Uninsured Foreign Cars

G

greenback

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I'm sure the issue of foreign cars has been a problem for many people. Recently we had a problem in our estate with a group of Polish guys filling up our parking space with old, beaten up Northern reg or foreign reg cars. I presume these guys are illegally trading in these junk heaps. They disappear after a few days of being revved up and tinkered with. I think the main issue is the fact that there is no insurance liability for most of these cars that are on the road today. You can gaurantee that MOTOR INSURERS BUREAU OF IRELAND will not be too forthcoming when you contact them to say you're involved in an accident with an unisured vehicle. Why is it so difficult for the Garda to get the power to impound cars found to have no insurance or is it that they just dont care?

It seems that with the ever increasing carnage on our roads that we really need to pay more attention to issues like this. Someone should make an election issue out of this.
 
According to an article in today's Independent, there are as many as 100,000 uninsured drivers on the road in Ireland.

"Gardai were called on yesterday to significantly increase enforcement to catch the one in every 16 drivers who flout the insurance law."

On 21st July 2006 Gardai were given powers to impound vehicles registered outside the State which have no insurance. Maybe you should give you local station a call, quoting the above, and ask them to investigate the cars on your estate?
 
Thanks a mill. Will see what the gardai say about it. I did hear something about them trying to get a loophole closed to help the Gardai. Just wasnt sure if it had happened. I could tolerate the thing for a while but it may be getting out of hand. Its also a complete eyesore outside my house.
 
this would be my worst nightmare getting clipped by one of these foreign cars. I was driving up the 3 lane carriageway at Naas the other morning and one of them was weaving in & out of lanes passing like a lunatic.

What do you do? You can't report them as the plate is foreign. If I ever got hit by one, I would be bringing the driver straight to a garage to get a quote and then to a bank to get their money. There would be no exchange of insurance details here....
 
Some of them are insured I'm sure.

The amount of 3rd party cover held is usually way less than what's normal here.

The are stats. available but I'm sure one of the Baltic States has less than €20000. Irish cover is over €1 million.
 
delgirl said:
On 21st July 2006 Gardai were given powers to impound vehicles registered outside the State which have no insurance.
Click to expand...

Indeed, but how to they go about checking the validity of the insurance when documents are not readable unless they read that language &
are issued by foreign administration offices with no way of querying them.
Also being able to present an insurance cert does not actually mean that the driver/car is insured, as a car insurance is valid only in country were the car is normally parked or abroad for limited period of time..

....and it seems to be a very high level of Polish/Lutuanian/Latvian tourists driving all year around in Ireland !!! Funny enough, i do not see 0.1% of that level of Spanish/French/Italian/German tourists driving around...

Note: NI/UK is a difficult one to deal with due to proximity to Ireland...
 
Thing that annoys me is how the Customs/Revenue don't seem to be bothered to even try and collect the VRT on these cars. If they are resident here they have to pay it right. Well then, just get inspectors to walk around housing estates and you can clearly see all the foreign registered cars. About 1/2 the ones in my estate fit that bill, it's monumentally unfair that we have to pay and they don't.

Please don't anyone make this into a 'you're all racist' thread, I just want everyone to pay what they should. Same as 'cash only' plumbers shouldn't get away without paying VAT, these cars shouldn't get away without tax/insurance.
 
Feels there is one law for us and another for them. After all we are supposed to be in a European Union after all. What would happen I hauled my car over to Poland and was involved in an accident or just caught with no insurance? Cant imagine I'd get away with it so lightly.
 
daveirl said:
Thing that annoys me is how the Customs/Revenue don't seem to be bothered to even try and collect the VRT on these cars. If they are resident here they have to pay it right. Well then, just get inspectors to walk around housing estates and you can clearly see all the foreign registered cars. About 1/2 the ones in my estate fit that bill, it's monumentally unfair that we have to pay and they don't.
Click to expand...

Anyone know if C/R will chase up on tip-offs ? I've a similar issue locally and have often considered anonymously forwarding an address or two. I'm guessing most of the foreign registered cars would be exempt from VRT in any case if the owners are recent arrivals but I'm more bothered about lack of accountability in safety and accident terms than the VRT due on the clapped out Audis and BMWs they're bringing in.
 
With the new laws in place the gardai should now have a responsibility to act on the public's concern. A car has to be registered if it is in the country for a period of over 180 days. Is it that hard to keep an eye on cars that sit there for ages? The local gardai have to make an example of these people and let them know their responsibilities. After all it is a serious concern and judging by their recent perfomance on road safety the government should be looking down any avenue which may improve the conditions on our roads.
 
ncs said:
I'm guessing most of the foreign registered cars would be exempt from VRT in any case if the owners are recent arrivals
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Don't you have to register for VRT within hours/days of your arrival? This was discussed already here on AAM.
 
