Do you need car tax to take the car on a ferry?

lil_bird

Hello,

I have a quick question.

The car tax runs out 29th of this month. We are booked to go over to England on a stena line ferry on March 9th.

We are moving to England so the ferry trip is one way, the only reason we would like to take the car with us is so we can take a few items with us.

Once we are in England the car is being scrapped, its 15 years old and on its last legs.

Would we need to tax the car for us to do the above?

olly300

You are going to be driving it on English roads once you get off the ferry so just you will need a tax disc for the car to be legal on the road.

They also clamp parked cars on the road if they notice they don't have a tax disc.

Plus there is the issue that every now and then the police do road blocks to check cars are legal so if your car is a UK one I would get tax disc.

Finally you will be sent an automatic fine if your tax disc isn't renewed, your car sorn or notified as been scrapped as soon as the old one expires.

dzug1

You (probably) don't need car tax whilst actually ON the ferry - but you need it to drive TO the ferry and FROM the ferry to your destination.

McKneff

You might find that hiring one for the small time you need one is cheaper than a fine and it doesnt involve having any points on your licence, and doesnt involve having your premiums for future premiums raised.

Police cars are all fitted with NPR and can spot you in an instance if you have no tax.

I wouldnt risk it to be honest.

forgotmyname

TAX, MOT, Insurance. Big Brother have it all and a silly noise to alert them they have driven past or you drove past them. They just sit and wait.

Fixed cameras also in selected points. How much of an issue will it be if they tow it away?

mancitychick

dzug1 wrote: »

You (probably) don't need car tax whilst actually ON the ferry - but you need it to drive TO the ferry and FROM the ferry to your destination.

You legally need valid car tax to drive on the roads, however if you mean will the ferry refuse boarding without it, I would think not. Further more would they care, again I would think not.

iceblue24

stick 6 months tax on it, then when you scrap the car, claim a refund for the months you have remaining.

paddedjohn

Tax it for 12 months and when youre ready to scrap the car get a refund on the 11 months remaining, a lot cheaper than the earlier suggestion of hiring a car and a lot less stressful than getting the car siezed before youve finished with it. Note that the refund will be returned to the address the vehicle is registered at.

vaio

McKneff wrote: »

You might find that hiring one for the small time you need one is cheaper than a fine and it doesnt involve having any points on your licence, and doesnt involve having your premiums for future premiums raised.....

No points or insurance implications for getting caught with no tax.

OP, pretty much every year I come back from Europe in the first week of Jan with tax that expired end of Dec. Never had problem either on the ferry or during the maybe five days it takes the new disc to arrive.

Whether that would also be the case if I didn't retax it I don't know, think I'd be tempted to risk it but you could always tax it and then get a refund after you scrap it.

Edited to add: Just checked the confirmation emails from DVLC, online tax was done 11th of Jan last year and 6th of Jan this year which certainly indicates that there is some sort of grace period in operation.

paddedjohn

the 5 days grace for not displaying a disc only applies if you have bought a tax online before the end of the month.

olly300

I have brought my tax disc online for a few years now and they have decreased the grace period last year. They also made it very clear how long you have until you must display your new tax disc.

As I expect that they get lots of people claiming they have a new disc which they brought online and it hasn't arrived.

I've often been lazy in changing the disc over but now due to the number of clamped cars I've seen in different areas I made sure last year my new tax disc was on my car a day after it expired.

BTW Christmas and New Year are odd periods so I expect they give some leeway then, however end February/beginning of March isn't around any bank holidays.