A question for the expats...

[Chico]

Its the midday tape change cycle

[Joe Black]

The definition of "residence" for parking purposes is probably quite different from that for other purposes, such as vehicle registration.

It is a different question whether the insurance company is properly aware of where the vehicle is normally kept.

As far as I know, here in Belgium, you can still get the residents parking permit even if you're a foreigner residing here temporarily, e.g. on an assignment. The full two year ones, which are the ones I meant, of course imply a different 'legal' status...

As for insurance its just a case of shopping round, e.g. www.stuartcollins.com who offer such cover, though of course the premium might be higher.

what happened?, Milans disappeared

[threaded]

Used to be in Denmark that a UK registration just would not go into the Parking Permit system, so you could not get a residents parking permit. Yet it had a wonderful upside: the same software was used in generating parking tickets, so you never got one...

[expat]

So how can they get the resident parking permit when they've still got UK plates on the car?

The definition of "residence" for parking purposes is probably quite different from that for other purposes, such as vehicle registration.

It is a different question whether the insurance company is properly aware of where the vehicle is normally kept.

[Joe Black]

[milanbenes]

dunno what you are talking about

Milan.

[Joe Black]

"you need to remove those tunnel vision glasses"

I got the point from your first post Milan , of course anyone could be registered as the keeper, I was just laughing at the idea of saying to some official here, "no honestly sir, I'm just borrowing the car for a couple of years"...

As I said it still seems such an obvious dodge if the cars parked outside someones house all the time, with foreign plates, and a residents permit which expires in 2007 stuck in the window.

[threaded]

Depends where you're resident

What is residence? I spend most of my time in one country, but also own houses in other countries where I am also registered as a resident...

In the Copenhagen area of Denmark the most usual dodge is to own a flat in Lund or Malmö just across the bridge in Sweden, then you can have a Swedish registered car which is at least a quarter of the price of owning a Danish registered car... One chap I work with bought a flat for his daughter and is often seen 'borrowing' her car.

On Jutland they buy a flat in Germany to do the same thing.

[milanbenes]

dunno what you are talking about

Milan.

[Joe Black]

"not if you are not the registered keeper and you are borrowing it from the owner"

From your own company...

[milanbenes]

dunno what you are talking about

Milan.

[Joe Black]

Hmm...understand what you're saying, still surprised though.

Seems something of an obvious dodge though if its your own car, e.g. car registered in UK under 'Joe Black Ltd', car driven full-time in Belgium with UK plates by 'Joe Black' while displaying resident card behind windscreen.

I know in some EU countries (not sure about Belgium) that the moment you/your company is considered taxable in that country then you also have to register the vehicle there.

[milanbenes]

dunno what you are talking about

Milan.

[Joe Black]

Over the last few months I've noticed a number of cars here with foreign plates. Nothing strange about that you might think but...although these cars have foreign plates (couple polish and now an english one which hasn't moved for the last few months) they also have a local residents parking permit displayed.

Now everything I've read/been told so far, says that if you move to another country and become a resident there, then you have to re-register your car in that country. In fact I thought it was illegal (says so on the EU website), i.e. no driving round avoiding speeding tickets for the next X years because you've still got foreign plates.

So how can they get the resident parking permit when they've still got UK plates on the car?