Demo at RAC HQ ?

Originally Posted by reallybigtruck
According to RDW (dutch vehicle authority) a vehicle can be registered to dutch residents only, otherwise you'd have to register the vehicle for export. (source: RDW Website ) (never mind the funky google translate...)

If anyone knows a better way please post!

I've bought vehicles in holland twice and registered them in my name, all you need is a Dutch address, I used a friends house ! I also bought a Hymer in Germany 3 years ago and again, all they wanted was a German address.I currently live in Portugal and my Portugese car is in my name, even though I am not resident, again, they only require an address.

I can confirm that RAC have now processed my refund!! am sure it shouldnt of been so hard and stressfull, makes me glad that I am now living in NZ and don't have to deal with companies like RAC.....

Hi folks sorry for the delay in posting.
We eventually got another carnet. It was very stressful . Lots of phone calls and e mails starting from Africa for two weeks. We had to scan all the docs sign and resend them.
Then silence from the RAC. Somehow they did not receive the docs. Diana had to fly back to the UK for a wedding.
We were given a price for the carne which was double the value of our vehicle. This was unacceptable especially with Egypt involved, fortunately we had an original valuation for our bank guarantee from last year. The RAC would only accept this from someone who knew the vehicle. Any modifications are irrelavant. Eventually they agreed to our valuation and then it was straight forward. Two weeks later and Diana returned back to Africa with the new carnet.
One thing to note is after much discussion they agreed we could have the new carnet start date the same date as the old carnet ended. They also dropped the request for the date and name of border we would cross.
We had to drop Egypt off the carnet due to cost and the political situation. However if we need to go through Egypt it is possible to buy an Egyptian carnet for one month or use a TIP.
Another problem, our bank guarantee was for two years and the bank will probably charge for the second year as well as us paying the insurance indemnity to
The RAC . We will keep you posted . All in all a pain and racket.

Sorry it took so long to get back to the forum, we've been flat out preparing to leave.
Anyway we eventually got our Carnet from ADAC in Germany. They were as courteous and efficient as you would expect but wouldn't move until the RAC agreed. At first the RAC refused so I sent the following email to the head of department Ms Lenthal,
"We were very disappointed to receive your decision concerning our application for a carnet and would ask you to reconsider on the following grounds;
- The RAC no longer offer the type of Carnet that we require ie a cash deposit carnet, the type that we have had from you for our previous two trips. There are a number of reasons for this. Firstly our vehicle is very old and has a low value, your insurer will only insure a minimum of £1750 where as on our last trip (2010) the RAC agreed a value of £1000 for our Land Rover. Secondly we have had two Carnets from the RAC in recent years and met all requirements upon return to Europe. Your insurer does not recognise this and offers no related reduction in costs although we are obviously a lower risk than others that they insure. Thirdly we may well not return to the UK for 13 or 14 months. Your insurer offers no reduction in premium to recognise this shorter period of a month or two for a carnet extension and we could be faced with total costs for insurance that amount to almost twice the value of our vehicle! I'm sure you agree that this is not an acceptable situation and the RAC do not appear to be offering the service that overland travellers require.
- You say in your reasons for refusal that "under the terms of the carnet convention the CPD is issued by the issuing club of the country where the vehicle is registered" and yet the ADAC in Germany is perfectly happy to issue us with a Carnet despite the vehicle being registered here in the UK and in fact cited several previous occasions where they have received a "non-objection" letter from E. McLissold at the RAC for some of your other customers.
- Finally I find it hard to accept that the cost or raising a Carnet here in the UK can be so different to that in Germany. To buy a Carnet from the RAC I will have to lay out £2029 (for a 1984 car) of which £1050 is refundable. A cost of almost £1000 or £2000 for 13 months. In Germany this would cost me €295 (£245) with a fully refundable deposit of €5000 or £490 for 13 months!! How can this be? Surely the RAC Carnet is not only for wealthy people?

If you can not or will not reconsider our application then could you please advise me of our legal rights in this situation?
In this supposedly free market across the EU how can the RAC restrict access of an EU citizen to an alternative product available elsewhere in this common market. Surely there isn't country based monopoly in this situation?"

Eventually Louise Campbell (customer service) agreed and we got our Carnet! Our travelling companions then emailed Louise and she allowed them to go to the ADAC as well. Oh and then we got a further €100 discount from Germany because we are members of the AA here!!

So, what to do. The Carnet system world wide is run under the auspices of
the FIA and the AIT. Get onto both their websites and complain that the RAC are not offering the service that overlanders need or want. This is the only place where pressure might make a difference. Breaking international agreements by printing your own carnet will only devalue the system and eventually we will all pay the price as its running costs increase or it is withdrawn altogether.

Just to report that I also received my refund from the RAC today, after 5 mths of chasing !

Thank you Terry. Those of us with older vehicles need to keep the pressure up on the RAC otherwise to travel legally will take the costs totally out of reach of the normal people.

Margaret

Hope you have a good trip.

