No more insurance certificate on the windscreen

[Lehaut]

I read in the french press that there is a proposal in the works to do away with the green vignette insurance certificate we display.  The insurance companies already submit details to a central data base when we take out/renew/cancel car insurance (as I understand the article).  When a control is carried out, the police scan your number plate which is linked to the policy.  The idea being it will save paper(!), avoid people displaying false certificates and reduce non insured drivers on the roads.  I believe, if you are flashed at the moment there is an auto check to see if the vehicle has a CT. Perhaps they will link the two.  Mobile units that scan plates are already available in some countries to check parking fees etc.

[Harnser]

Relevant to us recently - we bought a new car from an online agent, not a dealer, in January.

As it had been pre-registered in Slovenia previously we were allocated a WW- prefix French temporary reg number with a white A4 size carte grise so it was insured on that number -   so we then got a white insurance vignette for the screen. Then the proper french carte grise was delivered - but someone got the year date wrong  making the car a year older.

So back it went and after another month's wait we got the correct permanent carte grise - we checked everything on it, VIN number etc so back to the insurance office who then posted us a green vignette with the wrong reg number. Back it went again and finally we have the correct green vignette - Phew!

The online agent paid us for another set of plates and the handbooks which were not delivered with the car.

I wouldn't have been super confident with just a database entry somehow. 

[NickP]

This system has worked in the UK for some time, Number Plate recognition. In the UK it's no longer necessary to have a road fund licence on your windscreen. I believe that every Police car in the UK now has a Number plate recognition camera on board. The technology today is amazing, this afternoon I was sitting in a French hospital car park while my wife saw a consultant concerning her upcoming carpal tunnel procedure,  after getting bored playing Solitaire on my phone I noticed that certain cars went through the exit barrier without putting money into the machine. Looking at my car park ticket I realised it had our number plate printed on it. So obviously every entrance ticket has the same allowing staff to leave without paying. The Euro Tunnel is the same as when you pull up at the check in your car registration and your name appears on the screen. I thought it's a shame that UK hospital trusts don't allow the same privilege to their staff.

[Harnser]

"In the UK it's no longer necessary to have a road fund licence on your windscreen" 

Five years on from the abolition of paper car-tax discs, the number and proportion of untaxed vehicles in the UK remains about three times as high as it was before the introduction of a digital-only system.

The resulting lost duty is costing the exchequer £94m per year – an amount of money far exceeding the projected savings estimated by the government shortly before it got rid of the physical documents.

https://www.publictechnology.net/articles/news/number-untaxed-vehicles-three-times-higher-introduction-digital-only-system