When shipping a car from the UK to Australia you must first obtain an ‘Import Permit‘. To qualify for an Import Permit you must first have evidence that you have owned the vehicle for a minimum period of 12 months. This can be proved by having a copy of your last 12 months vehicle insurance cover. Your V5C or also known as the log book will also show if you have had the vehicle registered in your name for the same length of period.
We will always advise anyone who wants to ship a vehicle to Australia, to apply for the Import Permit and wait for it to be approved prior to arranging the shipment of it. Failure to receive an import permit will result in your vehicle either being refused entry in to Australia or you will have to have it shipped back to the UK at your own expense.
Once you have received your permit, you can have your vehicle shipped to Australia a few ways. You can have your vehicle shipped by Ro Ro, also known as roll on/roll off – however with this option your vehicle must remain empty of any personal items. The only exception to this rule is for tools for the vehicle such as a jack & wheel brace for example. The second option to ship a car to Australia is in a 40ft HC shared container – with this option you can load any amount of personal items in the vehicle (leaving the drivers seat empty) as long as you provide us with a piece count and inventory of items loaded. The 40ft shared container service sails from our partners loading depot in Ipswich, but only offers this option to Sydney and Melbourne every week. Once we have received your piece count and inventory list, we will add this information on to the bill of lading for you. Once all vehicles are loaded in the shared container, it is then transported by truck to the port of Southampton where it will then sail from every week.
Your third option is to ship your car to Australia by dedicated 20ft or 40ft container. The dedicated container services loads at Southampton every week, however there is no UK haulage involved or required here. The container will be for your sole use only – and again you can load your vehicle(s) up with personal items, providing an inventory and piece count has been given. This option can work out more expensive than say shipping a saloon car by roll on/roll off but it can work out cheaper than shipping a 4 x 4 by roll on/roll off.
To help you work out your best options please give First Base Freight a call today on Tel: 01495 320540. www.shipcars.co.uk