"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"

Read Fern's comment above with interest - could this apply to those vehicles (of all types) being driven down and either "stored" , sold or dumped.

Another instance of those of us doing the right thing paying over the odds for it.

Margaret

Hi everyone ,
We are now facing the same problems as Mark. How are you getting on by the way Mark?
RAC to extend our carnet have just doubled its original Carnet value, will not allow us to use our Bank Guarantee and will not give any overlap in time. They want the Carnet to end one day and start the next. They suggest we can explain that at the border in Africa!!
Maddness.
Still working on it. What does everyone think about using TIPs any help please
We are in South Africa at the moment and need the extension/ new carnet in 4 weeks time

Hi Folks we are now right in the middle of all this.......
Six weeks before we leave and getting ripped off by the RAC.
-We have had two RAC carnets in the last few years and now everything seems to have changed.
-Paul, the most helpful of man in the world, has gone (can we start a bring back Paul campaign?)
-We have an old truck and have always left a cash deposit - no longer possible.
-Bank guarantee - no longer possible.
-Insurance the only option and the RAC have almost doubled the value of our 1984 truck.
- The RAC and ADAC have both agreed it is possible to have a German Carnet and even cited recent letters of non-objection from the RAC but upon application the RAC have refused permission on the basis that "under the terms of the carnet convention the CPD is issued by the issuing club of the country where the vehicle is registered". So far no one will tell us why others can have one but not us!
- Actual cost (after refunds) is almost £1000 with the RAC and €295 with ADAC. Both amounts double if we are away 13 months.
- We thought that within the EU monopolies were not allowed and that as an EU citizen we should be able to purchase goods from any other EU member. After all its a free market isn't it?

Can anyone help / advise where we go from here (other than just shell out)?
Again - we only have 6 weeks to go.

Terry - are you ok with the ADAC carnet?

If so, you can send an email to Mark Clissold at the RAC (mclissold@rac.co.uk - he is Paul's replacement) requesting permission to procure an ADAC carnet and he should oblige.

Thanks Charlmagne.
No, the RAC have refused permission giving the reason in my last post.
We have been dealing with Jake Ward but have also spoken to Mark in the process. It seems the department manager, the person who made the decision, is Rebecca Lenthall. I've emailed again and asked her to reconsider on the basis that the RAC no longer offer a product which is suitable for our needs but ADAC do.
Does anyone know why the ADCA should need permission to supply a carnet to a EU citizen, we are after all one customs area?

Just my 2p’s-worth.

I'll be needing another RAC-issued CPD from around October/November time for southern Central Asia (Nepal – India – Pak – Iran).

I’ve just held a decent telephone conversation with Mark Clissold at the RAC in Bristol, who I have to say, was extremely pleasant, helpful and professional. And yes, he did phone me back (within an hour) after I left a message-request to return my call on his auto voicemail service.

Mark was very clear that an insurance indemnity is the only available option since the RAC's recent changes to the system. If I wish to go ahead then the processing time, from submitting the application to CPD document issue, will likely be around 4-6 weeks.

I’m okay with this. At least I know what the deal is all about now. Although I would prefer to go down the deposit or bank guarantee route, I can live with the final net cost of an insurance indemnity. My motorcycle’s not worth too much nowadays in any case. Of course, It would be telling a different story if I were riding or driving an expensive vehicle.

Cheers

Keith

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Right Way Round ...

This makes my head spin ... So how much does it actually cost. I m not going on my trip for a few years. If my bike is valued at say £9000. ( who does the valuation ) Have I got to put down a deposit of one and half times valve of the bike ..?

Cheers Al

Smudger - do you want to obtain your carnet from RAC or ADAC?

If RAC, it depends where you want to go, e.g. for Egypt cost = bike valuation x 800%; for India cost = bike valuation x 500%; for Kenya cost = bike valuation x 200%. As the insurance route is your only option, for Egypt insurance cost = 10% of 72,000 = £7,200. So you have to pay an insurance company £7,200 and you will receive 50% on return to the UK with a correctly stamped carnet. So cost to you is £3,600.

If ADAC, you pay €3,000 and you get it all back on return. So cost to you is nil, apart from the lost interest on the €3,000 - which is today's climate is pretty slim.

Hi, do you have contact details (email address or phone number) for English-speaking ADAC representatives who could discuss a CdP for a UK registered 4x4?
I've tried contacting them via email from their website but it won't accept the email without an ADAC membership number.
Will try my luck at seeing if they will issue one to me - cant believe the nonsense that RAC are up to at the moment!

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All who wander are not lost - JRR Tolkien
www.wearthefoxhat.us

Wearthefoxhat,

Contact at ADAC is mischa.schueller@adac.de. He may not be forthcoming until the RAC authorises him to deal with you - so I would speak to Mark Clissold or Rebecca Lenthall at the RAC first. Let us know how you get on.

Any idea why the RAC have taken this stupid decision? Is it just a way of making more money? Isn't this something we need to take action on? Protest en masse? Lobby MPs?

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That concrete whizzing by five inches below your foot is the real thing...

Hi THanks for helping me , we'll the plan will be to do Afirca then over to Oz. Then I don't know!!!
So ADAC is the way to go, especially if you are on the road for a number of years in countries which require carnet. I was hoping to do a year in each continent ..

Many THanks Alan

I've got a motorbike and I got a carnet thru the ADAC for a Dutch registered motorbike for trip thru Africa in 2010.
No hassles at all.
They have a deal that because the Dutch AA does not issue carnet's then ADAC will.

I didn't use a bank guarantee: I gave a deposit of Euro 3,000. ADAC's prices and requirements for deposits etc are really reasonable. Nice people too. If you go to Munich you can even get it same day.

I've heard all sorts of bad stories about the RAC and carnets. I'm in UK now and will try my best to avoid them next trip.

But I think you REALLY want a carnet for an African trip, especially if it goes thru Egypt. Egypt customs is HORRIFIC, even if you have a carnet. If you decide not to get one and want to go thru Egypt then you need to REALLY make sure of how to do it.

I wonder if it's worth complaining to the Swiss company that runs the carnet system about the RAC. The AA's in each country only administer it for this company.

Hi everyone
I have been travelling from UK to Iran and back on my bike and car for nearly 20 years with
relative ease and using Carnet obtained from RAC, going down the Bankers Guarantee route.
Paul Gown of RAC had been very helpful. (We want him back). This year to my shock I found out that I have to fork out nearly £3500 cost! This is extortionate by any standard! I guess RAC now have the "monopoly" on Carnet. Perhaps time for the monopolys commission to look into it.
I have decided to write to the Iranian supreme leader and explain the situation in the hope maybe they will take it on board and make life a bit easier for fellow overland travellers. (Keep you posted of the outcome).
As for me, this time, I am taking a risk and going mid-august with no Carnet. I think I will get better treatment from Iranian border custom officials than RAC.
In the mean time I have to say, will not buy or use any RAC products, and make sure no one I know will do so either.
Regards Hibble.

Kind of agree, Hibble, the RAC have getting progressively worse for many years now. I gave up on their recovery stuff a while ago and now this Carnet stuff means I doubt they'll be getting any more custom from me.

There must be something we can do en masse to fight this.

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That concrete whizzing by five inches below your foot is the real thing...