UK Citizen, Expat, Hiring UK Car on Foreign License....
Discussion
....what happens if I get caught speeding?
I have always heard friends and colleagues telling me that 'I'll hire it on my UAE license' in relation to having to get from A to B quickly in the UK when back on vacation (mostly in jest, I'll add).
But what would really happen?
If I fly back to the UK, rent from Hertz (other rental firms are available) and hand over a UAE license, then make progress down the M4, through a speed camera. I assume that the rental company gets a brown envelope, tells plod that I was driving, and hands over my details. Do they assume it is oilydan who has a house here in the UK, or see the license is not endorsable and send a fine, through the rental company and that's it?
I recall my father getting stopped on our way back to LHR in the late 80's for pressing on and he handed over a Saudi license. The rather nice policeman told him to take it a little easier and carry on, as he did not know what the paperwork would look like!
Disclaimer - I am not an advocate of speeding, am not trying to evade the law, and have no intention of doing either.
I do need to decide whether to hire the ///M3 or the Kia Picanto though.
I have always heard friends and colleagues telling me that 'I'll hire it on my UAE license' in relation to having to get from A to B quickly in the UK when back on vacation (mostly in jest, I'll add).
But what would really happen?
If I fly back to the UK, rent from Hertz (other rental firms are available) and hand over a UAE license, then make progress down the M4, through a speed camera. I assume that the rental company gets a brown envelope, tells plod that I was driving, and hands over my details. Do they assume it is oilydan who has a house here in the UK, or see the license is not endorsable and send a fine, through the rental company and that's it?
I recall my father getting stopped on our way back to LHR in the late 80's for pressing on and he handed over a Saudi license. The rather nice policeman told him to take it a little easier and carry on, as he did not know what the paperwork would look like!
Disclaimer - I am not an advocate of speeding, am not trying to evade the law, and have no intention of doing either.
I do need to decide whether to hire the ///M3 or the Kia Picanto though.
I unfortunately can confirm.
British expat of 10 years, was back in UK making the delightful journey from south wales to liverpool in a hire car using my UAE license.
Pulled over by an unmarked car on M5 for speeding.
Produced my UAE license, paid 100 quid on the spot by phone.
They did a background check on me, found my expired uk license and applied 3 points to it.
If you dont have a UK license they will create a shadow one and apply points to that.
British expat of 10 years, was back in UK making the delightful journey from south wales to liverpool in a hire car using my UAE license.
Pulled over by an unmarked car on M5 for speeding.
Produced my UAE license, paid 100 quid on the spot by phone.
They did a background check on me, found my expired uk license and applied 3 points to it.
If you dont have a UK license they will create a shadow one and apply points to that.
A NIP would be sent to the hire car company, they would provide the name and address of the hirer of the car.
A new NIP would then be sent to that address.
If you replied confirming you were the driver, and only giving a foreign licence (and address), the police may drop it or send a conditional offer. If you paid the fine a ghost licence would be created and points added to that. If you didn't pay, it would proceed through court, much bigger fine and points still added.
The fine would be difficult to enforce.
If you didn't bother to reply it would proceed to court as a failure to furnish. Big fine and six points added to a ghost licence, again the fine is difficult to enforce.
Quite what happens if the foreign address provided should return a NIP to the police as "not known at this address" is unknown.
Telling lies can lead to jail time, forgetting to reply to a NIP is not telling a lie,
An expat mate of mine was stopped by an unmarked police car when he was 'making significant progress' down Shap on the A6 in his German registered Golf. On producing his German licence the charming police sergeant said something along the lines of "push off and never let me see you round here again".
Not quite the same scenario and I guess the paperwork would have been a bit more complicated.
Not quite the same scenario and I guess the paperwork would have been a bit more complicated.
Gassing Station | Speed, Plod & the Law | Top of Page | What's New | My Stuff