Parking ticket in UK on French registered car

[Sashabel]

I have been driving my French registered car over in the UK when I visit my father.  The other day we parked in a zone that would have been illegal if he had not had his disabled badge with him.  A traffic warden approached us to tell us to move the vehicle or she would give us a ticket.  When we pointed out that we had the disabled badge on display, she went away without a word (I think she was rather miffed at not being to issue a ticket).

Just out of interest though.  If a french registered car were to get a parking ticket, would the local authority be able to follow it up if it went ignored?  Do they have access to the French registration records?

Sasha

[Dog]

Currently no - but the police state is getting closer by the day...

You are currently OK setting off fixed scameras too.

[Sunday Driver]

Article published in the Daily Mail (June 2006):

British motorists are to be pursued for parking tickets and speeding fines incurred on the Continent, under new plans being drawn up the Government.

Ministers have given the DVLA permission to pass the details of British drivers to foreign police forces so they can chase offenders for payment of any criminal penalty after they have returned home.

From March next year, the DVLA will also be able to send out tickets on behalf of foreign countries - although they will not be able penalise British motorists by adding points to our licences.

Until now, British drivers have been able to drive abroad with relative impunity from cameras and parking wardens - although thousands are still hit with on-the-spot fines if caught speeding by police.

Under the new laws, all EU member states will be legally bound to follow up unpaid fines if requested by another member state. But it is only expected to apply to fines over 70 euros - about £50.

Ministers are currently in the processing of reaching agreements with other EU countries to issue a blanket ban on drivers convicted of the most serious motoring offences.

The new moves also mean that thousands of foreigners who commit offences in this country will not escape justice.

In London alone, it is estimated that foreign drivers owed around £40 million last year in unpaid congestion charge fines, parking tickets and bus lane tickets.

Drivers registered in France were the most common offenders. Other countries with a high rate of unpaid tickets include Germany, Ireland, Poland and Lithuania.

 

[Sashabel]

That's very interesting - thanks.

So, would I be right to assume that if I had been given a ticket I could have just binned it?

Sounds too good to be true!!

Sasha

[goose]

I've also heard that some people with house's in France are registering their cars in France despite being in the UK full time and thus avoid our road tax too.......of course there may be questions about the legality of that - eg I'm sure your French insurance cover will only cover 180 days over here - but with no border controls who can prove how long you've been in the UK this trip?

A smart fraudster would pop over the channel on a cheap day trip and use his credit card in Auchan to provide an audit trail on French soil once a month...... or have I read too many crime novels?

[Spongebob]

Is insurance and tax for a French registered car, rhd, LESS than the UK then?

What would insurance be on say, a group 13 car, (Xantia)

I know we live in "Rip-off Britain", but am unaware of costs for those things in France, not being there full-time, yet.

Spongebob

[Bob T]

There is no road tax on a car or bike here in France.

[Spongebob]

[quote user="Bob T"]There is no road tax on a car or bike here in France.
[/quote]

No road tax? what is a "Vignette" then?

SB

[Will]

Something that was discontinued for private vehicles in, I think, 1999 - though vans, trucks etc still need them, and there has been talk of reintroducing them for 4x4s.

There may be no road tax now, but a fee is chargeable for the carte grise, the equivalent to the British registration document. For a vehicle with a high CV (fiscal power) rating it can be quite expensive, though it is a one-off charge when you register a vehicle in your name rather than an annual fee.

[Spongebob]

Ah...........right, thanks.

Anyone cvare to estimate the insurance on a xantia, group 13 car in France?

Not that I'm thinking of doing this, of course[;-)]

SB

[Dog]

[quote user="Spongebob"]

Ah...........right, thanks.

Anyone cvare to estimate the insurance on a xantia, group 13 car in France?

Not that I'm thinking of doing this, of course[;-)]

SB

[/quote]

Obtaining an insurance quote in France is not easy. First they want copies of every obscure piece of ephemera relating in any way to your vehicle. They then say cost will be around €600.

They do not seem to shop around and give you a cover note from insurer A. You offer to pay and they say later...

When you remind them 2 months later that you still haven't had a certificate of insurance or a full years insurance card for the windshield or had a bill... they give you another months cover note from insurer B.

Eventually a certificate of insurance arrives from company C and the price is cheaper than they first mentioned. They still don't want you to pay and the bill arrives if at all a few months later.

Strangely they explain that anyone can drive the car?

Cost me fully comp for a Toyota Verso €400.

[Bob T]

My Xantia HDI 110 cost me around 200 euro to insure. If you are coming from the UK collect every isurance certificate thet you can find, as 5 years full no claims here counts for very little, Youneed to prove that you have had insurance for over ten years to get a decent discount. I had no problems with insurers they were very efficient.

[Dog]

I must be exceptionally unlucky - I have dealt with five different insurance agents and they alll seem to give me the same unusual service.

I gave them barrel loads of stuff going back 15 years and have never claimed within this period.

I had great trouble getting my son insurance for his 900cc motorbike when he was 22 they just don't think you should have such a large bike even though he had proof of insurance in UK .

They still won't believe he is retired neither will the UK tax authorities that are still wasting money writing to my wife 4 years after she said she had retired

Gotta go army are having gun battles in our area and the surrounding woods near us... heavy machine guns rocket launchers and smoke grenades! It's an amusing spectacle.

Very French no H&S signs no warnings just men and a few women with weapons running around frantically madly firing.

Yesterday one reversed the troop carrier into a tree.

It makes the daily walk great fun...