Camper van registration update?

[val douest]

This is really a question for Sunday Driver but as it may be of general interest I thought I would post rather than send a pm.  We have English friends who want to register their camper van in France.  It is a four-year-old German-built Fiat/Hymer bought and currently registered in the UK; they have a certificate of conformity for it.

Using the search facility I came across a very useful post by Sunday Driver (dated 19/01/2006) in which a promise was made to document the procedure once he had completed the reregistration process, but I can't find any such update.  Please Sunday Driver could you give me the appropriate post reference if there is one - or if not, could you possibly provide a quick rundown on what to do, and in which order? I am sure it would be a very useful FAQ.

Many thanks,

Val

[Sunday Driver]

The regulations for importing campervans is complex, so I will PM you for further information on this particuler case before commenting here.

Watch this space....[;-)]

 

[Nell]

Hi Sunday Driver and anyone else with a wealth of experience on this subject.

I have read the FAQ on importing and reregistering a car from UK. All looks okay, but a couple of questions?

1) Do I need to have owned the car for a minimum period of time before I can import and reregister?

2) Reading this thread I now assume that there is a different set of rules for a campervan - if Yes can you expand on this?

To give you a clue of where I am coming from. I am resident in France. I have seen a campervan in Germany I am interested in bringing here. I have also seen one in the UK (LHD). Both are late models 2007-2008. How do I go about bringing one of them here. I have spoken to my insurance broker about this and all they said was "Yes of course you can, I can give you a cover note for 1 month to give you time to reregister, but we will only cover driving in France!!"

Is there any import duty?

Cheers

[Sunday Driver]

There is no minimum period for owning a vehicle before you can import and register.

The rules are basically the same for importing camping cars as they are for cars - obtain customs/vat clearance, obtain a certficate of conformity, obtain a CT certificate (if appropriate) then register it at your prefecture.

However, the key is establishing type approval conformity.  Campers based on a commercial vehicle chassis aren't subject to common EU approval standards, so it can be hit or miss as to whether they're approved for France.  For recent vans like the German one you are considering, the manufacturer will probably have obtained type approval for use in France, therefore registration is quite straightforward.  For older vans, this is less likely, so they'd have to go through a more complex single vehicle approval process.

Before committing to the purchase, you'd be advised to check the availability of a certificate of conformity.  Either way, it's certainly possible to register the van here - it's just the complexity and cost which differs....

Finally, there's no import duty, but if the vehicle is less than six months old and/or has done less than 6,000kms, then French VAT is due on import.

 

[Nell]

Thanks for the prompt and informative reply [B]