Licence for driving in France

benjus

I'm pretty sure the answer to this is "no", but I thought I'd ask just in case...

My partner is from Argentina and also has Italian nationality. She has an Argentine driving licence, and has lived in the UK for over a year so cannot drive on that licence any longer. Of course, when she goes outside the UK she can hire a car and drive on her Argentine licence.

She has obtained a provisional UK licence so that she can drive here while accompanied, but hasn't got round to taking the driving test yet. She is a named driver on our insurance policy.

My question is - if we take our car on the ferry to France, could she legally drive it?

Aretnap

This is what I found on a quick search. Seems you can't drive abroad on a British provisional - you have to have passed your test (page 14).

I'm not sure whether she could drive on her Argentine licence - ultimately it would depend on French law. In the UK you can drive on a foreign licence for up to 12 months and as far as I can tell time spent in another EU country does not count towards this 12 months. If things are the same in France then she should be able to drive there, but I can't say for sure that they are.

molerat

I would say no with respect to the insurance, she cannot drive in France on her UK provisional and the car will be insured on the basis of her being a UK provisional driver as her Argentinian licence is no longer valid in UK. Not really worth the risk and if you phone the insurers I am sure you will get a long pause before they give a very non committal answer !!

benjus

Thanks for the replies - that pretty much confirms what I thought - that while she's legal to drive in France, the insurance wouldn't cover it.

vaio

nah, any uk policy must give the legally required minimum in every EU country so they couldn't avoid third party claims.

Further, given she isn't doing anything unlawful I struggle to see why the policy would be affected at all

forgotmyname

The issue could be they are now named on your policy as a provisional licence holder.

molerat

vaio wrote: »

nah, any uk policy must give the legally required minimum in every EU country so they couldn't avoid third party claims.

Further, given she isn't doing anything unlawful I struggle to see why the policy would be affected at all

OP's OH is not licenced to drive in France on her UK provisional licence, is the Argentinian licence valid as she has been resident in an EU state in excess of 1 year ? After an incident try explaining the intricacies of the situation to the French police who are not generally renowned for their sense of humour with UK motorists. To quote Dirty Harry ..... ask yourself one question: Do I feel lucky? Well, do ya ?

benjus

molerat wrote: »

OP's OH is not licenced to drive in France on her UK provisional licence, is the Argentinian licence valid as she has been resident in an EU state in excess of 1 year ? After an incident try explaining the intricacies of the situation to the French police who are not generally renowned for their sense of humour with UK motorists

Are you saying that when we fly to Italy on holiday later this year and hire a car, she may not legally be able to drive it with her Argentinian licence? I wasn't aware of the 1 year residency thing spanning multiple countries, even within the EU... do you have any references?

The UK's own law (from leaflet INF38) does not make any mention of how long you have been resident in the EU, just how long you have been resident in the UK:

While your full licence or driving permit is valid, you can drive vehicles weighing up to 3.5 tonnes, and with up to eight passenger seats, for up to 12 months from the date you came to Great Britain.

I would have expected these rules to be the same in other EU countries, although of course it's possible that they vary.

molerat

No, but do you have any references that it does not span the whole of the EU, turn up at the hire desk with a non EU licence and an EU home address. Back to the Dirty Harry quote You need to do a lot of homework on this one. If it is not EU wide in theory you could drive for 27 years on that licence.

redux

Just do a driving test. The footballer Carlos Tevez has been banned from driving here because he hasn't bothered to get a UK licence yet. Though he accelerated the process by also ignoring letters from the police.

benjus

molerat wrote: »

No, but do you have any references that it does not span the whole of the EU, turn up at the hire desk with a non EU licence and an EU home address. Back to the Dirty Harry quote You need to do a lot of homework on this one. If it is not EU wide in theory you could drive for 27 years on that licence.

To be honest it never occurred to me before that it might be the case. She's hired cars many times in EU countries outside the UK since becoming resident here.

Of course, if she were still resident in Argentina she could fly over to France 6 times a year and use her Argentinian licence to drive in France for the next 27 years as well... is it really that different?