jacksprats

Hi all, my situation is i have 6 points on my british car license here in the UK.I will hopefully be living and driving in italy within the next two months. as you probably know it is a maximum of 12 points here in the UK you have to accumulate before losing your license. how will it work in italy if i was to get stopped by the police and had points taken away. On an italian license ive been told you have 21. Will this apply to me because i am in italy or will i still have 12? and is the points system the same - 3 points for a minor offence and 6 points for a serious offence as in the UK?
Hope you guys can help

p.s. will my points also effect my car insurance in italy?

giodafa

The Italian police can't take off points on a driving license issued by another country, although they san fine you.

jacksprats

Thanks for the reply, but can you keep your british license after living in Italy for many years or do you have to change too an italian license after a certain period of time?

Mr Posh

I got told because it is a EU licence we can keep it...BUT it does not sound right to me: so that means we can do what we want and have no points deducted just fines....Can't be right, well untill i get told it will do me

37100

At this time, the police here and in the UK cannot cross check so your points here have no value and neither will you acquire Italian points on your UK licence. If you are resident here when your UK license comes up for renewal you should apply here and you will be issued with an Italian one. There are 20 points on an Italian license and you acquire 2 more every 2yrs for 'good' behavior up to a total of 30 points. Our insurance requires you to declare your points the first time, but not all do.

Pecora Nera

Been here three years still on my UK licence. I have been stopped by the police (Carabinieri) twice on spot checks. They always look bemused by the licence. One young carabinieri got into an argument with my OH because he thought the UK on my licence was for Ukraine he said I with a British passport should not be driving with a Ukrainian licence.

My wife went into teacher mode and pointing at the EU flag on my licence asked him when Ukraine was admitted into the EU. I thought she was going to give him detention...

Not the brightest lot our Carabinieri, allegedly the red stripes that run down the sides of their trousers is so that they don't put them on inside out when they get dressed in the morning.

In the UK they fine Italians driving with Italian licences and give them a lecture and tell them to change the licence ASAP. I guess the same goes here.

One last thing, in the UK I understand there are some 6000 speed cameras over here there are about 2000 hence the Italians drive like nutters. So you have less chance of getting a speeding fine here.

Isakat

I changed my old green paper licence without a photo to an Italian one after being stopped many times and the Carabinieri could not make a head or tail of it.
I would have ideally liked to have changed it to the British card licence, the one which OH has, but not being a resident in the UK any more, I would have broken the law by giving them a relative's address.

On the other hand, OH drives on his British licence and has never been stopped.He did get a fine a long time ago which required points taken off , but since he did not have an Italian licence, he only paid the fine.
It seems that it is better to keep your GB licence over here.

And, yes, OH did research if it was legal to keep his UK licence and he can, providing it is the one with the photo and European flag and not the old green paper one like mine was.

However, as Pecora Nera pointed out, you might get a Carabiniere who does not have a clue about legislation, so he might insist for you to change your card UK licence to an Italian one-which of course you can, after you fork out more than 100 euro and have an eye test.

Pecora Nera

My OH's Italian licence expired 8 months ago. She is still waiting for the new one. The local police have given her a letter to say that they are aware of the delay and if she gets stopped she is to show this bit of paper.... Imagine trying to rent a car in the UK with an out of date licence and a bit of paper from the police saying it's ok. I think I will stick to my UK licence...

modicasa

It is perfectly legal to drive on a UK/european licence until its expiry- You no longer have to convert, even though the Carabinieri will tell you to because they can't read English. Technically you should have a little sticker to put on your licence which gives you the right to circulation, but nobody knows where you get them, (at least down here) so after 6 years Im still on my original UK licence.
Points system here is more draconian than the UK - you have 20. 5 points knocked off for going through a red light, talking on mobile, not wearing seatbelt, going a bit over the limit, etc - so you can lose all your points merely by driving to the supermarket.
Suspension of licence if you overtake on a bend and get caught... and for severe excess speed - more than 40 over the limit.
Most people put their bed ridden nonno on the insurance, so when they get caught they claim it was the nonno who was driving and he gets the rap....

ononno

so that's why I keep getting these raccomandate da Equitalia!
ciao for now,
'o nonno
P.S.The carabinieri here think I'm Dutch, becase I have a bilingual English/Cymraeg licence.

jacksprats

Thanks all, great advice and very funny stuff. Seems Im at a big advantage for having a foreign license in Italy, a glitch in the system! (fantastic). One other question though - Do i need to change my address on my license from the UK one to my new Italian address with the DVLA. And if i do, wont this complicate things and have to change to an italian license?

Isakat

Check the DVLA site, but I would not bother doing anything.

Pecora Nera

I don't believe they will let you have a Uk licence with an Italian address.

indiebird

MY OH phoned the DVLA and informed them when we came out to Italy. They said that, as there was no way their system would recognise a foreign address we were advised to change it to the address of a relative resident in the UK and they have a note on their system to that effect allegedly....

duffer

There have been a few threads regarding all this, your UK photocard driving license is valid until the expiry date, even if you have moved to another EU state. The DVLA confirmed (to me) that my license remains valid with my old UK address. Once it expires, you will need a license from the state you currently reside.