Looking for experience from those having taken the same journey ……
Moved to France in 2019 and with us came our 2011 motorhome which we bought new in the UK, so is right hand drive and a UK vehicle with an original purchase receipt and V5
We want to move this vehicle (no longer viable due to age limitations on driving it) back to the UK to friends who will come and drive it back for us.
My question is this - what’s the best way to initiate the return
Friends say they are happy to purchase it -
Are they then liable to VAT at 20% and import duty up to 10% ? Assuming so.
We, as the the legal owners, how can we make this process easier for that scenario?
Can I return the vehicle back into its UK plates without leaving French soil? Online etc with the correct documentation? I have every document necessary.
Thoughts/advice as to how to do this easily, legally without hitches!
We cannot drive it, nor can we claim it as a re entry to the UK as our possession as we fully reside in France
There are a couple of hurdles in what should be a fairly straightforward procedure. Presuming that the vehicle is French registered and legal in France the easiest thing to do would be to get a friend who is resident in France to take it back for you. You cannot re-register it in the U.K. and put the plates on it for the trip because it would need a U.K. MOT first. It would have to go back to the U.K. on French plates. Your British friends would be perfectly legal until they reach the U.K. They would not be allowed to drive a Foreign registered vehicle out of the docks. It would be worth checking if it would be allowed if you were in the vehicle as well. There should be no tax or import charges to be paid. The vehicle would need to be kept off-road while the online registration process went through. Peter J posted a useful post on the Numberplates I have known thread this morning.
Simply because British residents are banned from driving foreign registered vehicles in the U.K. There is no leeway. There are exceptions including lorries, hire cars and I was wondering if the owner of the vehicle being there as well might be make it OK. If a French resident British citizen drove it would be legal in both France and the U.K. Sometimes the details make all the difference.
Thank You for your thoughts….
From what I have read, through the import process as long as you have legal insurance to drive it from France to the UK destination it’s perfectly legal. This can be obtained via the selected insurer (at a premium)
You then have 14 days grace for registration including an MOT enabling transfer back to a UK vehicle and to pay any necessary
I think when importing (hopefully) things are a little different otherwise none of the ex pats going home would be able to repatriate their vehicles surely. VAT and Duty applicable.
I have not read it’s illegal to drive as a British resident?
First, you have many thumbs up from me for taking one more motorhome off French roads!
Providing the person claiming VAT and duty relief is the same as the person who exported the vehicle. So do not ‘sell’ it to your friends prior to you importing the car.
Throughout the EU - and in this case brexshit adopted the rule - a national cannot drive a foreign registered vehicle in the country of residence bar certain reasons and types.
My recent experience was slightly different in that I drove my Volvo back to the UK on it’s french registration and insurance (as a french resident) and left the car on my sisters drive - still insured as a french registered car.
1/ I took it for MOT and it was issued with one but with the french registration number on it.
2/ I returned to France via Ryanair from Stansted.
3/ Once back in France, I applied for its customs clearance - NOVA (notification of vehicle arrivals) - Importing vehicles into the UK: Telling HMRC - GOV.UK
4/ Once NOVA was completed - (with no VAT or duty to pay as I had originally exported it to France when I permanently moved to France), I applied for it’s UK registration (form V55/5). That had to be by post as you have to send copy of the MOT, V55/5, Carte Grise, ID etc. You will get the documents back but they keep the Carte Crise.
The DVLA registration part took two weeks - one for post and one for processing.
5/ Once I received the V5 I insured for a day, took the car for a second MOT, this time to get it issued with a UK registration number on it. Then I sold it.
I am not sure of the legalities of UK residents driving the french registered vehicle (as mentioned by David above), but you could apply for the V5 at your friends address and then just do a change of owner once it has come through to your friends name.
The British police stepped up the enforcement of this rule after the number of Polish registered cars on the U.K. roads got out of hand. That reminds me of pre Brexit rural France.
The law is the law whether you have read it or not. People going back to live in the U.K. is also a completely different situation to your friends driving your motorcaravan. You asked for help but seem reluctant to accept it.
Thanks for your detailed reply Peter, appreciated.
Unfortunately I’m unable to accompany my UK friend or go back due to health reasons.
I think the difference in your ‘story’ is you owned the vehicle both in the UK and in France whereas my friends trying to re import my motorhome do not.
They are trying to help repatriate it to the UK for me as I can no longer drive it.
It complicates matters I think but it’s not un doable.
We’ll sort….
Thanks again for your reply. Nice to see helpful advice rather than criticism
Who pointed you at Peter’s post? This is what Yourkshire police have to say on the subject.
If you come form abroad to take up residency in the UK, you must register and tax your vehicle with the DVLA immediately - UK residents are not allowed to drive foreign registered vehicles on UK roads .
Neither am I, this has come up before and I thought it was decided that it was illegal to do so in France. And was the reason that I would not let my foreign resident son drive my car here. He was ok to drive a French hire car, because ***hire cars are specifically an exception to the rule.***If it was legal there would not be an exception. As has been mentioned, lorries and drivers are an exception too.
However, Brits I know who have a holiday home here, some years ago bought and registered a French car which they leave here to drive whenever they visit in the camping car. So who knows? I’m just glad I don’t have to put it to the test.
When our children visit (UK residents) they are allowed to drive our French registered car.
Each time they arrive I ring our insurers and they confirm this is in order for the 1,2 or 3 weeks they are with us.
As others have said, as a french resident I cannot drive our childrens english registered cars when visiting them in the UK.
UK resident whilst in France can drive a UK plate and/or any other plate providing car is legal.
UK resident whilst in UK can not drive a foreign plate.
EU resident whilst in UK can drive a UK plate and/or any other plate providing car is legal.
EU resident whilst in EU country of residence can not drive a foreign plate.
I have never read of anyone being had up for this rule though. Just because I cannot argue in French, I always pop into my local gendarmerie before I buy a car in Germany to record that I will drive it home before I get a WW plate the next day. The usual response is ‘d’accord, peu importe’ without making any note…
All very confusing, I think if the matter comes up again I will go and have a word with my friend the Maire who is a retired, but still available for recall, gendarme. And then follow his advice to the letter.
Still wondering why there is an exception for hire cars for a rule that doesn’t exist though. But if it saves my son the hire price next time, so be it.
One last thing about asking for police opinion. I have mentioned before that I was told when stopped in Cornwall some years ago, that it was illegal to drive anything on British roads without a British licence. Took 25 minutes before the stupidity of that dawned on the numpty.
But if it saves my son the hire price next time, so be it.