Nikko2

Theoretical Question here:

Would it be legal to hire a car in France and run it in the UK?

Would there be a maximum period of time that it could be kept in the country?

Would any Congestion Charge / Parking Tickets / Speeding Fines still be processed on a car with French Plates?

KiwiGTI

It will depend on the rental conditions, you'd have to check with individual rental companies. Usually you can.

And you can just ignore any speed cameras, parking tickets or congestion charge for now.

Nikko2

A long term rental might be a good proposition for someone living in Kent or London then.

Dont think UK plc would be overjoyed.

I woner if anyone offers this service? Could be valuable to someone who is on the verge of losing their driving license and needs to keep it?

Just musing...

Wurzel

iTrader: (1)

I reckon if there was an influx of french cars all getting fines then the gov would act really quickly to close the loophole.

Nice idea though as I have German plates on my car

marky1

I think in theory it is illegal to drive a foreign registered car in the country in which you are resident. So if you are resident in the UK you can only drive a UK registered car. This is certainly how it works in both Ireland and Gibraltar, and would imagine it is similar in the UK.

Nikko2

I am not sure if that is true. I worked with a chap for years with a german car who was a uk citizen.

It was registerd all above board in germany at a realtives house. He used it in the uk ok just had to go to france evry 6 months to buy **** and booze to prove it was out of the country.

marky1

The fact he had to go out every six months implies he was doing something illegal! Also I did say resident, not citizen. Anyway to be honest I am not 100% sure but it is how it works in many other countries. Try driving a UK car in Ireland if you are resident there, just a matter of time before they get you!

106rallye

Have done the opposite in France, i.e. take a UK car there and know people who are english but french residents with UK plates but french insurance off the VIN number IIRC? has to come back to the UK for MOT etc but its cheaper than registering their car as french as it has to have a control technique.

It is a legal requirement of all insurance policies to provide the miniimum cover required by law in all EU countries

forgot to say no one ever bothered with parking tickets or speed camera fines HTH

Andy

davegtt

Yes and no, the fact he was leaving every 6 months is because if you import a car, you can use it on its forgien plates for 6 months then it has to be registered as a UK car. Obviously he was heading back out there to avoid having to do this.

marky1

Yep very true. I guess also if you can show some kind of evidence that at some stage you are returning to your "home" country then maybe you are okay. The reason they are tight in Ireland is to get the VRT (Tax) and the same goes for Gibraltar. I had to pay 30% duty when I brought it in, got away with UK plates for about 3 months and then got threatened with confiscation by customs.