Irish insurance woes (taken out of big box thread)

[ozsamurai]

Pedro,

I don't mind buying parts for whatever car, BUT, I only know Beat! where to get stuff etc. You'll have to find the part...I'll buy it & ship it for you. Parts No.s, auction codes etc..that's up to you...If thats OK then fire away.. All the payment details are on the HP and you should talk to PaulW about the BigBox, he takes care of it on your side.

Cheers

Oz

http://www.angelfire.com/ms3/ozsamurai/Ordering.htm

[jcs]

Pedro - just took a look at this link!
Surely some of those figures are the value of the car, not the insurance premium?!
We thought Beat insurance was high in Eire because the insurance companies don't know what it is, but clearly they don't know what any car is! I mean ... it's a joke isn't it? If you did some statistical analysis on the ages, cars, locations and prices, I think you'd find absolutely no logical correlation whatsoever. I thought insurance was rubbish here in the UK, but ....

[tinytim]

Pedro,

FCUK those premiums!

PM sent

[Pedro - MR2]

I havent received that PM tim, but if you ask adam or johnd they'll tell you that insurance along with everything else in this country is a sick joke. I don't even know how i'd go about making this country right i wouldn't know where to start!!!

Peter

PS Interesting fact: Publicans actually run this country.........

[tinytim]

Pedro,
There is a loophole in EU law that may enable you to register and therefore insure your car in another country. If the PM isn't there by tomorrow send me your e mail by PM

[Adam]

Pedro is right guys.

An example: I got a quote: 1st yr insurance on a Beat €8714, 22 with full licence. I didn't take that option. But if I was to drive a
Micra 1L it would be about €5500 and that not yen!

Your right Tim there is a loophole but there is a catch too. If you insure the car and thats a BIG IF. Under Irish Law they will not allow you to tax your car and without tax they can tow it awaaaayyy!

[tinytim]

You don't just insure it, you register the car in another EU state. If you were to use a UK address/PO box you register the car with DVLA you pay your road tax across the border (in pounds I'm afraid) get it MOT'd and you're off.
The Germans are getting very annoyed because people are doing this in Poland and the Czech Rep to avoid the TuV test (their MOT) particularly haulage companies, due to the stringent TuV criteria for HGV.
As far as I know there isn't much that can be done. EU96/96 is the reference document, it's about the minimum inspection standard but the wording means no EU member state can refuse to let a car, that has been inspected to this standard, on its roads. Loophole open.

[Midship]

Sounds like a good a idea, anyone got any companies that will give out english beat quotes online?

[Adam]

I see where your coming from Tim.

That’s actually quite a problem here. I know someone who did that for a while until the customs got a hold of him.
The problem is that if you drive a car on e.g. English plates, its ok. Until the local police start noticing the same car over and over again. Then they stop you and ask for license. Lets face it; with the insurance being so high they tend to stop you all the time. How will I convince them that I just came here for a holiday? I have an Irish license, they see the car all the time. They might let me off once twice but eventually they will say his living here and avoiding to pay the tax (VRT).

[tinytim]

Adam,
I don't see what the customs could have done, perhaps you can find out.

You don't need to say you're on holiday, simply tell them it's a UK registered vehicle.

You would have to export the car to UK and register it to a "keeper" (friend/relative) in the UK. The very first note on the UK V5 says the "keeper" is not neccessarily the owner.
This is the first line on the web site www.dvla.gov.uk/vehicles/regveh.htm
A registration document (V5) shows the registered keeper (the person who keeps the vehicle on a public road, not necessarily the legal owner) of the vehicle. It gives the keeper's name and address, the registration mark and other information about the vehicle. A new registration document is issued each time there is a change in the details printed on it.
Keeping the vehicle on the public road (in UK) consists of ensuring the road tax, MoT and insurance are up to date.
I suggest you contact your DVLA equivilent and ask them if you can do this, when they say you can't (for they surely will) ask them to provide the reference material and the Statutory Insrtument that says this.
The EU has open boarders you can up sticks to live and work anywhere in the EU, no visa, no tax and you can even claim state benifits in the country you live in. The only restriction is that your car is insured in the country of registration.
It may not be easy but given your premiums it may well be worth it.

[tinytim]

JohnD,
Tesco don't have it online anymore but if you phone tham it's on their database (even has the version Z)

Adam,
Missed the bit about VRT. It doesn't matter as long as you have a valid UK tax disc.
I spoke to a German colleague this week, he now has his car registered in Holland because it's cheaper. The Germans use the vehicle "PS" (power to weight ratio) to calculate the premium, the Dutch just use the weight so an Audi TT is far cheaper to insure in Holland. Neither of these countries are bothered about the value of the vehicle because it's peanuts compaired to the personnal injury claims. A standard policy is for a car up to E100,000, go figure!