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Foreign Motorhome stuck in UK due to Covid lockdowns and ill health. No NOVA certificate as wasn't meant to still be here


flat4alfa

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I know there are other import/NOVA advise threads but this case might be different enough not to spoil an existing thread.

Ok.  My family (parents) have owned this thing since 2005, bought new in France, LHD.  Registered in France, I have all the French papers to hand.  It's a Citroen Jumper II platform (Ducato), body built and sold by Challenger.  Pan-European any driver insured.

s-l300.jpg.79a1f79de92a87f09972c29874bc9ec7.jpg <  very similar

Last summer, what with lockdowns I flew over to France to 'fetch it' for use during August on an alternative staycation in England.  Because TUI cancelled our Canary Islands holiday due to Covids, and wife and I had two weeks holiday booked with our firms we had to take.  Seemed like a great idea at the time and worked out well, touring Devon and Cornwall with young daughter.

However, when autumn came, my parents still hadn't been able to leave the UK and take it back 'home'.  Part of the problem was bad timing given that that once France came out of a lockdown, the UK seemingly went back into one and vice-versa.  The other reason is my parents declining health and the excruciating waits and delays what with medical appointments in the past year.  So life was put on hold.

So.  It's gone past its 6 months allowance in the UK and technically should have been declared.  It has always lived permanently in France, or at least did do before the world exploded.  When we came out of lockdown this year, it was supposed to go back to France straight away, but my parents health is a mess now so I'm stuck with it tucked up my driveway and it doesn't look like it's ever going to happen.  Controle Technique (French MoT) is also out in August too.

So how stuffed am I?  Dad (or I) never declared NOVA as it was supposed to return to France September/October last year.  And here we are.

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Easy peasy, for NOVA they have such a thing as "date of change of intention" which in your case will be when you decided to keep it here permanently (last week obviously officer). It is also used when there is a foreign reg vehicle sold here which the new owner then decides to permanently import - the previous owner could have had it here for years without declaring NOVA but the new owner shouldn't be penalised.

Decide what date you decided to keep it here permanently, I suggest not long ago. Fill in a paper NOVA form with what bits you can and send it off with a covering letter explaining the situation - it was here temporarily but now you have decided to make it permanent.

As there is no or not much VAT or duty on older stuff the revenue really arent bothered, they will get back to you in 4-6 weeks with a letter with a NOVA ref you can use for the V55.

https://www.2cvgb.co.uk/images/stories/downloads/nova-form.pdf

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  • flat4alfa changed the title to Foreign Motorhome stuck in UK due to Covid lockdowns and ill health. No NOVA certificate as wasn't meant to still be here
13 hours ago, Mudster said:

Just to complicate things, be aware a UK resident is not permitted to drive a foreign registered vehicle in the UK after 6 months here. Hope you get it sorted just didn't want you to fall foul of this.

It still seems a bit grey though as it and my parents up until now were majority resident in France  

I live very close to a large town with high immigrant population.  Every tenth car is on foreign plates and been here a lot longer. So is it really enforced as it used to be?

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As far as I know, it's not legal for a UK resident to EVER drive a foreign car in the UK, unless it's for the Media.

From here: https://www.gov.uk/importing-vehicles-into-the-uk/temporary-imports

"You can usually use a vehicle with foreign number plates without registering or taxing it in the UK if all of the following apply:

you’re visiting and do not plan to live here
the vehicle is registered and taxed in its home country
you only use the vehicle for up to 6 months in total - this can be a single visit, or several shorter visits over 12 months"

I believe the only other exception is if taking the car for an MOT to enable you to import it properly, but I'm willing to bet a bored copper would willingly argue that point. 

 

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You can drive it if it’s legal in France and you’re named on the insurance or it’s common anyone with a license that hasn’t expired and is valid in France.

You can also drive a foreign REG vehicle if it is owned by a business. It’s then exempt from the 6 months in a year but not per visit.

Given your parents are French residents until it lapses 5yrs if on a perm cds or they decide they’re not anymore then they as people transferring their primary residence are not subjected to duty or vat on their own possessions as long as they’ve owned it for 6+ months and it’s a used vehicle with some miles on. The exact values are on the rev & customs site. 5000 miles and 6 months off the top of my head.

The TOR will negate the NOVA requirements or rather it cuts out that part of the process as they’ll get a cert for the whole lot of their possessions. This then makes nova a tick box.

