannot be doing with all the hassle of such things.

I just cited simple facts, since when were facts endowed with such traits......... as grace??????? All this is getting beyond me.[8-)]

[Chancer]

Only 30 days!

 

Not sure where I dreamt up the 6 months, if the G-men had been on my case in the first 30 days I honestly dont know what I would have done, probably thrown in the towel with that to deal with on top of all the other sh1te I found myself in. Place I thought I would be renting denied me on my arrival, having to camp in a building unfit for habitation since 30 years, a week before I could run a tap, longer than that to flush a toilet. Car broke down immediately and robber garagiste pulled out the transmission then held me to ransom over a 2 week period, having to borrow a bike, cycle to MacDo's to use the toilet and have a wash, washing in a laverie in the next village only to be turfed out by an indignant Maire because it was now a historic monument and not to be used for its purpose [:$] That and being completely unable to communicate despite a few years of night school classes in French, total immersion and total confusion.

 

If the poor lad is facing the pressure in his first month before he has even found his feet then I really feel for him.

[woolybanana]

Everybody had enough?Let's close this thread down and talk about some nice stuff.

[BritinBretagne]

Anyone who thinks that an average 24 year old is an inexperienced, immature character with no idea of responsibility needs to go out and meet a few of them. They might well change that misguided opinion very quickly.

[mint]

Re the 30 days mentioned in Idun's thread, I said in an earlier post that it was 30 days in France as well in 2007.  Don't know about now.

BinB, in our day, by that age, many of us were married and had children and households to run.  I myself moved country at the age of 17, did the "total immersion" thing that Chancer mentioned, knew nobody and did pretty OK in terms of finding my feet.

I concede that nowadays we do keep our children children for years longer[:)]

[BritinBretagne]

You have completely misunderstood my post. The 24 year olds that I know are confident, worldly wise young adults many of whom have been introduced to the joys of credit and starting a life of being in debt. They are far removed from those of not do long ago who rarely ventured far from their roots. The young Frenchman in Ireland is just another one of the tens of thousands who move for work. He is not an uninformed pioneer striking out into the dark.

[idun]

 and the europa site mentions six months as a general rule in the EU, BUT as there are no specific EU rulings, then one has to look at the country in questions rules.

And Ireland, apparently, has slightly different  and tighter ones.... which is their perogative and as this lad has been stopped several times then they most likely want him to adhere to them.

I have just checked and the UK is six months.

 And France is this:

Registration rules

As an EU national you don't have to register your vehicle if you are staying in France temporarily.

Time allowed for re-registering a vehicle

If you change your country of residence to France, you have a month

in which to re-register a vehicle previously registered in another EU

country, starting from the end of the first eight months in which your

main place of residence is in France.

Règles d'enregistrement

Comme ressortissant de l'UE vous n'avez pas à enregistrer votre véhicule lors d'un déplacement temporaire en France.

Délai pour re-immatriculer un véhicule

Si vous changez votre pays de résidence pour la France, vous avez 1

mois pour ré-enregistrer un véhicule précédemment immatriculé dans un

autre pays de l'UE, à partir de la fin des 8 premiers mois de votre

résidence principale en France.

                                        --------------------------------------------

Vivre l'EU and just think if Macron gets his way, everyone will be singing from the same hymn sheet........ but whose?????? Maybe Germany's, wonder if he has considered that[Www]

[mint]

Do excuse me, BinB, I do find many things increasingly confusing.  Actually, I feel a lot of respect for the young people I have met.  They seem to me to be much better informed and sophisticated than certainly I ever was at their age.

German youngsters particularly impressed me (I met hundreds of them when I was on the Compostelle); they were knowledgeable, spoke fluent English and/or French, were polite and respectful of the little old lady (me) who they found amongst their midst, and often invited me to join them at table or would share their food with me.

Id, so France is actually very lenient in terms of the time they allow people to register their vehicles.

After all these answers, one immutable fact stands out loud and clear to me:  In law, Ignorance is no Defence

I don't see anyone accusing the young man or his family of anything.  Au contraire, I think people have stepped in with useful info and accounts of their experiences and shown nothing but concern that the problem is put right for him.