Yes, indeed you should. What I meant to say was exempt from any financial liability for VRT... if you can provide sufficient proof that you've just moved over.
 
I recently moved back to Ireland after years living in mainland Europe. I brought my car with me. As I was planning on living and working here for the foreseeable future I was told that I needed to get it registered within 72 hours after arrival if I wished to carry on driving it here. I had to show proof of ownership and a copy of my insurance certificate - (I changed to an Irish insurance company upon arrival). I did as was required by law but noticed many foreign registered cars driving around for weeks/months and not being registered. Why isn't this loophole being closed up - that would then show who had insurance and who didn't.
 
Daffodil said:
I recently moved back to Ireland after years living in mainland Europe. I brought my car with me. As I was planning on living and working here for the foreseeable future I was told that I needed to get it registered within 72 hours after arrival if I wished to carry on driving it here.
Click to expand...
Actually it's even less than 72 hours according to OASIS:



Rules

 If you bring a vehicle into Ireland from abroad, you must first of all be able to show proof of ownership of the vehicle. For example, a vehicle registration document, evidence of car insurance, etc. You must also have a Certificate of Permanent Export (or a vehicle registration document as we mention above). It is important to check that the document or certificate is the correct one for your car before bringing it to Ireland.

You must register your car and pay VRT by the end of the next working day following its arrival into Ireland. You must bring it to a Revenue Vehicle Registration Office (VRO) not later than the next working day following its arrival in Ireland. If the vehicle is new, you should complete a Declaration for Registration (Form VRT 3) and present it with the vehicle registration document or Certificate of Permanent Export. If the new vehicle is second-hand, you should complete a Declaration for Registration (Form VRT 4). If the vehicle is a motorcycle, you should complete a Declaration for Registration (Form VRT 5).
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If your a "Visitor" to Ireland you don't have to register your car within 24 hours.

From the www.oasis.ie website:
"All new motor vehicles and vehicles brought into Ireland are subject to Vehicle Registration Tax (VRT) and must be registered with the Revenue Commissioners. (The Revenue Commissioners are responsible for the collection of taxes in Ireland on behalf of the Irish Government). Every motor vehicle in the State, (with the exception of vehicles brought in temporarily by a visitor, must be registered with the Revenue Commissioners."
 
mc-BigE said:
If your a "Visitor" to Ireland you don't have to register your car within 24 hours.
Click to expand...

Bacchus earlier on said:
....and it seems to be a very high level of Polish/Lituanian/Latvian tourists driving all year around in Ireland !!! Funny enough, i do not see 0.1% of that level of Spanish/French/Italian/German tourists driving around...
Click to expand...
 
But who qualifies as a "visitor" and who as a resident - I think that's the question here. Some people have been "visitors" for 2 or more years and even though claim to be only visiting, go out to work everyday. That's not what I would consider visiting! Don't know about you but I don't usually go to work when visiting a foreign country! :confused:
 
that's the problem, they are stopped and say they are visiting. Why can't they check with the ferry ports as to when the car was brought into the country....its an absolute joke.

Don't get me started
 
The OP mentioned a problem with uninsured cars filling up his parking space. Unless your estate has dedicated parking spaces there is nothing you can do about this as you do not own the street outside your house. If the car is encroaching on or blocking your driveway you can have it towed.
 
once and only one I rang that confidential garda number to report a foreign car who was tailgating a car in front of me. 50kph zone and the car in front was somewhere around the limit. out of a side street pops a lit car ( between me and the car in front), as I was keeping a reasonable distance I didn't have to take any action bar easing off on the acclerator a little bit. its a long 50kpm stretch and next thing I notice is that our lit friend is all over the back of the car in front, can't overtake because of oncoming traffic but drives within feet of the front car and makes loads of moves to overake or force car in front to move in. this went on unti car in front turned left of the (old dundalk bypass) road and away went out lit friend at a nice little clip. I rang the 1800 number and was informed by the garda that if I wanted to proceed I would have to be willing to go to court as witness, if they could trace the driver. at this point I decided it wasn't worth it. I have been informed by a garda colleague that most of the drivers do have insurance but its in their own countries and if you are unfortunate enough to be involved in an accident you might have to wait a long long time before getting any comp. there does appear to be a lot of 'tourists' around from these countries and a few of them are appear to visting from norn iron because I noticed 4 young scandanavian lads hopping into an norn iron reg car recently. wonder how long I would get away with that? 2/3 weeks would be my guess. The only reason I rang the confidential number is because I really did think the driver of the car was driving dangerously, firstly by pulling out in front of me, secondly by tailgating the other car, thirdly by trying ( probably a he )his damnest to force the other out of his way, and lastly because it was obvious he didnt give a damn about anybody else on the road that morning.
 
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