Moving back with car

Have I got this right? So you get 21 days, insured from country of origin on the old plates before you must replace with Irish plates and Irish insurance, otherwise you are driving illegaly? Just wondering cos a friend of a friend is bringing his car next week from France and I understand he thinks he can drive here with the old insurance and plates? He has moved here permantly. How much the plates anyone know thanks.
 

Kane3000, Would appreciate your advice:
we are moving back to Ireland in 10 days from Germany.
We have been here for 1 year and bought a car here.
We are insured with the German company until 31st December 05.
We were told by the Irish insurance company that we will be insured on the German plates until we reregister the car. We cannot do this until we arrange accommodation which will be around 3-5th January.
Where can we get info about the international plates? Can we deregister the car from Germany on the 3-5th January 06? Or do we need to do it before we leave?
 
Why the rush (within 24 hours ) to re-register the car in Ireland?
Can he not drive in Ireland with his German plates and valid German insurance (presumably EU-wide)?
There are plenty of foreign registered vehicles on Irish roads at the moment.
 
Hi Smokeygirl

If you go to any car dealer in Germany they will organize the International plates for you for a fee, then you just inform your German Insurance company and they will tell you about the terms of insurance.
Don't get me wrong, if you are insured on your German plates then you can drive in Ireland with those plates - as if you were on holiday. However, I think that if you plan to import the car without paying VRT then you need to import it the same day you 'import' yourselves - the stipulation for paying no VRT is that you are moving to Ireland permanently - To import the car you need to have it deregistered from Germany otherwise you may run into problems A) Trying to cancel your German Insurance Policy and B) trying to re-register the car in Ireland.
You can of course move home with the car on the present German plates and then attempt to de-register it remotely - which involves posting back the registration plates and documentation - its a bit of hassle but certainly do-able.

Corolla97: If you check out the Revenue website it will tell you that a car which is destined for import needs to be presented within 24 hours of arrival in the country. All the foreign plates on our roads are either Holidaymakers or people who are here temporarily (I think you can drive in Ireland for 6 months without changing your plates if you only intend to reside temporarily).
 
Hello Kane3000,
Thanks for the prompt reply.
We are officially on holiday in Ireland until 3rd January when my husband starts work. We also were told that we could not register in Ireland until we have an address where we will be living.
As we are from Northern Ireland, we cannot use our home addresses.
Thanks for the advice though.
 
Here is a situation I would like to run by you all....What if I registered a business name in London, and registered a new car in the UK as a company vehicle, under the UK address. As we have an Irish company here aswell, could we use the car in the Republic almost straight away and after six months have passed, change the car to an Irish reg. for use full time in Ireland....
 
What are you going to tell your insurer during the initial six months when they ask 'What is the main address at which the car will be held?'
 
If I were to get the car insured in the UK, you could drive it in the Republic, I think. I could totally be off the mark here, but is it something to look into...
 
You also need to order your car well in advance. It can take some time to get the RHD car
 
Aberdeen said:
If I were to get the car insured in the UK, you could drive it in the Republic, I think. I could totally be off the mark here, but is it something to look into...
Click to expand...

Axa were the only company, and only through certain brokers, who would insure a car anywhere in Europe regardless of the length of time the car was in the country. They wacked a hefty premium on top to do this though. I did find another company that were quite reasonable but they didn't cover third party, this had to be sourced locally which was impossible. All other companies had a 30 - 90 day limit on use outside of the UK.
 
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Hi all,

to complicate further, does anyone know what happens when:

  • I have a German contract but live in Budapest (paying rent, tax etc in Hungary)
  • I have a German RHD car which I use in Germany on frequent trips there for work - it is in my name , etc.
Going home next year , I can prove Residence abroad (in EU Hungary) , I can prove Ownership of vehicle longer than 6 months ( er, in EU Germany ).
Am I exempt from the VRT?

Thanks very much
 
kane3000 said:
Hi there Kevin.
1. You need to have the car registered and insured in your name and at your address in Germany for 6 months +
Click to expand...

How strict are they on this 6 months thing? I've been the registered owner and insured on a car for 5 yrs but would like to upgrade before i move back, but have less than 6 months left.
 
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