Its not on UK roads, so I dont need tax do I?

[Chancer]

I agree with you wholeheartedly Alan, I would not take the risk either as well as for moral grounds.

I made the statement as every time this subject is raised peoples bile rises and they trot out the old cliché "I just hope that I am not on the roads at the same time as these clowns" it always reminds me of the Harry Enfield and Paul whitehouse characters "The self-righteous brothers"

Like I said when I was younger I had different priorities however  I am fairly certain that 99% of Brits of "our age group" (whatever that means) would not dream of driving a car without insurance cover in either country, that being so there is no chance of a 3rd party claim being refuted.

Now whether or not these "less rule abiding  people" might be more likely to have an accident, perhaps after drinking more [B] than the limit?, It doesnt matter I am in France.......... etc etc ???

Editted.

I have just read your contribution SD, very, very true and it will surely happen someday, its a pity that the enforcement agencies cant/wont take a more pro-active stance.

[Quillan]

[quote user="Sunday Driver"]

Isn't the root cause of the problem the fact that many people who decide that moving to France will be wonderful actually have little idea of the rules for living here?  Most of them don't appreciate that they are actually foreign immigrants and therefore subject not only to the immigration regulations but to all the other rules which apply to living in France.

How many posts do we read along the lines of 'well, we're here at last, now what do I do about getting a job, how do I get into the healthcare system, how do I claim unemployment benefit, is my £90 a week pension sufficient to live on, do I have to declare myself and pay tax?  Oh, and by the way, I don't speak French'......

At best, they've spent their holidays visiting France and they imagine that living here is just an extension of that holiday.  If they don't have access to a 'Sunday Driver' who is prepared to spend his free time researching all the facts, translating everything into English and serving it up on a plate for them, then it's easy for them to assume that they're OK to just carry on driving their car as it is.

As regards enforcement by the authorities, I'm sure their priorities are directed towards more critical issues such as reducing road deaths through speeding, etc...

However, think about it...

It only takes a fatal incident involving, say, a child being knocked down by a UK plated 'resident' vehicle which fails to stop. 

Imagine the situation -  foreign registration number, so contact the DVLA - they only have the driver's former UK address - no forwarding address held therefore unable to trace the killer - newspapers/TV get a hold of the story - national outcry against irresponsible UK expats flouting the law byrunning around in untraceable cars and escaping punishment for road deaths (and speeding fines whilst we're on about it!!)  - Sarkozy tells Michèle Alliot-Marie to get her finger out and order the local Gendarmerie to pull every local Brit plated car and line them up outside the scrapyard.......[:-))]

[/quote]

Spot on SD and very greatfull we all are that you spend all this time helping people out. I am sure they all apreciate it as you discovered when you had that accident a while back. I know you are a member of other forums and offer the same type of advice there as well.

Sadly I think your last paragraph is quite correct. Its not a matter of if it happens but when and I fear the reprecussions will be felt directly or indirectly by us all.

[odile]

moved 3 weeks ago from UK - insurance, plates and registration all done for reason given above. Just not worth the risk.

[duncan99]

How may foreign cars in the UK are in the same situation, with the mass influx of workers from Eastern Europe I have noticed loads of cars that obviously are not tourists - I can't see anyone driving back to Poland or Lithuania to get an MOT or renew their road tax !

[Jo]

My french teacher has been in UK for 4 years.. hasn't got around to changing registration yet[:D]

[Ron Avery]

[quote user="duncan99"]How may foreign cars in the UK are in the same situation, with the mass influx of workers from Eastern Europe I have noticed loads of cars that obviously are not tourists - I can't see anyone driving back to Poland or Lithuania to get an MOT or renew their road tax !
[/quote]

 

As many of these workers only stay in the UK for 6 months and then return home there is no requirement for them to register their cars in the UK.

[duncan99]

Good point Ron but most of them have been here for more then 6 months ,Where my mate lives there are at least 5 cars from Eastern Europe that have been in his street for the last 3 years and he knows the guys who own them . I am living in Prague at the moment and I know for a fact there are people from all over the EU working here long term(+ 6 months) and have their cars with them on their home plates. Sorry not trying to justify not registering your car and complying with the rules though.

Cheers

Duncan

[Quillan]

There is no excuse, the law is the law, the fact people choose to ignore the law does not make it right. It is up to the police in the countries mentioned to enforce it. If they choose not to then that's nothing to do with us and not an excuse.

You are right in that its not just the English here in France that break the French laws. Our neighbour is Dutch, he kept his car here in France for 18 months on Dutch plates. The reason he gave was that it was a lease car and they would not let him register the car in France without renegotiating the lease. This would have meant that effectively he would have to cancel the existing lease before it ran out which in turn invoked a penalty payment and he would pay more for a new lease. As far as I understood he was therefore driving his car in France totally illegally and had broken the terms of his lease agreement. That was up to him, until he had an accident and it all came out and he had 6 points (or more, I can't remember) taken off his licence, the car impounded and in short it cost him an absolute fortune to get the car back and get it fixed as the Dutch insurance would not pay out. I had no sympathy for him whatsoever, he knew exactly what he was doing and he got caught.

[Maricopa]

[quote user="Quillan"]You are right in that its not just the English here in France that break the French laws.[/quote]

No, even some French people do it.  I know of at least 2 cars in my village owned by French people that are still on Spanish plates several months after being imported.  One of the owners does intend to register it here, when he gets round to it.