twist on owner reg keeper...
Discussion
Let me present a real, and more complicated version of an old topic.
A couple live in Switzerland. Wife doesn't even have a driving licence.
Wife will return to UK, husband to another country in the EU.
They want to import a car to the UK. This will be subject to tax as husband will not be residing in UK.
A thought occurs: if they transfer the car to the wife for 6 months before she leaves and import the car as her possession, can the husband then become the registered keeper and obtain insurance while wife maintains ownership of the vehicle for 12 months for personal use?
This topic is a little old hat, except now i've thrown HMRC into the mix.
A couple live in Switzerland. Wife doesn't even have a driving licence.
Wife will return to UK, husband to another country in the EU.
They want to import a car to the UK. This will be subject to tax as husband will not be residing in UK.
A thought occurs: if they transfer the car to the wife for 6 months before she leaves and import the car as her possession, can the husband then become the registered keeper and obtain insurance while wife maintains ownership of the vehicle for 12 months for personal use?
This topic is a little old hat, except now i've thrown HMRC into the mix.
Can't you just ignore all the rules, like everyone else who comes here from Europe? There seems to be zero enforcement.
There's a woman who drops her daughter off at my daughter's school. She's been using a RRS on Italian plates every (school) day for at least 2 years to my certain knowledge - no-one seems to bat an eyelid.
There's a woman who drops her daughter off at my daughter's school. She's been using a RRS on Italian plates every (school) day for at least 2 years to my certain knowledge - no-one seems to bat an eyelid.
marshalla said:
There's no need to have a driving licence to be the registered keeper of a vehicle. Why doesn't the wife become the RK as well as the owner ?
i thought RK needed to be the one providing insurance?To previous posts:
Philip Greene probably doesn't care about such trivia. lucky him.
Sepp Blater probably doesn't even own a car.... he expects one with a driver to be wherever the private jet drops him off. not that that's in anyway corrupt.
Robert Elise said:
Let me present a real, and more complicated version of an old topic.
A couple live in Switzerland. Wife doesn't even have a driving licence.
Wife will return to UK, husband to another country in the EU.
They want to import a car to the UK. This will be subject to tax as husband will not be residing in UK.
A thought occurs: if they transfer the car to the wife for 6 months before she leaves and import the car as her possession, can the husband then become the registered keeper and obtain insurance while wife maintains ownership of the vehicle for 12 months for personal use?
This topic is a little old hat, except now i've thrown HMRC into the mix.
Strictly speaking, the only person who may insure a car (or other property) is the owner.A couple live in Switzerland. Wife doesn't even have a driving licence.
Wife will return to UK, husband to another country in the EU.
They want to import a car to the UK. This will be subject to tax as husband will not be residing in UK.
A thought occurs: if they transfer the car to the wife for 6 months before she leaves and import the car as her possession, can the husband then become the registered keeper and obtain insurance while wife maintains ownership of the vehicle for 12 months for personal use?
This topic is a little old hat, except now i've thrown HMRC into the mix.
The principle makes sense: if the car is stolen or destroyed, only the owner will suffer the loss.
flemke said:
Strictly speaking, the only person who may insure a car (or other property) is the owner.
The principle makes sense: if the car is stolen or destroyed, only the owner will suffer the loss.
makes sense. in my scenario the owner has no driving licence, hence insurance would be impossible or very expensive.The principle makes sense: if the car is stolen or destroyed, only the owner will suffer the loss.
But at least she can complete the importation process as a non-driving owner while car is in storage and uninsured (for road use).
Once in UK the husband could get insurance as RK? that seems to be the less-than-strict way forward?
Robert Elise said:
flemke said:
Strictly speaking, the only person who may insure a car (or other property) is the owner.
The principle makes sense: if the car is stolen or destroyed, only the owner will suffer the loss.
makes sense. in my scenario the owner has no driving licence, hence insurance would be impossible or very expensive.The principle makes sense: if the car is stolen or destroyed, only the owner will suffer the loss.
But at least she can complete the importation process as a non-driving owner while car is in storage and uninsured (for road use).
Once in UK the husband could get insurance as RK? that seems to be the less-than-strict way forward?
flemke said:
Strictly speaking, the only person who may insure a car (or other property) is the owner.
The principle makes sense: if the car is stolen or destroyed, only the owner will suffer the loss.
....although if the car is leased, the owner is not the one insuring the car.The principle makes sense: if the car is stolen or destroyed, only the owner will suffer the loss.
Back to the original question, it's really what constitutes ownership for HMRC when the car enters the UK? Do they just want a sales receipt, or a receipt plus a Carte Gris (V5)? and then how do they monitor the owner not selling within 12 months (a condition of tax free importation)? Only record is the DVLA and the V5, ie RK.
flemke said:
Husband does not need to be RK in order to obtain insurance. He just needs to be owner. Car needs to be registered and needs, usually, to reside in country in which insurer is based.
Wife needs to be the owner throughout the whole process to import the car tax free. That is 6 months before, and 12 months after entering the UK.After importation the cunning scheme is for the husband to insure as RK.
(i am aware that a non-resident will pay more to insure than a resident. A fact that may even make it feasible to have a new driver own the car and get insurance rather than relying on husband's NCB. But anyway, sticking to the puzzle in hand.)
Robert Elise said:
flemke said:
Husband does not need to be RK in order to obtain insurance. He just needs to be owner. Car needs to be registered and needs, usually, to reside in country in which insurer is based.
Wife needs to be the owner throughout the whole process to import the car tax free. That is 6 months before, and 12 months after entering the UK.After importation the cunning scheme is for the husband to insure as RK.
(i am aware that a non-resident will pay more to insure than a resident. A fact that may even make it feasible to have a new driver own the car and get insurance rather than relying on husband's NCB. But anyway, sticking to the puzzle in hand.)
Question of who is RK is separate matter. Criteria for "RK" appear to be slightly ambiguous. It is not even clear, from what I have seen, whether RK needs to be resident in UK, so long as he or she can received post at the registered address and is prepared to accept RK's responsibility for the car.
Insurance policy of wife will have to reflect the fact that someone else would be main driver of the car, unless she intends to SORN it.
CYMR0 said:
Why wouldn't the husband take the car to his new EU country and reimport it from there?
Would selling the car before leaving Switzerland and buying a similar car in the UK be cheaper?
maybe, maybe not. In life i've normally found there to be a heavy transaction cost in trading cars, especially when busy travelling and dealing with several countries. first world problems and all that. real issue is that the car has some sentimental value having been spec'd new, and i'm taliking more than just the cupholders and ICE.Would selling the car before leaving Switzerland and buying a similar car in the UK be cheaper?
@Flemke, thank you. your guidance is helpful
Forums | Speed, Plod & the Law | Top of Page | What's New | My Stuff