interesting. 70% of bank guarantees not paying out...

how many overland vehicles do not make it 'home' or as a final import into final country?

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I don't think overlanders are the main problem. Speaking to the RAC's carnet guy a few years ago, he mentioned that the UK loses a large number of ordinary cars to the east (India for one) as people take advantage of the carnet system to get the car into the country, whereupon it "disappears". This seems to be a British problem in the main, and goes some way to account for the high price of carnets for us in comparison to other Europeans.
Simon.

@ Fern - would be interesting to know that. I doubt however that anyone at RAC will tell us!

@ Mossproof - yes, your speculation sounds pretty close to the mark. Even ADAC chimed in to say that the UK is probably the most expensive country for a carnet.

The new carnet contact at RAC, Mark Clissold, is adamant that they won't do an about turn on the bank guarantee. They've clearly had their fingers burnt on this. Those who want to take a more expensive expedition vehicle into carnet countries will bear the brunt of this but I get the feeling the RAC is not too worried about upsetting the more privileged overlanders.

We recently spoke to to the RAC regarding the withdrawal as it directly affected us,

We have posted their official response here, they did at least offer 10% of all new carnets...

We also put together a comparison of carnet costs across several countries on each occasion the RAC came out higher, the main reason for this is that the issuers use different risk / duty tables to asses the total risk.

They (both the ADAC & RAC) have stated to us in writing that if people wish to use the ADAC they may but, you will first have to obtain a letter of non objection from the RAC before the ADAC engage you.

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MyOverlandAdventure
OverlandingAssociation.org Overlanding Africa

Thanks for this Mart - I've just spoken to Mark Clissold at RAC and he has confirmed this. Helpfully he will send a letter to ADAC today allowing me to obtain a carnet through them. Whether or not ADAC will accept the bank guarantee is another question, but according to their website they do, which is a good sign. Expect another update in due course!

Fantastic, i'm glad we were able to help!

Let us know how you get on!

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MyOverlandAdventure
OverlandingAssociation.org Overlanding Africa

Hi Charlemagne

I see you also use the ADAC for your carnet. So do we. However I have seen some response re Carnet free travel in Africa I would agree when we travelled Africa 2010-2011 I am convinced we could have done he same without a carnet.

However what is the story for India (IE temporary Import) . We require a 40000 Euro Bank guarantee. If we go with the carnet.

Does anyone have experience in this part of the world. The other issue I am having is that the whole Guarantee form Burgschafts erklarung is in German and the ADAC does not allow this form t be written in English.

Look forward to your comments

Hi Fearless,

I've heard of temporary import permits being issued in some African countries but not India. Haven't found anything on the Hubb that confirms TIPS for vehicles into India either. India is a signatory to the carnet scheme and seem to be pretty insistent on it (see http://www.mumbaicustoms.gov.in/htmldocs/tourists.htm ). It would not be too costly to obtain a translation of the German contract and pursue the bank guarantee option. I believe this would be the most inexpensive option. You will have to arrange for your bank to give the guarantee to a German bank as ADAC will not accept bank guarantees from non-German banks. ADAC use Postbank so it would make sense to use them (via your bank).

Concerning my experience with ADAC, I can't recommend them enough. They've been clear, straightforward & quick. My carnet came through in a week and is a massive cost saving compared with obtaining a carnet via the RAC. GBP 100 compared with GBP 4,000.

Most UK motorcyclists wishing to obtain a carnet could obtain one through ADAC - the most they would have to pay is €3,000 which is fully refunded on return to the UK. If you don't want to pay the cash, get your bank to issue a guarantee to Postbank in Germany. And the best bit is that the ADAC carnet includes Egypt and India.

I have all the info from ADAC, including costs, so just click on the link in the later post below.

I presume the same will apply to 4x4 users

Margaret

Yes Margaret, the above also applies to non-motorcycling UK overlanders (different costs apply of course).

Here is the ADAC info, including costs: ADAC Carnet de Passages_Antrag(komplett)_englisch.pdf

Those non-motorcycling UK overlanders wishing to obtain a carnet for a reasonably expensive vehicle where the bank guarantee will be the most cost-effective option will have to arrange the guarantee with their UK bank in favour of a German Bank. I'm not aware how easy that will be I'm afraid as I haven't had to go down that route. But knowing how difficult it was to ask whether my UK bank would even consider issuing a guarantee I suspect it will be a bit of a challenge. My suggestion would be not to give up; the front line customer service staff are unlikely to be able to help with this, you will probably have to get through to someone at the head office of the bank via your branch manager.

Most bank managers dealing with personal customers won't have a clue about bank guarantees. However, they are given all the time in a commercial context and all major banks will have a commercial guarantees department. Get hold of a phone number for someone there and they will know what to do. It is effectively just a customs guarantee.

I am from Australia and want to ship my bike to the UK to start a RTW trip that will take me down the west coast of Africa and back up the east coast, and through pretty much all Asian countries. I have access to a British passport however my bike will be registered in Australia, is it still possible for me to go through ADAC?

Also, with the carnet, do you have to deposit amounts for each separate country, or can you deposit an amount for the most expensive country, and that deposit cover all your other countries you go to? I have enough money to cover the Egypt 800% on a KLR650, but will not have enough money to pay for each and every countries required deposit...

is your nationality Australian and is the bike on an Oz plate? Tried the Australian Automobile association??

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I am from New Zealand and have kiwi passport, but also have Australian citizenship with Aus passport, and British citizenship by decent and can get a British passport if required. Yep the plate is an Oz plate, I haven't tried them but I'll look them up now. All this carnet stuff really hurts my head, almost thinking about just going and taking my chances... but that could cause some really unwanted hassles

It will be interesting to see your two quotes, one from rac and other from aaa to see what is cheaper/ best value for money.

Remember Rac do rough estimate valuations not book prices so give your estimate as if the bike has come back from a big trip with epic mileage and scratched to buggery ( as I like my bikes, not men ;-) ).

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