For the record, my engine blew itself up in India and I surrendered the vehicle to customs. I had no choice as the government customs refused Honda to fit a new engine (they were willing to send one from Thailand). Also they will take the vehicle at the border if the engine number doesn't match.

After relentless letters which they all ignored, 1 year later the Indian customs are now demanding payment plus interest. Comical really.

It's not worth taking your own vehicle. Rent one and save the hassle!

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im a bit confused about this pass,
i know you will need it for oz and newzeland,us, as these are very keen on the paperwork, but as i have been looking in to this over the months, i have been toled , and read many time, some people have enterd countries with no pass, and had no problems.
in my view,if the rac,and banks try to push prices up, by use of say ,arguments based on the wording! ! wont this surly force more people to just take the risk ,and then make there losses higher ?
in the UK, companies alway do things arse about face !! nothing less than short sighted ness !!
niffed jim !

I have just complained to the RAC, ADAC, and FIA about the monopoly the RAC is running against us UK overlanders. Does anybody haverhe contact detain for the AIT?
This is the letter i sent,mainly copied off Terry Harfords post just because it was so well written ;

Hi there,
1st off please let me state I am very disappointed to receive a decision concerning my application for a Carnet via the RAC and that I am writing to ask how the RAC are allowed to have a monopoly on UK issued Carnets.

Please look at the following grounds for my complaints;
- The RAC no longer offer the type of Carnet that we all ( UK drivers) require ie a cash deposit carnet, the type that we have had from them for our previous trips. There are a number of reasons for this. Firstly alot of our vehicles is very old and have low value's, mine included, there insurer will only insure a minimum of £1750 where as on my last trip (2010) the RAC agreed a value of £1000 for my motorcycle.
Secondly i have had two Carnets from the RAC in recent years and met all requirements upon return to Europe. There insurer does not recognise this and offers no related reduction in costs although we are obviously a lower risk than others that they insure.
Thirdly we (UK drivers) may well not return to the UK for 13 or 14 months. There insurer offers no reduction in premium to recognise this shorter period of a month or two for a carnet extension and we could be faced with total costs for insurance that amount to almost twice the value of our vehicles! I'm sure you agree that this is not an acceptable situation and the RAC do not appear to be offering the service that overland travellers require.
- They say in there reasons for refusal that "under the terms of the carnet convention the CPD is issued by the issuing club of the country where the vehicle is registered" and yet the ADAC in Germany is perfectly happy to issue us with a Carnet despite the vehicle being registered here in the UK and in fact cited several previous occasions where they have received a "non-objection" letter from E. McLissold at the RAC for some of there other customers.
- Finally I find it hard to accept that the cost or raising a Carnet here in the UK can be so different to that in Germany.
To buy a Carnet from the RAC I will have to lay out £2029 (for a 2004 motorcycle, of which £1050 is refundable. A cost of almost £1000 or £2000 for 13 months.
In Germany this would cost me €295 (£245) with a fully refundable deposit of €5000 or £490 for 13 months!! How can this be? Surely the RAC Carnet is not only for wealthy people in the UK, and we should surely be treated like all other EU countrys and be able to apply directly through the ADAC . After all, all the Carnets are ran through the ADAC anyway.

If you can not or will not act on our this then could you please advise me of our legal rights in this situation?
In this supposedly free market across the EU how can the RAC restrict access of an EU citizen to an alternative product available elsewhere in this common market. Surely there isn't country based monopoly in this situation?"

I look forward to hearing from you on the matter
Yours
Will Downs

I'm game

I just got this off of the ADAC,

Will,

Thanks for your posts. I can well understand the frustration you and others are experiencing in relation to this little item of bureaucracy that should occupy travellers for no longer than 10 minutes!

RAC has published on their website the reasons for their business review and the subsequent withdrawal of the cash deposit and bank guarantee options. Not very convincingly I have to say but there it is.

My only suggestion is to complain, politely, to the two governing bodies for the carnet being the AIT (www.ait-touringalliance.com) and the FIA (Portal | Federation Internationale de l'Automobile) mentioning that the RAC only offers a costly insurance indemnity instead of the significantly cheaper cash deposit option offered by ADAC, and that you request the AIT and FIA to pressure the RAC to issue "no-objection" letters to travellers so that they can contact other carnet-issuing members.

Hi all, I have just git this off if the RAC, doubt they'll change anything though but I a still waiting on the responses from FIA and AIT;

Dear Mr Downs,

Thank you for your email dated 25th March and for bringing your concerns to our attention.

I will be conducting a full investigation into your complaint and I will contact you within 10 working days concerning this matter. In the meantime, should you wish to discuss this further, please contact me at the above email address or by phone on **********, please note I am out of the office tomorrow.

Thank you for allowing us the opportunity to investigate your concerns.

Yours sincerely


Louise Campbell
Customer Care Officer RAC

Good work Will...how about a copy and paste generic letter that we could all send to all involved?? One minute to click and a headache for them.

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