Driving an EU Registered Company Car In UK, UK License

lisawood78

Hi everyone. First post on this board so go gentle please.
Husband was pulled over today and had an argument with a policeman. The policeman was threatening to have his car seized. My husband was adamant that he was legally allowed to drive it.
Basics are, German registered LHD car, taxed and insured in DE, it is his company car registered to a German company.

My husband has a UK license but he has lived (during the week) in Germany for 9 years and pays tax to the German authorities.

Before bringing his car to the UK (on and off now for many years) he looked into this and discovered the following.

UK residents are not allowed to use non-UK registered vehicles on UK roads. The only exceptions are:

• if you work in another EU member state and use an EU-registered company car temporarily in the UK for business and private purposes
• if you lease an EU-registered car and use this temporarily in the UK

This used to be displayed on the directgov site, but the information is no longer there.

It is displayed on many other sites including here http://www.directscot.org/article/driving-in-the-uk-with-non-uk-number-plates all quoting the directgov site (this is obviously now just gov.uk)

We are trying to find the exact legislation that covers this, or some kind of proof that he is correct (hopefully!) for our peace of mind and for proof in case the same situation occurs again.

In the end the policeman took no action as he was clearly unsure and went away with no action taken but we are now worried about the whole situation and want to make sure things are all legal of course.

If it matters the car is not here permanently, goes back and forth every few months.

Running_On_Empty

If you are with the AA or RAC ask them perhaps.

Spicy_McHaggis

I can see both sides here.

Your husband works in Germany for a German company.
Pays tax to the Germans.
He is in a German car with German insurance.
For all intense purposes he is a visitor to the UK as any other German national would be had they being driving a truck or on holiday.

He then when required to produce his documents produces a UK licence, with a UK address and no doubt has a UK passport.

The police are then forced to make a decision on the spot as to whether is is legal. The only issue I can see to cloud their view is the UK licence. However it is valid across the EU, he visits the home address on a regular basis.

The car isn't his, if it were owned by him I'd be more suspicious of a fiddle. However the car spends more time in its registered company than the UK does it not?

From the policing point of view.

The car is driven by a driver with the correct licence.
It is insured for third party liability.

It is so he is legal and Section 143 wouldn't be a lawful seizure.

However it has no UK vehicle excise paid or tax (vat i think) on the car it's self. That's not a matter for the police to prosecute so some advice on tax issues and legislation is the way forward to prevent further issues.

Spicy_McHaggis

Just noticed back and forward every few months, so worth checking how long a period of time the German insurance allows it to be out of the country for.

lisawood78

The German insurance is compliant with the amount of time it spends in the UK.
Thank you for your response

Spicy_McHaggis

lisawood78 wrote: »

The German insurance is compliant with the amount of time it spends in the UK.
Thank you for your response

In that case carry some documentation in English to say it's insured in the UK for a period of x amount of time.

Most UK policies will only allow a two week holiday abroad and that's the sort of policy the polic will be more used to, if you see what I mean.

AdrianC

Spicy_McHaggis wrote: »

Most UK policies will only allow a two week holiday abroad and that's the sort of policy the polic will be more used to, if you see what I mean.

EVERY UK policy covers you for the full year across not just the EU, but various other countries, without any need for a green card. What UK insurers grudgingly allow you is what most other EU countries accept as the norm - full coverage, instead of legal minimum third party cover. EU First Directive on Motor Insurance makes it a legal requirement.
http://www.mib.org.uk/Customer+Services/en/General+Cross+Border+Information/FAQs+Green+Card.htm

The simple fact is that the OP's husband is in the clear. He's not a UK resident. His licence is perfectly legit. The car is clearly only temporarily imported. The car is legal in its home country. End of.