What is the setup with vehicle registration and insurance???

car registration info uk image

The Truth

I'm coming to Oz to live soon and I need to know what I have to do to be fully legal with regards to owning a car.
Also what is the score with going from state to state (plates)

Answer
Tentofield as usual has the good answer. I will just add that Australian registration plates are issued for the life of the vehicle and are not changed every year. You only get new plates after losing one or both, de-registering the vehicle for a while or moving to another state or territory. When you pay registration fees and 3rd party personal insurance, you are issued with a sticker for the inside of the windscreen with the month and year of expiry on it. You can pay registration for a full year or just a few weeks. If you have to move a de-registered car from one place to another. even interstate. you can get a week's coverage to do it.

I would suggest you get 3rd party property insurance as well just in case you have an incident with a Rolls-Royce (or any other car). This is relatively inexpensive. Comprehensive insurance covers your vehicle as well. Shop around for the best prices, the state based motoring clubs, e.g. NRMA, RACQ, RACV etc offer a combination of good service and reasonable but not the cheapest rates. They will also insure your personal stuff and house in a different policy. Some of the really cheap insurers are reluctant to pay up, I hear.

Driver's licences are subject to an eye test, knowledge of the road rules and a driving test. An international driving licence is not good enough, but should be with a licence from your home country. US, UK, Canadian, South African, New Zealand licences and most western European licences (translated into English) are OK.

If you search "Driving in Australia" you will get a lot of useful info. The first three sites from Yahoo are listed below.

Accident advice please - car reversed into my car and drove away?

Q-Bytes

A person reversed into our car in a supermarket car park
yesterday. We saw it happen, but he just drove off. We
didnât have time to get details or the registration
number and bumper is dented on our car. What can we
do? Iâm so angry.

Answer
If you're in the UK, there's no point in calling the police, the accident wasn't on the public highway. It's possible the supermarket has CCTV coverage of that area, ask if you can view it - just maybe you can make out the number from that. Then pass that info on to your insurers and leave it to them to pursue him. Failing that, it's either a case of getting our insurance to deal with the damage and paying the excess yourself or just plain paying for it anyway.

I hate it when that happens and always try to park where I'm surrounded by cars that are clearly well cared for

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What exactly is a Tax Disk holder in the UK?

car registration info uk image

Q. In the US we just have stickers for Registration and Emissions.
Please explain how these Tax Disk holders work and how they display the info

Answer
Vehicle Excise Duty (VED) is a British excise duty, which has to be paid to acquire a vehicle licence for most types of motor vehicle. A vehicle licence is usually required if a vehicle is to be legally used on the public roads. The tax, rarely if ever known by its formal title, and most commonly known as the road tax, is not hypothecated for spending on roads, the entire proceeds contributing to central government revenues. Before 1936, and still used to this day in informal everyday use, the licence was known as the road fund licence, and the proceeds went into the Government's road fund, and used entirely for road expenditure. The tax is collected and enforced by the Driver and Vehicle Licensing Agency (DVLA). Proof of payment comes in the form of a paper disk that must be clearly displayed on the vehicle, and gives rise to the third interchangeable common term used for the tax, tax disc.


Any vehicle used or kept on the public road is liable. Vehicle owners paying the tax are issued with a non-transferable vehicle licence ("tax disc") to be displayed on the vehicle. Since 1998, owners of registered vehicles not using the public roads have been required to submit an annual Statutory Off-Road Notification (SORN).[1] Failure to submit a SORN is punishable in the same manner as failure to pay duty and display a tax disc when using the vehicle on public roads.

In March 2005, graduated vehicle excise duty (GRAD VED) was introduced as an incentive to purchase vehicles with low emission levels:

* Cars registered before March 1, 2001 are charged according to engine capacity. In the 2008 â 2009 tax year this was £120 for cars with a capacity under 1550cc and £185 for those of 1550cc and above.
* Cars registered on or after March 1, 2001 are charged according to their level of carbon dioxide (CO2) emission. For the tax year 2008 â 2009 this was up to £400, with the least polluting vehicles paying no excise duty at all.
* The highest rates of Vehicle Excise Duty ("Band G") only apply to vehicles manufactured after 23 March 2006 - the maximum VED for vehicles manufactured before that date is £205 for petrol and diesel powered vehicles.

Rates for all other vehicles vary from £15 for motorcycles with an engine capacity under 150cc, up to a maximum of £1,850 for the largest heavy goods vehicles (HGVs). (Special rates apply to HGVs not used commercially.) A few special-purpose vehicles such as ambulances are exempt.

In tax year 2002 â 2003, it is estimated that evasion of the tax equated to a loss to the Exchequer of £206 million. In an attempt to reduce this, from 2004 an automatic £80 penalty (halved if paid within 28 days) is issued by the DVLA computer for failure to pay the tax within one month of the expiry of the previous tax disc. A maximum fine of £1,000 applies for failure to pay the tax, though in practice fines are normally much lower.

The police have also been granted devolved powers to tow or clamp any vehicles a police officer or PCSO sees, that is unlicensed on a public road.

Also note that vehicles constructed before 1 January 1973 are eligible for a free vehicle licence under the "Historic Vehicles" legislation. This is due to the age of the vehicle and a presumption of limited mileage. Initially this was a rolling exemption applied to any vehicles over 25 years old, however the cutoff date was frozen in 1997. The change to "pre-1973" was unpopular in the classic motoring press, and a number of classic car clubs are campaigning for a change back to the previous system.

http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Vehicle_excise_duty

http://www.taxdisc.direct.gov.uk/EvlPortalApp/

http://www.direct.gov.uk/en/Motoring/OwningAVehicle/HowToTaxYourVehicle/index.htm

http://www.apda.co.uk/tax%20disc06.jpg
pic of tax disc.

http://www.halfords.com/webapp/wcs/stores/servlet/categorydisplay_storeId_10001_catalogId_10151_categoryId_31325
tax disc holder.

Which reminds me mine is due soon.:( .

Steps to registering a car back to its old UK plates.?

Matt

Does anyone know what the steps are to get a British car that is on foreign plates back to it's old UK plates?

Thanks in advance
If I can't get my old plates back, would it go on a Q plate?

Answer
Go to the dvla website for the info - as said
I don't think you will be given the original registration, it may have been reallocated, you could ask but you would have to pay extra, I think its nearer £100 to re-register .

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