Out of Date Car Tax

[Coco]

[quote]Coco - I don't actually see a problem with a UK registered car being driven in

That's my point though QUillan.  This woman is definitely here permanently, you see her here all over the place - and has been for a lot more than 3 months.  Her kids go to school here and she even has the red A on the back of the car, so someone's obviously been learning to drive in it.

I think it's pretty safe to say that the fact she tried to deny the accident, even though her son kindly picked the wing mirror up off the road and carried it back to my friend(!) and that she wasn't prepared to give her address or the name of her insurers is indication enough that the car is not legal.

[Simon]

This all seems a bit strange to me, either you run your car in France using UK rules, tax, insurance, MOT etc, or under French rules, Carte Gris, CT, insurance. etc. I really don't see why we get so excited by it all, make your choice, but you have to do one or the other.

regards

S

[Boiling a frog]

[quote]That's my point though QUillan. This woman is definitely here permanently, you see her here all over the place - and has been for a lot more than 3 months. Her kids go to school here and she even ha...[/quote]

Saw in Spanish paper the other day local police in Spain are noting UK registered cars arriving at the local schools with the children and then checking how long the pupils have been attending school If over 3 months then the Spanish police impound the car as it is a requirement that car has to be reregistered within 3 months of arrival and they can presume if children have been going to school for more than three months then car has been in Spain for more than  3 months.

Maybe the gendarmes will take this idea up   

 

[CeeJay]

As this topic was of considerable relevance to me last year I did some research and found that all the points previously mentioned are correct EXCEPT that there is no correlation between not having road tax and therefore not being insured.

Your insurance company have no interest in whether you are taxed or not, the relevant point is that it is in roadworthy condition.

A magistrate cannot say that in 'most' cases it would an offence.....either it is or it is not. 

[Ron Avery]

[quote]This all seems a bit strange to me, either you run your car in France using UK rules, tax, insurance, MOT etc, or under French rules, Carte Gris, CT, insurance. etc. I really don't see why we get so ...[/quote]

"This all seems a bit strange to me, either you run your car in France using UK rules, tax, insurance, MOT etc,"

There is no choice, if you live in France, you run your car in France under FRENCH  rules.  You pay your department to register your car not the UK DVLA

How many UK insurers will insure a car permanently in use in France, not many I know of.  The truth is, as many are finding to their cost, is that many French insurers will take your premiums but will then refuse to pay out on claims because the car is not legally on the road in France.  If the car is used in France, it must comply with French rules, if it does not, it is not legally on the road and the insurance is invalid

[BJSLIV]

This all seems a bit strange to me......

I agree with you Ron, but I think that Simon was simply trying to rule out the more exotic permutations such as UK REG, NO UK Tax, with either French Insurance or No Insurance.

 

[Ron Avery]

[quote]This all seems a bit strange to me...... I agree with you Ron, but I think that Simon was simply trying to rule out the more exotic permutations such as UK REG, NO UK Tax, with either French Insuranc...[/quote]

I gathered that BJ, I was just clarifying that to be legal and to be sure of being legal in France there are no choices.  It would appear that now even the option of UK REG, UK MOT,  UK Tax and French Insurance could turn out to be a very costly wrong option

[IAN_S]

Ceejay

For an insurance company the definition of "roadworthy" is not just that the wheels don't fall off but that it is legally allowed on a public road with tax, MOT etc in the UK and in France too. The fact that it is not in the small print is not the point, just wait until you or someone else puts in a claim and you will find out the hard way.

[CeeJay]

Ian S

Thanks for your comments, may I respectfully suggest that you direct them to Saga who have informed me in writing that what you say is not the case, they have no interest in road tax.

[Ron Avery]

What I cannot understand is why anyone who lives in France would want to keep a car "legal" in the UK.  Why pay an annual road tax to the UK when you are paying French tax through your fuel.  The registration of a French car is in most cases cheaper than UK road tax (a 2 litre is €150) and is a ONE OFF payment and you can take it to the UK and use it quite legally.

The CT is only a biannual test and no more expensive than an MOT, so no annual MOT to get the car to the UK for and the CT is independent of garages who may be short on work (if you know what I mean:whistling

It would seem that if your car has a valid CT, French insurance and UK plates, you are saving yourself the French one-off registration fee of €100-200 and in the meantime risking invalidating your insurance.

So as it far cheaper, safer and easier to run a car under French rules, why keep it on UK plates?   I think we all know the answer to that one.  Perhaps one of the UK plate owners could explain why they have UK plated cars, I can understand personalised plates, but others????

 

 

[Quillan]

I kept my car here for 2 years and the reason was that it was only one year old when I came and at three years when it was due for it's first MOT I took it back to the UK and sold it. During it's time here it had a valid tax disc and valid pan European time unlimited insurance and as such complied with UK law. To do this I changed the registered address to my mother-in-laws. I may have continued but I didn't fancy going back to the UK every year to get a new MOT and once I had put it on French plates you have the hassle of changing them back again to sell it. In the end I decided to go with the sell now and buy a French car route as to be honest if you want to stay legal with a UK registered car it's just a load of grief that I would rather not have. Plus I sleep easier at night and it's easier to overtake lorries with a LHD car.