Can I MOT my mainland UK registered car in Northern Ireland?

[BOH]

Hi,

I'm working over in the Irish Republic for a few months and my MOT is about to expire.

Can I take my car, which is registered in mainland Britain, for an MOT test in Northern Ireland?

Thanks, BOH

[PJ S]

Need to phone and book it, rather than just land in at a test centre, but otherwise, yes.

[BOH]

Many thanks for the prompt response!

[Wheelrepairit]

I did this with a van i had, no problems until i tried to tax it.

Got told they dont tax GB plated vehicles, pay £800 and get an northern irish plate and im able to tax.

Yeah right oh, muppets, dont they know Northern ireland is part if the UK.

[the jollyrodger]

i got my car,which has mainland plates, taxed no problem!
they offered me a new northern ireland reg if i wanted it,free.

[stevieturbo]

Just be very careful when living in the South with a UK registered car.

If they think you are living there for...I think its 6 months or more. They expect you to register the car there, and probably pay the HUGE EXTORTIONATE VRT for the pleasure.

Ive heard of people getting their cars impounded as the Gardai/Customs say you should be paying this as you are a resident.


Look into it, and be very careful what you say if stopped.The Irish government are even more corrupt and greedy than our own government !!

Edited by stevieturbo on Sunday 16th August 11:53

[will2020]

Heres the link you need to book your vehilce in for a test

http://www.dvtani.gov.uk/onlinebooking/Vehicletest...

Just click on "book test"

[bobd]

Had same problem and the MOT cert issued here is not linked to the DVLA system. You need to take your registration doc with you and when they see its registered in Swansea the answer is computer says no
thats my experience and understanding of this issue.

[will2020]

bobd said:

Had same problem and the MOT cert issued here is not linked to the DVLA system. You need to take your registration doc with you and when they see its registered in Swansea the answer is computer says no
thats my experience and understanding of this issue.

A MOT issued anywhere in the UK is valid in another part ie Northern Ireland / England, when we had problems here a while back the MOT staff where out on strike loads of people simply hoped on a boat to Scotland for the day. You cannot TAX the vehicle in N Ireland, but all you do is get it MOT'd here then post the MOT to a friend or realative on Mainland who pops down to your local office with your paperwork and TAX's the car for you, and posts you back the new disc.

Edited by will2020 on Sunday 16th August 23:13

[mccrackenj]

If you want to tax a car registered in GB then you have to 'import' it into NI from GB. It sounds ridiculous, but NI tax & registration system is separate from GB.

It's not actually that hard to do, I have done it twice with cars that I've bought locally but were never actually registered in NI. Ring DVLNI and explain the situation and they'll send out the approporiate form. Then either complete it and post it to Coleraine or you can take the form and all your paperwork to one of the local offices where they will check that everything's OK before issuing you a tax disk. It's at this point they will ask you if you want to keep your GB registration no. or change for a NI one, so decide on that before you go.

I know DVLNI get a lot of stick but I can honestly say that on the 2 occasions I've done this (once by post and over the phone with Coleraine and the other time in person in Belfast)they were actually very helpful.

Also - if the car has a valid GB tax disk then you can leave it until it's about to run out before importing the car.

[will2020]

mccrackenj said:

If you want to tax a car registered in GB then you have to 'import' it into NI from GB. It sounds ridiculous, but NI tax & registration system is separate from GB.

It's not actually that hard to do, I have done it twice with cars that I've bought locally but were never actually registered in NI. Ring DVLNI and explain the situation and they'll send out the approporiate form. Then either complete it and post it to Coleraine or you can take the form and all your paperwork to one of the local offices where they will check that everything's OK before issuing you a tax disk. It's at this point they will ask you if you want to keep your GB registration no. or change for a NI one, so decide on that before you go.

I know DVLNI get a lot of stick but I can honestly say that on the 2 occasions I've done this (once by post and over the phone with Coleraine and the other time in person in Belfast)they were actually very helpful.
Also - if the car has a valid GB tax disk then you can leave it until it's about to run out before importing the car.

Yea thats ok for someone who lives in NI with an address and correct insurance etc, but BOH is only working in the South for a while not living in the North.

Edited by will2020 on Monday 17th August 19:35

[stevieturbo]

Cant he just get a MOT cert posted over from the mainland ? lol Or dont they do that anymore

[FLAT 6]

I think you'll find that you can just book a vehicle in for a test and get it done without having to give a address. You will need a registration document but I don't think this has to be a DVLNI issued document.

I say this on the basis that I was able to MOT a Triumph Spitfire which was neither registered in N.Ireland or GB. I did have a 'Certificate of Permanent Export' issued by Swansea which the MOT station accepted as the registration document when I turned up for the MOT.

