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Preparation Overview Trip Changes Broken Bits Vehicle Mechanical Electrical Security Protection Storage Recovery Paint Work Equipment Camping Kitchen Medical Navigation Kit List Documentation Carnet Driving Permits Shipping Handy Hints and Tips Finance Insurance Training Courses Information Embassies Country Information The Home left Behind Islam Camp Life Visa's Preparation - Carnet Overview I have felt completely confused about what it is, how to obtain one and more importantly a realistic costing of what is involved. To ease the worry I have decided to start the preparation early just encase there are a few hurdles to jump. I was pointed in the direction of the RAC, 01454 268304 and spoke to Paul Gowen, who made the whole process seem really easy. He explained it in a way that I understood and now do not know why I was so confused. What is it? The Carnet de Passage is a document that entitles a vehicle to be temporarily imported into a country without paying customs duty, which sometimes can be many times the value of the vehicle. In effect you set up an insurance policy that if you do end up leaving the country, without the vehicle after it has been imported, the carnet agrees to pay out the import tax to the country. Carnet Valuation Costs Each country in Africa has different customs import duty levels and your route will determine the overall cost. The carnet is based on the most expensive country you will enter. For us Egypt and Kenya are the most expensive, as they require 800% of the value of the vehicle!!! Now you can see the reason to take out an insurance policy to cover the cost. Having spoken to Paul he explained that the value of the vehicle is not the same as the normal insurance value, it is simply the cost it would be to go out and buy another defender of similar age. Instead of valuing it to ensure you can replace like for like, such as a fully equipped overland defender, you base it on a basic, run of the mill vehicle. This means that our defender is valued at £4000, which results in a £32,000 (£4,000 x 800% = £32,000) insurance policy being needed!!! Don’t worry, as this is nowhere near the costs. The RAC require a 10% insurance bond to cover this. The cost of the carnet for us is going to be £3200 (£32,000 x 10% = £3,200), plus a few admin charges but these are small compared to the insurance bond. The good news is that when the vehicle returns back to the UK, the RAC will refund 50% so we would get £1600, enough for me to print our pictures off. List All Possible Countries The carnet will be needed for every country that we will be entering and Paul advises that we list down countries that we may visit even if we don’t as otherwise it will not be possible to enter. The number of countries listed does not affect the cost of the carnet; just the cost dictated by the highest percentage country. It is best to have more countries then you will be using, as you cannot add them later. Therefore we will be putting Kenya on ours twice as we may be entering Kenya twice, once from Ethiopia and then again after we have been to Uganda. The Make Up The carnet is made up of a number of pages that are identical and have three sections to each page, each has information about the vehicle and drivers. The first section is the most important one for us as it is the permanent record that we keep, stating that the vehicle has entered and exited the country, therefore no custom duty is liable to be paid. When crossing borders the Carnet must be stamped by the customs officials. On entering the country both the first and third sections are stamped with the third section being taken by the official. When leaving the country, the first section is stamped again proving that the vehicle has left the country, with the second section getting stamped and left with the custom officer. The idea is that the second and third sections meet up in a central customs department and match one another. If this is not done the country can request the custom duty to be paid. Worst case means Kenya get their £32,000 and you forgo the 50% refund from the RAC. Processing Using the RAC means the carnet will take about a month to process. The value of the vehicle should be checked at the time of application as it will continue to depreciate, potentially allowing the cost of the carnet to be cheaper. The RAC require two forms to be completed along with a copy of your passport and V5 documents. The forms can be found on the RAC website, which also gives an outline of the process, but it is far easier to have a chat with someone like Paul. I have heard from different people that it may be cheaper to get the carnet from a German based country but I have not found enough information out about this yet, as a few places say that you can only get a carnet from the country that the car is registered in. Other Options I am currently investigating the possibility of setting up a carnet through our bank, as this potentially does not involve such a large fee. Having finally found the correct department; Guaranteed Bonds and Security division. We have decided not to use this service. It is by far the cheapest option as they only require a fee of £75 and will grant the carnet of you as long as you are a good customer. However, they did not fill me with confidence at all. As they could not confirm what would happen if the car was stolen or written if, they stated that we ‘could’ be liable for the whole amount and in Egypt that is £32,000. Therefore to reduce our worry we have decided to pay for the insurance as we don’t want the extra worry!