Buying a French car and using it in the UK
Discussion
Got a car parked up our street on foreign plates and was thinking, can he get a parking ticket?
Then got onto more thinking, what if you bought a car in France, registered it to a French person, then brought it over here. Would the French person it was registered to get your speeding/parking/congestion charge tickets?
Would the car still need MOT'ing (or whatever the French variant is of the MOT), would the French person have to continue taxing said vehicle. What paperwork would you need to produce if you were stopped by BiB?
I'm sure some people will be getting my drift, even if I am making a crap job of describing it.
Then got onto more thinking, what if you bought a car in France, registered it to a French person, then brought it over here. Would the French person it was registered to get your speeding/parking/congestion charge tickets?
Would the car still need MOT'ing (or whatever the French variant is of the MOT), would the French person have to continue taxing said vehicle. What paperwork would you need to produce if you were stopped by BiB?
I'm sure some people will be getting my drift, even if I am making a crap job of describing it.
Byff said:
Got a car parked up our street on foreign plates and was thinking, can he get a parking ticket?
Then got onto more thinking, what if you bought a car in France, registered it to a French person, then brought it over here. Would the French person it was registered to get your speeding/parking/congestion charge tickets?
Would the car still need MOT'ing (or whatever the French variant is of the MOT), would the French person have to continue taxing said vehicle. What paperwork would you need to produce if you were stopped by BiB?
I'm sure some people will be getting my drift, even if I am making a crap job of describing it.
Then got onto more thinking, what if you bought a car in France, registered it to a French person, then brought it over here. Would the French person it was registered to get your speeding/parking/congestion charge tickets?
Would the car still need MOT'ing (or whatever the French variant is of the MOT), would the French person have to continue taxing said vehicle. What paperwork would you need to produce if you were stopped by BiB?
I'm sure some people will be getting my drift, even if I am making a crap job of describing it.
Not sure about France but in Italy, you pay road tax WHATEVER- no S.O.R.N. over there. Also an expired MOT might upset your french insurance.
You'd probably get away with the parking tickets, gatso tickets and scamvan tickets but if you were pulled by plod for speeding you'd get the fine and the points.... yes... even with a froggie driving licence! They create a skeleton licence in the DVLA for you and the points build up there.
Ok, so you kept your nose clean with the BiB, but they pulled you for a vehicle check (would a BiB pull a car just because it has a foreign plate?) What documentation would you need, just the usual insurance, mot and drivers license?
I'm guessing, but I presume that if the car was correctly taxed, tested and insured in France and you were driving it in England as an English license holder with the permission of the French owner, then you would be pretty much safe from any automated penalty systems?
I'm guessing, but I presume that if the car was correctly taxed, tested and insured in France and you were driving it in England as an English license holder with the permission of the French owner, then you would be pretty much safe from any automated penalty systems?
Byff said:
Ok, so you kept your nose clean with the BiB, but they pulled you for a vehicle check (would a BiB pull a car just because it has a foreign plate?) What documentation would you need, just the usual insurance, mot and drivers license?
I'm guessing, but I presume that if the car was correctly taxed, tested and insured in France and you were driving it in England as an English license holder with the permission of the French owner, then you would be pretty much safe from any automated penalty systems?
I'm guessing, but I presume that if the car was correctly taxed, tested and insured in France and you were driving it in England as an English license holder with the permission of the French owner, then you would be pretty much safe from any automated penalty systems?
Just remembered...Ex-GF did the same sort of thing. Car reg'd in her mothers name in Italy, drove it over here for a couple of years with no problems.
Had loads of fun with gatsos and parking where the
we liked. But that's Italy.. not sure about France.The french MOT is called a controle technique and is valid for 2 years, a sticker has to be displayed in the windscreen as does an insurance ticket. There is no road tax.
As insurance is generally a bit cheaper and fuel as well running a car is one of the few things cheaper over here
.
As insurance is generally a bit cheaper and fuel as well running a car is one of the few things cheaper over here
. I've posted on this before, but here goes again.
The best place to buy, insure, tax and register a car is Eire (S. Ireland). The cars are all RHD, the UK insurers all operate in Eire and your no claims bonus is transferrable there. All you need is an accommodation address or an Eire registered company.
Do that and you are virtually watertight in terms of cameras, etc. Of course, if you then take the proverbial and drive at, say, 120 mph through several cameras, expect the UK Old Bill to pursue you through the Irish Old Bill (the Guarda).
European legislation permits this, although I believe you are supposed to take the vehicle out of the UK once every 6 months, although nopt necessarily to its country of registration ( a booze cruise, maybe).
I know that if I had, say, 6 points that's what I would do.
Even better is to register a company in Eire and buy the car through that company, insure it and tax it through the company. The company could just be a Dublin office of a UK limited company with its own Dublin address.
The best place to buy, insure, tax and register a car is Eire (S. Ireland). The cars are all RHD, the UK insurers all operate in Eire and your no claims bonus is transferrable there. All you need is an accommodation address or an Eire registered company.
Do that and you are virtually watertight in terms of cameras, etc. Of course, if you then take the proverbial and drive at, say, 120 mph through several cameras, expect the UK Old Bill to pursue you through the Irish Old Bill (the Guarda).
European legislation permits this, although I believe you are supposed to take the vehicle out of the UK once every 6 months, although nopt necessarily to its country of registration ( a booze cruise, maybe).
I know that if I had, say, 6 points that's what I would do.
Even better is to register a company in Eire and buy the car through that company, insure it and tax it through the company. The company could just be a Dublin office of a UK limited company with its own Dublin address.
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