Temporarily insure/tax car via 14 day cooling off period that I am exporting overseas

Waitrose_Carpark

Hi all,

This might be cheeky but as far as I can see it looks kinda legal:

I am possibly purchasing a car in the UK (I currently live on the EU mainland) but immediately exporting it to another EU country. At the moment the car is not taxed or insured (is in dealer forecourt). I'm just trying to figure out the cheapest way of insuring the car between the purchase and it being insured in my home country (although the UK is my real home )

Temporary insurance costs a fortune, so I was wondering whether it'd be too cheeky to insure the car from say 1st of the month, then cancel the insurance basically as soon as I drive it on the ferry (or rather, until it's insured in it's new country). This could be a matter of hours afterwards. Cancellation fees aside, what's stopping me from doing this over and over as long as I cancel within 14 day cooling off period?

Also, if I drive straight from forecourt to ferry, what are the odds on me getting stung for not having any road tax?

Herzlos

How far is the ferry from the forecourt? Potentially you could see if they'll get it to the ferry on trade plates (or a trailer) thus saving you having to bother taxing or insuring it.



What is the deal regarding insurance/tax/etc for a car that's being driven across as an export? Presumably it'll need to be insured/taxed/MOT'd on the mainland before it rolls off the ferry?


Surely it'd be a lot easier to just buy a car over there, which will be a legal spec and have the steering wheel in the correct place?

Alter_ego

You might have problems registering a UK spec car in mainland europe.

knightstyle

Just be aware that some older UK cars cannot be registered in countries like France due to them not being recognised on their systems.
Also if the car is new or nearly new there may be extra taxes to pay.
Could the garage lend you trade plates which you post back?
Other option is trailer or pay someone to deliver it to you.

George_Michael

Waitrose_Carpark wrote: »

Cancellation fees aside, what's stopping me from doing this over and over as long as I cancel within 14 day cooling off period?

When applying for a policy, it's possible the insurers will check the details of the vehicle on the insurance database and if they see that you have been taking out and cancelling multiple policies, they may decide that it's not worth their while accepting you as a customer.

foxy-stoat

I never though that £30 was expensive for a 1 day insurance cover - but if it is for you then good luck getting it cancelled within 14 days and it not cost you £30....if you happen to have a total loss or accident on the way then it will cost you the annual premium.

As for VED - I would not risk it - what car is it by the way, you know that VED for the rest of the month will likely only be £15 unless its a big engined car.

Car_54

Waitrose_Carpark wrote: »

Also, if I drive straight from forecourt to ferry, what are the odds on me getting stung for not having any road tax?

Are you asking us to advise you how to evade tax?


Apart from the legality of that, why would any tax-payer want to add to his own tax burden by helping you to reduce yours?

Waitrose_Carpark

Herzlos wrote: »

How far is the ferry from the forecourt? Potentially you could see if they'll get it to the ferry on trade plates (or a trailer) thus saving you having to bother taxing or insuring it.



What is the deal regarding insurance/tax/etc for a car that's being driven across as an export? Presumably it'll need to be insured/taxed/MOT'd on the mainland before it rolls off the ferry?


Surely it'd be a lot easier to just buy a car over there, which will be a legal spec and have the steering wheel in the correct place?

It's an old, second hand left hand drive car first sold in the US.

Cars here are rusted to bits and cost a fortune, from the UK they are much cheaper and this nearly perfectly fits what I'm looking for.

Waitrose_Carpark

Alter_ego wrote: »

You might have problems registering a UK spec car in mainland europe.

It's originally a US spec car, registered in the UK. As long as it passes the required tests I'm led to believe registering it should be fairly simple.

Waitrose_Carpark

knightstyle wrote: »

Could the garage lend you trade plates which you post back?
Other option is trailer or pay someone to deliver it to you.

Trade plates is a great idea! (I used to be a dealer years ago, I never even thought of that)

Waitrose_Carpark

Car_54 wrote: »

Are you asking us to advise you how to evade tax?


Apart from the legality of that, why would any tax-payer want to add to his own tax burden by helping you to reduce yours?

No, I'm asking how I could avoid tax. And don't worry, I've paid car tax over the last 25 or so years, and continue to contribute to the HMRCs coffers despite not even living in the UK.