French plates in UK

[Kali3]

We have a 'normal' Honda but it was bought outside EU and as a result it took us 2 years and a huge amount of hassle/money to register in France and get French plates.  Now my husband has got a job in Africa and I'm back in the UK. The car will eventually go back to France but in the meantime I'd like to drive it in the UK (I'm currently carless which is a problem with 3 kids..).  Is it possible to get insured, taxed, legal for 18 months, living in UK, driving with French plates? I don't want to do anything dodgy which is why we've mothballed car in France for the last 3 months. Strangely in my UK town I see foreign registered cars everywhere; Greek lady I know has been driving on Greek plates for years and says it's absolutely OK, her Greek insurer knows where the car is kept/driven, etc. Many thanks.

[Nick Trollope]

Nope.

If you are resident in the UK, then it is illegal for you to drive a foreign-registered car there. Even if you could claim residency in France,  then you could only use the car in the UK for a max of 6 months in 1 year.

In the UK (unlike France), you have no "period of grace" in which to reregister your vehicle (which is easier than in France) - in theory, you are only allowed to drive it to an MOT station and back (after you have insured it).

If you want to keep it, then your best best would be to reregister it, then register it again in France when it returns (shouldn't be as difficult as ths first time). BUT, is it LH or RHD? If a LHD, you would be much better off selling it in France (where it would be worth more), and buying something else in the UK.

 

[Bugsy]

[quote user="nicktrollope"]

Nope.

If you are resident in the UK, then it is illegal for you to drive a foreign-registered car there.

[/quote]

Try telling that to the thousands of eastern europeans driving round the UK today......................[:@]

[Iceni]

If you own a home in France then keep it on French plates - with French insurance and French CT (pop over to Calais if you need to renew) so no annual tax.

John

not

[Kali3]

OP here... now I'm confused!

In answer to query, it's a left-hand drive. So it belongs in France, really, eventually. It's ten years old now so probably wouldn't fetch much if we sold it.

We have a house in France although it's let now.

It's true there are LOTS of foreign registered cars here in the UK whose owners are clearly resident here - doesn't this get picked up on by DVLA/police/whoever? It would be quite easy to stop/check vehnicles so clearly the authorities don't care too much although if they're not properly insured then clearly it could be a problem for other motorists.

[Ron Avery]

"Is it possible to get insured, taxed, legal for 18 months, living in UK"

Ignore John, its not his life, money or well being at risk is it?  . Nick is spot on.  It costs liitle to conform and so much to lose if you have a crash whilst trying to be clever, is John going to, pay your bills if your insurer does not believe that you live in France, No, thought not[:@].

What you could try is to sell it in France, the value of used cars is much much higher than in the UK and you might get a pleasant surprise.  As fior foreigners driving uninsured cars in the UK, I wonder where they got that idea from, look at French ports and airports[:P], plus 1 car in 3 in Sheffield is belived to be uninsured by S Yorks police, but heh these car owners are not E European and trying to earn a living are they.

[tracteurtom]

As its LHD and registered in France, sell it in France as cars here fetch double what they do in the UK.  Then buy yourself a bargain in the UK.  Check out the Autotrader in your area.  I was looking in the £1000 bargain section of one the other day and cannot believe what you can get for that money, if these cars were LHD they would be 3-5000 euros in France.  The UK, it seems is awash with used cars and  probably explains why people can afford to risk leaving them illegal at the ferry / air ports (its not mine guv !).  [:@]

[Loiseau]

[quote user="nicktrollope"]

If you are resident in the UK, then it is illegal for you to drive a foreign-registered car there.

[/quote]

I didn't know that one, Nick! 
I keep a small French-purchased car at my holiday home, as it's so much cheaper to fly over than take the ferry.  My French insurer said it was no problem to drive it in the UK and other countries, so I have once or twice made brief trips back home to England in it.  I had in my innocence thought that my only worry was parking in my London street without having a parking permit (I managed to clear enough space in my junk-filled garage to get round that one). 
But I hadn't realised that I had to keep looking over my shoulder for the boys in blue.  [8-)]

Angela

[Rascalb]

www.direct.gov.uk

 

Just had a look at DVLA website where it says...

 

Temporarily importing a vehicle

There are international agreements which provide for the temporary use of a vehicle in a foreign country for a limited time, usually six months in a 12 month period. A visitor to the UK may use a vehicle displaying foreign plates, provided that all taxes (including vehicle excise duty) are paid in their country of origin.

If a vehicle bearing foreign plates is stopped by the police, it is the responsibility of the keeper to demonstrate that he or she is eligible to use the vehicle in the UK without registering and taxing it.

European Union vehicles

It is the responsibility for the driver to prove how long the vehicle has been in the country. This can be achieved by producing ferry tickets. Used or unregistered vehicles brought into the UK will be allowed to circulate freely for six months in any 12 month period without the need to register. Certain vehicles will be required to display a temporary 'Q' plate. Temporary visitor status is not appropriate to these vehicles.

 

Hope this clears up legal position in UK.

