In praise of a star Civil Servant.

[nicholsong]

I was researching the subject of re-importing to UK a vehicle previously registered there and all tax paid.

The website confirmed that there would be no tax to pay, but did not give details of what to do on arrival. I called the number listed, waited the statutory 40 minutes and gave up.

So I phoned HHMRC Dover. Answered quickly and he thought he knew, but was not an expert, so would ask. Came back with special department to call - 'Personal Transport'.

At that number I get a very pleasant and knowledgeable lady who explained that I do not need to do anything on arrival at Dover and only have to decide within 6 months if I am re-importing it, what declaration form to download and where to send it with old V5c to e-mail address. They will then give NOVA reference for DVLA. Do it in that order, not DVLA first as they will bounce it back.

Excellent advice with all the detail I needed in just a few minutes.

While giving me the e-mail in phonetic spelling she apologised that she was not so good with that as she is Spanish. She made no mistake there nor in any of her excellent English.

If all the Civil Servants were as on top of their subject as she is we could sack half of them and keep the good ones.

The guy at HMRC Dover was also helpful because he found the right department for me.


[EDIT At end of call I said that I assume this call is recorded and I want your superiors to know what good service you gave] Actually I wonder if they could be 'superior'

 

[repairer]

Well done, hope it goes as well when you contact DVLA, my experience with DVLA of importing vehicles is not good, maybe I was unlucky.

 

[nicholsong]

Well done, hope it goes as well when you contact DVLA, my experience with DVLA of importing vehicles is not good, maybe I was unlucky.

This will be a re-import and the number on their database shows up as exported and I have original V5c.

Can they really mess that up? Not impossible.

 

[TheBig1]

I was talking to somebody the other day about reimporting a vehicle from Spain. His brother had bought it out there from an exPat, who had been using it a few years. The brother was now coming home as his residency had been refused. Anyway, I digress, the car was a 2014 Merc I believe, which he had all the spanish paperwork for. Armed with that, he started the process and a week later had a letter informing him that it could not be re-registered as the chassis number was registered as stolen not recovered. They told him to contact the police, as he did not actually own the vehicle and somehow it had been registered in Spain illegally.

I asked to be kept in the loop as to what happens from here, but on the face of it, he has lost his money. The Spanish police are not interested, as the car and it's keeper are not in the country and not a registered resident. I know a hell of a lot of stolen cars have been taken out of the country, and it is no surprise that this has happened and probably loads more cases too

 

[DuxDeluxe]

I was researching the subject of re-importing to UK a vehicle previously registered there and all tax paid.

The website confirmed that there would be no tax to pay, but did not give details of what to do on arrival. I called the number listed, waited the statutory 40 minutes and gave up.

So I phoned HHMRC Dover. Answered quickly and he thought he knew, but was not an expert, so would ask. Came back with special department to call - 'Personal Transport'.

At that number I get a very pleasant and knowledgeable lady who explained that I do not need to do anything on arrival at Dover and only have to decide within 6 months if I am re-importing it, what declaration form to download and where to send it with old V5c to e-mail address. They will then give NOVA reference for DVLA. Do it in that order, not DVLA first as they will bounce it back.

Excellent advice with all the detail I needed in just a few minutes.

While giving me the e-mail in phonetic spelling she apologised that she was not so good with that as she is Spanish. She made no mistake there nor in any of her excellent English.

If all the Civil Servants were as on top of their subject as she is we could sack half of them and keep the good ones.

The guy at HMRC Dover was also helpful because he found the right department for me.


[EDIT At end of call I said that I assume this call is recorded and I want your superiors to know what good service you gave] Actually I wonder if they could be 'superior'

Similar experience when I imported my motorcycle when moving from Switzerland

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[nicholsong]

Similar experience when I imported my motorcycle when moving from Switzerland

Similar good experience of a Civil Servant explaining the process or just the process itself?

 

[Coastal Cruiser.]

Had a some questions when I imported my van new from Germany a few years back so had to ring NoVA and HMRC a few times, always got hold of somebody fairly quickly and questions always answered.
Was very impressed with them all when I registered my van.

 

[suavecarve]

Just as aside, the people you were referring to were of a "more senior" position.
Quite correct to point out they may not be superior to her

 

[DuxDeluxe]

Similar good experience of a Civil Servant explaining the process or just the process itself?

Both. It was 1999 when I moved to UK to work. Was told what was needed to avoid tax and also the process which was relatively straightforward

 

[nicholsong]

I was researching the subject of re-importing to UK a vehicle previously registered there and all tax paid.

The website confirmed that there would be no tax to pay, but did not give details of what to do on arrival. I called the number listed, waited the statutory 40 minutes and gave up.

So I phoned HHMRC Dover. Answered quickly and he thought he knew, but was not an expert, so would ask. Came back with special department to call - 'Personal Transport'.

At that number I get a very pleasant and knowledgeable lady who explained that I do not need to do anything on arrival at Dover and only have to decide within 6 months if I am re-importing it, what declaration form to download and where to send it with old V5c to e-mail address. They will then give NOVA reference for DVLA. Do it in that order, not DVLA first as they will bounce it back.

Excellent advice with all the detail I needed in just a few minutes.

While giving me the e-mail in phonetic spelling she apologised that she was not so good with that as she is Spanish. She made no mistake there nor in any of her excellent English.

If all the Civil Servants were as on top of their subject as she is we could sack half of them and keep the good ones.

The guy at HMRC Dover was also helpful because he found the right department for me.


[EDIT At end of call I said that I assume this call is recorded and I want your superiors to know what good service you gave] Actually I wonder if they could be 'superior'

I am just quoting my own OP to add that I doubt that I would have got the complete answer, that HMRC gave me including what to do with DVLA, had I asked DVLA first.

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[stevewagner]

I was researching the subject of re-importing to UK a vehicle previously registered there and all tax paid.

The website confirmed that there would be no tax to pay, but did not give details of what to do on arrival. I called the number listed, waited the statutory 40 minutes and gave up.

So I phoned HHMRC Dover. Answered quickly and he thought he knew, but was not an expert, so would ask. Came back with special department to call - 'Personal Transport'.

At that number I get a very pleasant and knowledgeable lady who explained that I do not need to do anything on arrival at Dover and only have to decide within 6 months if I am re-importing it, what declaration form to download and where to send it with old V5c to e-mail address. They will then give NOVA reference for DVLA. Do it in that order, not DVLA first as they will bounce it back.

Excellent advice with all the detail I needed in just a few minutes.

While giving me the e-mail in phonetic spelling she apologised that she was not so good with that as she is Spanish. She made no mistake there nor in any of her excellent English.

If all the Civil Servants were as on top of their subject as she is we could sack half of them and keep the good ones.

The guy at HMRC Dover was also helpful because he found the right department for me.


[EDIT At end of call I said that I assume this call is recorded and I want your superiors to know what good service you gave] Actually I wonder if they could be 'superior'

Great so after ‘bigging up’ the service you still want to sack half of them.