You would also be guilty of theft. Perhaps you like prison food because you would very finish up there if caught in France. They are not very forgiving where cross border crime is concerned. Perhaps if you explained exactly why you need to take a hire car then we can give you some sensible advice that would enable you to do so legally.

fwh

thanks Frank.
And sensible advice as to how legally drive a hire car to France is all that we will allow in this thread.

So what if you have an accident and damage someones car or injure them???

Is it possible to hire a car and not inform the company i understand insurance is void if i do this, but is there anything else to worry about.

I'm staggered! Apart from the other things that Frank has pointed out that you should be worried about, surely the insurance issue is enough of a worry on its own?

1) Driving without insurance is illegal and an offence in itself.

2) You'd be liable for every single penny of any damage that occurred to the car regardless of whether it could be proved to be your fault or not.

3) In the event of you having an accident, your own travel insurance wouldn't cover you and you'd be liable for every penny of the cost of any medical treatment that you required.

4) In the event of you injuring someone else in an accident, regardless of whether the French police charged and prosecuted you for any criminal offence that you might have commited, you'd be liable for the medical costs of the injured party and any civil damages they were successful in having awarded by the French courts. And you wouldn't get your legal fees covered either for that matter.

Don't forget that you wouldn't be able to escape any of this just by returning to Britain - assuming that you weren't held in custody anyway - the French authorities would insist on you being returned for trial and the UK ones would offer them every assistance. I can't believe that anybody would even contemplate doing this just to save money.

The reason why you are being quoted a high rate for crossing a national border with a hire care is that covering you for all this costs money and presents a higher risk to the hire company. If you can't afford to do this legally and properly then don't do it. But why DO you need to do it in the first place - by the time you've paid to take the car to France on a ferry or through the Chunnel, wouldn't it be just as cheap to travel as a foot passenger or even fly and hire one on the other side of the Channel anyway?

SM

Don't be an idiot. It's not unknown for log books to be examined at immigration, and you wouldn't have the necessary insurance .... plus if you don't have the insurance, as has already been mentioned, you would not have public liability cover, and so if you 'hurt' or 'damaged' any one or anything this side of the channel, you wouldn't have a leg to stand on.

Crossing borders does cost. And what you are suggesting is illegal and I cannot condone it.

ok guys it was just a thought , after consideration on this matter i have decided on going through the proper channels and thanks for all replys on this matter, i was just surprised how expensive it was to hire a vehicle and travel to france nearly 500.00 for a week and thats no joke.

Edward, if you could get yourself to say Calais, or even to a French railway station, by other means, might it not be cheaper to hire a car there .... with the steering wheel on the 'right' side, headlights facing the right way and all the paperwork up to speed?