[Nick Trollope]

[quote user="Loiseau"][quote user="nicktrollope"]

If you are resident in the UK, then it is illegal for you to drive a foreign-registered car there.

[/quote]

I didn't know that one, Nick! 
I keep a small French-purchased car at my holiday home, as it's so much cheaper to fly over than take the ferry.  My French insurer said it was no problem to drive it in the UK and other countries, so I have once or twice made brief trips back home to England in it.  I had in my innocence thought that my only worry was parking in my London street without having a parking permit (I managed to clear enough space in my junk-filled garage to get round that one). 
But I hadn't realised that I had to keep looking over my shoulder for the boys in blue.  [8-)]

Angela

[/quote]

But you are not resident in the UK? If not, then the poster above has it right (or rather the DVLA has!), if you are, then as SD will confirm, the use of a foreign registered car in your place of residence is illegal - this equally applies to France.

 

[Loiseau]

Au contraire, I am resident in the UK. 

The couple of occasions when I have brought the French-purchased/registered car in has just been when I have had something cumbersome to bring back.  I have not needed to use it when at home (London), since I have a UK-reg car, so have kept the French one off the road in my garage.

Strange though.  In the UK, the husband half of my next-door neighbours is French.  They live here permanently and have a largeish UK-reg car.  But I notice they also have a small French-reg car.  So that'd be illegal too?

It does seem a bizarre rule.  [8-)]

Angela

[Sunday Driver]

The rule prohibiting the driving of foreign registered cars in your country of residence was introduced some years ago to stop people from buying and registering cars (usually to accommodation addresses) in countries where the tax regime was more beneficial, then running them permanently in their own country under the foreign plates, thus avoiding having to pay their local registration fees and taxes.  A by-product of not being locally registered also causes difficulty in enforcing traffic regulations such as automatic speeding fines, parking tickets, etc.

The six months rule mentioned by Rascalb was also introduced to allow foreign residents to visit for a limited period (eg, on holiday or short term business trips) without having to re-register their cars or pay the local taxes, eg a French motorist could visit the UK without having to apply for a V5C and buy a tax disc.

If you have a property in France, you fall in the half-and-half zone and if the vehicle is registered to you at that address and you produce the carte grise then, in practice, you are unlikely to be challenged.  If you push your luck, then......

The EU commission are currently considering the removal of these obstacles to freedom of movement within the EU for people and their cars.  The initiative embraces such things as a more liberal cross border insurance regime, traffic information sharing and enforcement co-operation, etc.

 

 

[Loiseau]

Good ole SD - I knew you'd come up with chapter and verse!

I can see the logic of pursuing people who come permanently into the UK with beat-up foreign cars that they don't re-register - in the same way as of targeting UK-reg cars permanently based in France.  But it does seem over-dramatic to hit legitimate short-term visitors with a foot in each country. 

I am not anticipating bringing the French car to the UK in the near future, but obviously if one did, it might be a good idea to have proof of ferry bookings with one in the car as well as the carte grise.

Angela

[Motorhead]

"There are international agreements which provide for the temporary use of a vehicle in a foreign country for a limited time, usually six months in a 12 month period. A visitor to the UK may use a vehicle displaying foreign plates, provided that all taxes (including vehicle excise duty) are paid in their country of origin.

If a vehicle bearing foreign plates is stopped by the police, it is the responsibility of the keeper to demonstrate that he or she is eligible to use the vehicle in the UK without registering and taxing it."

I've usually found that a French driving licence is sufficient proof. The only exception was when I was kipping in the back of my car en route from Dover to Glasgow. However, it was in a train station car park and when I ascertained that it was local plod and not Transport I told them to push off which they did.

As it says above the time limit is usually 6 months but there are exceptions. I once had a car impounded by the plod as evidence when they caught a couple of scrotes stealing it. They were really really after one of them and he had a really really good lawyer so that by the time I'd got it back it was over the 6 month limit. I was assured by the police that it was quite OK for me to drive it around untill the next time I was going back. I wonder what other exemtptions there are. 

[Kali3]

Just to say thank you everyone for all your advice on this. I guess that we'll play safe and leave the car in France for now, frustrating though this is. I suspect any new European regulations will be too late for this particular vehicle...

[aj_dr]

This 6 month ruling is interesting.....our son has been at University in Scotland for the past 4 years. The DVLA would not accept his University address and neither could he register the car at this address. The only alternative was to register it in France, change his driving licence to a French one,which we did, also we found an assurance company who would give him 365 days green card. He has gone back at the beginning of September and returned to France at the end of May the following year......nobody has said a word, if they had I would like to know what their suggestion would have been!!.........You could say that he got away with it but what else could he have done??

aj

[Sunday Driver]

I'm a bit puzzled by the scenario you describe.  I'm assuming the car was originally UK registered, so I'm not sure why the DVLA would not have accepted his Scottish address.....

However, to answer your main query, if your son is classified as normally resident in France (with you) and studying in the UK, then as a "foreign" student, he is exempt from the six-month rule.

 

[aj_dr]

Yes, SD, the car was a registered UK car. DVLA would not take a university address, had he been renting a flat that might have been different.

aj