I had the interesting situation of not being able to register the car without a valid MOT so car had to be MOT'd before being formally registered in N.I.

My suggestion is to book your car in on the DVLNI website, turn up with your GB V5 and see what happens!

Good Luck!

[JuniorD]

mccrackenj said:

If you want to tax a car registered in GB then you have to 'import' it into NI from GB. It sounds ridiculous, but NI tax & registration system is separate from GB.

It's not actually that hard to do, I have done it twice with cars that I've bought locally but were never actually registered in NI. Ring DVLNI and explain the situation and they'll send out the approporiate form. Then either complete it and post it to Coleraine or you can take the form and all your paperwork to one of the local offices where they will check that everything's OK before issuing you a tax disk. It's at this point they will ask you if you want to keep your GB registration no. or change for a NI one, so decide on that before you go.

I know DVLNI get a lot of stick but I can honestly say that on the 2 occasions I've done this (once by post and over the phone with Coleraine and the other time in person in Belfast)they were actually very helpful.

Also - if the car has a valid GB tax disk then you can leave it until it's about to run out before importing the car.

I had a big row with them at the office in Belfast last year when trying to register a car I bought in England. The people in Coleraine told me to do abc with forms xyx, I went to the office and sat for 4 hours when someone came round checking and saw xyz and told me I needed forms pqr and associated documentation. I chanced it at the desk and was told computer says no and had to leave. After confirming with Coleraine, went back a week later with pqr and documentation only to be told something else entirely (think any 4 random letters of the alphabet) and I finally flipped. Coleraine are nice on the phone when you finally get through but they tell you any old st and don't prepare you for the swerve balls which the office in Belfast throw. In Belfast they are just a bunch of s and you have to sit for hours with some of the dodgiest people in christendom.

[mccrackenj]

JuniorD said:

mccrackenj said:

If you want to tax a car registered in GB then you have to 'import' it into NI from GB. It sounds ridiculous, but NI tax & registration system is separate from GB.

It's not actually that hard to do, I have done it twice with cars that I've bought locally but were never actually registered in NI. Ring DVLNI and explain the situation and they'll send out the approporiate form. Then either complete it and post it to Coleraine or you can take the form and all your paperwork to one of the local offices where they will check that everything's OK before issuing you a tax disk. It's at this point they will ask you if you want to keep your GB registration no. or change for a NI one, so decide on that before you go.

I know DVLNI get a lot of stick but I can honestly say that on the 2 occasions I've done this (once by post and over the phone with Coleraine and the other time in person in Belfast)they were actually very helpful.

Also - if the car has a valid GB tax disk then you can leave it until it's about to run out before importing the car.

I had a big row with them at the office in Belfast last year when trying to register a car I bought in England. The people in Coleraine told me to do abc with forms xyx, I went to the office and sat for 4 hours when someone came round checking and saw xyz and told me I needed forms pqr and associated documentation. I chanced it at the desk and was told computer says no and had to leave. After confirming with Coleraine, went back a week later with pqr and documentation only to be told something else entirely (think any 4 random letters of the alphabet) and I finally flipped. Coleraine are nice on the phone when you finally get through but they tell you any old st and don't prepare you for the swerve balls which the office in Belfast throw. In Belfast they are just a bunch of s and you have to sit for hours with some of the dodgiest people in christendom.

Oh well, sorry to hear all of that! All I can say is that my experience was different from yours.

[Decky_Q]

I bought a car in Scotland with GB registration in March and took it over to NI, had to MOT it which was absolutely no prob at all and then had it taxed and switched over to my name no problem and as was said before I was offered a brand new NI registration for free if I wanted it. no problem.

[KillerJim]

I had no problems importing my TVR into N.Ireland, I just filled in one form and voila..

I didn`t change the registration plate so I dunno if that causes more headaches..

[BOH]

Booked my appointment in Armagh - the lady at the booking centre was very helpful.

Will let you guys know how I get on.

Thanks for the advice.

[chinoloco]

i registered my uk 911 in the belfast tax office couple of years ago. took a single form (which they filled out for me) and took about 5 minutes. v5 turned up in the post few days later. couldn't be simpler. kept my uk reg, although they said if i wanted a NI reg it's another form and very simple.

[JuniorD]

Frigg me, were all you boys giving them special brown envelopes ?

IIRC my issue was that I wanted to register the car at my new home address but they refused this in the Belfast office as I had no proof of address, despite the Coleraine people telling me this was possible. They wanted either bills or driving licence as proof of address however we had only moved in one week, bills don't tend to be in my name anyway, and my licence was still in my old address. What I found most annoying about this system is that they would accept a driver's licence as proof of address however you can get a driver's licence changed to an address without having to provide proof of that address.

Edited by JuniorD on Tuesday 1st September 15:21