Be aware!!

[starider]

Decided to treat the van to an indoor car cover,so as I had had covers called Auto Pajamas in the past,in my ignorance I ordered one for the van,not cheap but a good product. I went through the order process,paid and waited for it to arrive. When I got home today I had a bill from Parcel Force for Customs Duty of almost £80 !! What a rip off, So much for the EU The message is don't order anything from our so called friends in the EU!

[andrew]

I feel you're being a little hard. Parcelforce are collecting the charge on behalf of H.M. Revenue and Customs, as do many other courier and delivery companies and the charge raised by H.M.R.C. is normally the 20% V.A.T. applicable to most products sold in this country. Although this looks as if you have been charged an extra 20%, you should check the original invoice from the overseas company and confirm it does not contain a V.A.T. charge. As the goods have been exported from the E.U. no V.A.T. is charged, so the price quoted from the company should NOT include V.A.T. and it is added by the U.K. authorities (H.M.R.&C.) when the goods are imported here. The total amount paid should be almost the same, since the amounts of V.A.T. NOT paid on exported goods should be equal to the amount of V.A.T. added to imported goods here.

I hope this helps! I've worked in this area of the Civil Service for almost 32 years, and the changes brought about since this country left the E.U. have been HUGE, but, in spite of appearances to the contrary, they have been fairly implemented.


Edited to add: I've just bought a new steering column lock and ignition switch for my Daf 33 from Dafhobby. The invoice (which I've paid via Wise) does NOT contain a V.A.T. charge, so I shall similarly expect further invoice from the Post Office any day soon, in much the same way as you have.

[starider]

Hi Andrew, I understood that parcel/delivery companies collect duty etc.as my wife's business sends parcels daily to the EU,indeed all over the world. Perhaps what I should have added was that I ordered this product from a UK Company, but the item came from Germany. The cost was as follows: Customs Duty £23-42, Import VAT £43-72, Clearance fee £12-00. A total of £79-14 which made the cover far too expensive[ nearly £400 ]. I have previously purchased these covers from the same company for a fraction of the cost.
I suppose my initial anger was that I wrongly assumed that as I was orderimg from a UK company it would be delivered from the UK. I certainly won't be ordering any more from them.
There is another UK company who sell similar covers quite a bit cheaper, but my logic was stick with what you have previously experienced.
I have posted my anoyance more as a warning than a negative for Brexit, PS as I believe Brexit will prove to be the best thing this country has done in recent years! PS Can you send me a PM with your address, when I opened the package with the clips I tore through part of the address on the back. Thanks T.

[starider]

Update: The owner of the company gave me a ring from Germany and was very apologetic. It appears he moved to Germany many years ago with the business. I appreciated his call and the fact that the UK leaving the EU has had on his business, but being a little more up front would have helped and saved me a lot of money.