UK car (in Portugal) to Malta

Hi ruislima,
Somewhere along the way you would have had to renew your yearly tax disk with the UK DVLA. Did you advise them that your car was not in use? If you had applied for the renewal of the tax disk then you would have had to have a new MOT done if your car is older than 3 years. I think your problem will be driving a British registered car in Europe without a tax disk or with an expired tax disk. From the Malta registration point of view, I'm sure the expats in Malta will have the answers:)

Hi rooikat and thank you for your quick reply!

In fact that's another problem as the car was just kept in my garage and therefore it has no mot, tax or insurance.. I know that when you're stopped abroad (out of the UK) local police normally only asks for insurance so I'm not too worried about driving to the ferry in Italy. From that point I've absolutely no idea if I'll experience any problems in the ferry, when entering Malta or during the registration process.

Thank you again and any help will be much appreciated!

Your problem is not with the Tax / MOT but insurance. If the vehicle is not legal in the UK then obtaining any insurance will be fraudulant. You may well drive into Malta with no problem but should you have an accident you will have no insurance. Register the vehicle in the country its stored in, then it will be legal to bring into Malta.
Its not worth the risk, just think how it would affect your life and those around you if you end up in prison.

Terry

Hi ruisliema,

basically you have permanently exported your car from the UK without informing DVLA and without re-registering the car in Portugal.

Your UK plates are invalid and if you get caught anywhere along the way from Portugal to Malta driving the car with the old UK plates as a foreigner you are in for big trouble.

The problem is the insurance. You cannot get insurance for a car that is not legally registered somewhere and if you did, they would not pay in the case of an accident when they find out that the car is not registered and without MOT.

Have you looked up how much registration tax you would pay in Malta for your car? It can run into the thousands of EU and might not be worthwhile.

Here in Malta you would have to give a previous Portuguese address and documentation for two years before bringing the car to Malta and at the same time have a car with UK plates?

Your best option is to either legalize the car in Portugal before leaving or have it transported to Malta on a trailer.

Cheers
Ricky

Hi ricky and tearnet, I absolutely understand the problem you refer but assuming I want to drive the car to Malta at my own risk, I still would like to know what difficulties can I face during the registration process or if I will be asked for any of the documents I don't have for that only purpose.

Answering to ricky's question about the registration tax to pay, it would be around 5K in Portugal and 1K in Malta.. As I have the car registered in my name for more than 2 years, would I be eligible for the tax exemption in Malta?

"Your best option is to either legalize the car in Portugal before leaving or have it transported to Malta on a trailer." If I bring the car on a trailer I would still be without the referred documents.

Just to refer that the car was mot'd until September 2012, so not that long ago!

Thanks again for all your help.

ruislima, I think you need to look at the documents required to register a car in Malta on the Malta Transport website. My concern for you is that one of the things you have to do is prove ownership and if the car is no longer registered in your name (because you didn't keep your tax disc up to date, your registration/ownership might therefore be in default).
It really does require you to go on line and check whether you have every document required and whether the status of each of your documents is ok

ruisliema wrote:

Hi ricky and tearnet, I absolutely understand the problem you refer but assuming I want to drive the car to Malta at my own risk, .

Its not just your risk - your insurance would be invalid, so if involved in an accident another party couldn't claim off your insurance.

It is also worth pointing out that under EU law driving a vehicle not registered in your country of domicility is illegal
(unless you can prove that the re-registration process has started,  and that the country that you are registering the vehicle in allows it). So I would guess that you driving the vehicle in Portugal or Malta is illegal, even if the vehicle fully complied with UK law.

terry

"It is also worth pointing out that under EU law driving a vehicle not registered in your country of domicility is illegal"

I'm not sure if thats what you mean. My country of domicile is UK, my country of residence is Malta, my car is registered in Malta, and its legal

I was talking about EU law, which is not always the same as common usage.

"In law, domicile is the status or attribution of being a permanent resident in a particular jurisdiction. A person can remain domiciled in a jurisdiction even after they have left it, if they have maintained sufficient links with that jurisdiction or have not displayed an intention to leave permanently (i.e., if that person has moved to a different state, but has not yet formed an intention to remain there indefinitely".

Terry

Dropping UK domicile can be very difficult - one proof is (I think) 17 years out of 20 living outside the UK.

"It is also worth pointing out that under EU law driving a vehicle not registered in your country of domicility is illegal"

I could hire a car in Italy and drive it legally