Motor Vehicle Registration and Drivers License

[4MyEgo]

What is the process here in Thailand with regard to renewing your registration/s for motor vehicle/bike and drivers license/s.

 

Do they send out renewal notices to your address, or is the onus on you to remember the dates and go in yourself.

 

The reason I ask is that a friend just told me that he just found out his registration for his car expired last month and that his full comprehensive insurance would be invalid, although renewed last month after he received a renewal notice and paid it.

 

He is going to the registry department tomorrow to sort out the expired registration.

 

I am just curious to know as I have always gone in a couple of weeks early and paid, having kept diary notes, and don't recall ever receiving a renewal notice.

 

What would happen if one got into an accident and ended up killing someone, I am sure the insurance company would blame you for driving an unregistered motor vehicle, so no insurance cover ?

 

Does the government here have a duty of care to send out notices to renew your registration, as they would back in the old country, i.e. or do you would have a duty of care to renew it without them sending you a reminder, different countries, different rules, not so cut and dry ? 

[JohnC]

It's the owners responsibility 100% , the authorities do not send reminders. 

[jenny2017]

 

       If your friend would have an accident, the insurance would not pay. 

[stevenl]

2 hours ago, jenny2017 said:

 

       If your friend would have an accident, the insurance would not pay. 

Nonsense. He has renewed insurance, the late registration will not affect that.

 

" What would happen if one got into an accident and ended up killing someone, I am sure the insurance company would blame you for driving an unregistered motor vehicle, so no insurance cover ? "

No, still cover as long as the insurance is valid. Unless the policy states otherwise, which will normally not be the case here in Thailand.

[4MyEgo]

On 4/8/2018 at 1:07 PM, JohnC said:

It's the owners responsibility 100% , the authorities do not send reminders. 

Thanks for that, he ended up going to Lotus on a Sunday and paid the registration, and they fined him 1% of the registration fee....lol

 

He is now going to re-register every time he pays for his full comprehensive insurance, i.e. about a month before his registration is due, so he won't forget that both go hand in hand, and his broker is always on time with his car and house insurance with reminders.

[4MyEgo]

22 hours ago, stevenl said:

Nonsense. He has renewed insurance, the late registration will not affect that.

 

" What would happen if one got into an accident and ended up killing someone, I am sure the insurance company would blame you for driving an unregistered motor vehicle, so no insurance cover ? "

No, still cover as long as the insurance is valid. Unless the policy states otherwise, which will normally not be the case here in Thailand.

Here in Thailand, the CMI or (Por Ror Bor) covers any death, i.e. of 3rd parties, however it is also important to note that to be on the road legally in Thailand your vehicle must be registered, that said, it is also worth noting that to get the CMI or (Por Ror Bor) your vehicle must be registered, now if the registration lapses, I am sure there would be a case for an argument, i.e.as your vehicle was not registered at the time of the accident, you were not legally allowed to drive your vehicle on the road, therefore the CMI or Por Ror Bor only covers registered vehicles, therefore your CMI or (Por Ror Bor) does not cover you, if that makes sense.

 

Not saying your wrong, or I am right, Thailand has a lot of different rules, Regulations and Acts from where we come from, but one would hope that it would be the way I have stated it above, otherwise why pay to register your vehicle, i.e. you get fined for driving it unregistered, stupidly enough the police allow people to drive off once they have paid the fine of 400 baht, I think that's the amount, although not sure, which if you do the calculations on that amount, you would have to get caught about 8 times to equal the registration fee payable to drive legally on the road in Thailand, and we wonder why a lot of Thai's drive unregistered vehicles, go figure.

[johng]

59 minutes ago, 4MyEgo said:

Thailand your vehicle must be registered, that said, it is also worth noting that to get the CMI or (Por Ror Bor) your vehicle must be registered,

You "register" your vehicle once  when its new or change owner / province...

you don't "register"  it every year

what you do every year is pay road Tax and compulsory government insurance  Por Ror Bor

( and more extensive insurance if you want to)

 

I read it reported here that after ( 7 years ?) of no Tax payment the DLT  does in fact  de-register  the vehicle so the registration plate ( number plate) is invalid and a new one issued after the fines and everything have been paid.

 

Apparently if you inform the DLT that the vehicle will be "off road"...you can avoid the  de-registration.

 

[4MyEgo]

4 minutes ago, johng said:

You "register" your vehicle once  when its new or change owner / province...

you don't "register"  it every year

what you do every year is pay road Tax and compulsory government insurance  Por Ror Bor

( and more extensive insurance if you want to)

 

I read it reported here that after ( 7 years ?) of no Tax payment the DLT  does in fact  de-register  the vehicle so the registration plate ( number plate) is invalid and a new one issued after the fines and everything have been paid.

 

Apparently if you inform the DLT that the vehicle will be "off road"...you can avoid the  de-registration.

 

This is very interesting...

 

So what you are saying is, the registration is a road tax which I understand and agree with, and the Por Ror Bor added into his full comprehensive insurance covers his 3rd party if there is a death.

 

So theoretically speaking, you can drive an unregistered car on Thai roads and still be (3rd party insured if you cause a death), i.e. if your (Por Ror Bor) is current at the time, regardless if you registration (road tax) has expired.

 

So registration is one thing, and 3rd party Bor Ror Por) is another, ok I am getting this, but what about full comprehensive, can they pull the pin and say, no registration means you are legally not allowed on the road, therefore we are not paying for your car and the other drivers car damage, replacement, but pay the (Por Ror Bor), I know it sounds contradictory, but in the old country, no registration, means a null and void contract.

 

 

 

[johng]

15 minutes ago, 4MyEgo said:

So theoretically speaking, you can drive an unregistered car on Thai roads and still be (3rd party insured if you cause a death), i.e. if your (Por Ror Bor) is current at the time, regardless if you registration (road tax) has expired.

 

I think the Tax and Por Ror Bor  run concurrently  and you need to have Por Ror Bor to be able to pay road tax and get the tax disc.....so the theory shouldn't happen.

[4MyEgo]

3 minutes ago, johng said:

 

I think the Tax and Por Ror Bor  run concurrently  and you need to have Por Ror Bor to be able to pay road tax and get the tax disc.....so the theory shouldn't happen.

This is the thing, my mates car insurance falls due Febuary and his car registration March, he pays his full comprehensive insurance which has the Por Ror Bor within it, i.e. its an extra cost.

 

There lies the problem, insurance is due before car registration so a month later his rego is out if he forgets to pay it because they don't have a reminder or mail service like in the old country.

[johng]

Maybe he should go to his insurance broker and ask/tell them  to re-align the insurance dates so that everything expires together.