Make sure they tell their French insurance and ANTS that it has been exported or legally they can’t cancel their policy. Lots of French companies won’t do anything without a letter recorded delivery. There’s a website you can use that generates the letter and posts it for a small fee. If needed I’ll dig it out as I used it to can a phone contract with SFR when they started ramping up the cost.

Sorry for ramble and happy to help if I can. I may even be interested in it.

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What with the travel and lifestyle restrictions we've been under (in both countries) I can't be the only one affected.  DVLA allowed extended MoTs due to the situation.  But what about the 6 months clause?

ToR isn't quite on the cards just yet but as my Father's on-going health issues and last week's (six months after requesting...!) dementure assessment of my Mother, does mean thoughts have changed and might have to action more important things quickly.

So what's going to happen if I drive it?  It is taxed (France) and insured (pan-European) as any driver - I'm not specifically named on policy.   Will plod impound it at the roadside due to the 6 months clause, or are they more understanding than that, given the many months of lockdowns and travel restrictions on both sides of the channel.  I could pre-book a ferry and head south, but there aren't many spaces left at all.  To compound that, in recent days I find out France does not recognise my first AZ vaccine due to lack of EMA certification.  So I can't travel from Amber list UK after all.

So it is still stuck here despite trying to do something about it.

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10 hours ago, bangernomics said:

You can drive it if it’s legal in France and you’re named on the insurance or it’s common anyone with a license that hasn’t expired and is valid in France.

You can also drive a foreign REG vehicle if it is owned by a business. It’s then exempt from the 6 months in a year but not per visit.

Sorry for ramble and happy to help if I can. I may even be interested in it.

Thanks and I will PM you shortly

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On 7/4/2021 at 8:51 PM, Dave_Q said:

Easy peasy, for NOVA they have such a thing as "date of change of intention" which in your case will be when you decided to keep it here permanently (last week obviously officer). It is also used when there is a foreign reg vehicle sold here which the new owner then decides to permanently import - the previous owner could have had it here for years without declaring NOVA but the new owner shouldn't be penalised.

Decide what date you decided to keep it here permanently, I suggest not long ago. Fill in a paper NOVA form with what bits you can and send it off with a covering letter explaining the situation - it was here temporarily but now you have decided to make it permanent.

https://www.2cvgb.co.uk/images/stories/downloads/nova-form.pdf

Thanks.  I think that form has been obsoleted as I cannot find it on HMRC website.  It seems since Jan 1st 2021 we now have to use https://www.tax.service.gov.uk/nova/ 

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11 hours ago, dollywobbler said:

As far as I know, it's not legal for a UK resident to EVER drive a foreign car in the UK, unless it's for the Media.

Where did that bit come from?  I've never heard of that exemption before.

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14 hours ago, flat4alfa said:

I live very close to a large town with high immigrant population.  Every tenth car is on foreign plates and been here a lot longer. So is it really enforced as it used to be?

Unless you drive like a dope, I think you'll be grand.

I know of one French registered Renault Twingo (Mk1 I believe) that has been parked near me, and has been moved plenty of times, over the last few years. So unless you give Plod a reason to pull you over, you should be alright to at least get it to where it needs to be. But remember, ACAB rules apply and YMMV.

Good luck with it. 

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5 hours ago, Talbot said:

Where did that bit come from?  I've never heard of that exemption before.

I've not seen it written down anywhere, so maybe it's an exemption made up Or not actually tested in court? Media often drive foreign-registered vehicles, either classics or brand new, on these shores.

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3 hours ago, St.Jude said:

Unless you drive like a dope, I think you'll be grand.

I know of one French registered Renault Twingo (Mk1 I believe) that has been parked near me, and has been moved plenty of times, over the last few years. So unless you give Plod a reason to pull you over, you should be alright to at least get it to where it needs to be. But remember, ACAB rules apply and YMMV.

Good luck with it. 

My godfather runs his UK registered 1973 Mustang convertible auto in the south of France where he lives and he has never had any trouble with it, in fact he even said you can get specialist insurance for UK plated cars over there (?!?!?) 

I think the situation would be similar in this case, as long as you don't obviously flaunt it, you will just be another tourist, that or a copper is gonna be more interested in a speeding Audi than a complicated foreign admin mess

It's all down to how lucky you feel, I went to London a while back and a load of the supercars there had foreign, even middle eastern plates fitted, and I got the distinct impression they were able to get away with it 

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I worked with a UK bloke who was married to a German woman, both working at Rolls Royce in Derby. He met her at their factory near Berlin. 

She had a LHD MX5 on German plates, and they drove back to  Germany every year to get a TUV.   I found it very odd. 

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