Taking a fridge to the UK

[Pinto]

Hi all,
I have purchased a boat in England and will travel there soon. I have the perfect fridge for the boat - an electric eutetic. Anyone know if I would have any admin issues shipping the fridge from Australia to the UK?

Tia

[Nicholson58]

You certainly know the manufacturer has agents in the U.K.? Unless you are getting an insane deal I’d buy it where you need it.

[Pinto]

Thanks

My question is about admin.

The economics are beyond question.

[john61ct]

If it looks secondhand ideally a bit dirty and beat up, just send it over.

Have a old crumpled copy of the receipt stuffed in there, matching insured value.

Ciuld even sell it to a UK friend on eBay, value well established that way, can be very low if "for parts only not working."

Roll of the dice but I bet likely no duty.

Assuming that's what you mean by admin.

[Tillsbury]

Shouldn't be duty, should be 20% VAT to pay when it clears in. Techniques for avoiding this are many, penalties for fraudulently declaring items to HM Customs are legendary. They are the organisation in the UK you should be least inclined to mess with.

[Jim Cate]

Are you considering customs type issues or things related to refrigerant gasses? I know bringing a fridge into Oz requires purging any gas and refilling with locally approved gas. Dunno about going into the UK with such things, but you should enquire.

Jim

[john61ct]

New kits are sent all over the world, assume long as the refrigerant is approved to start with in the destination country, should be no issue there.

[Pinto]

Originally Posted by Jim Cate

Are you considering customs type issues or things related to refrigerant gasses? I know bringing a fridge into Oz requires purging any gas and refilling with locally approved gas. Dunno about going into the UK with such things, but you should enquire.

Jim

Mainly thinking about certification etc.

It’s a personal item - so I expect no duty - but am prepared to wear that if necessary.

I’ve owned it for 5 years or so

[Pete7]

Originally Posted by Pinto

Hi all,
I have purchased a boat in England and will travel there soon. I have the perfect fridge for the boat - an electric eutetic. Anyone know if I would have any admin issues shipping the fridge from Australia to the UK?

Tia

What tends to happen when I buy stuff from abroad is the carriers like DHL pay the duty up front and send you a letter asking for payment before they release it.

It will be import duty, plus VAT on that, plus VAT on the cost of the carriage. Little packages sometimes get through with charges, other times I am not so lucky.

Not sure how they are going to value a 5 year old fridge. You can try the chattels thing and there are details on the UK Gov website, but probably not worth the arguing with HMRC. Been there and won, but it was hard work and the stakes were high, new tax free car into the UK without paying the duty.

Pete

[john61ct]

What does certification pertain to in this case, just the refrigerant?

[boatsrus]

Dear Pinto,
Interesting question.

I can only share my own experience with an Engel Fridge - that I discovered was significantly cheaper in Australia. Given I was due to be in Sydney for work - I duly ordered said brand new fridge and had it delivered to my office in Sydney.
I did call someone at the office to catch it as it arrived (last thing I needed was someone sending it back).
There were a few constructive comments in the office about my purchase which were debated at length in the local pub.

Although a small 12v fridge is quite compact - the packing is still fairly large.
So I purchased a wheeled bag carrier - and tied my fridge to it complete with packing
I then transported my fridge as oversized luggage back to the UK - this was the last time I travelled to Australia in Economy.

Being a law abiding citizen I proceeded to the red channel at Heathrow with some trepidation - I approached the Customs officer and explained that in the box I had a new fridge that I had purchased in Australia (I had the delivery note, but had forgotten the invoice though I had this in an email somewhere). I asked him what the procedure was for importing the fridge.

The officer considered this for at least 10 seconds and then instructed me to stop wasting his time or words to that effect.

I did not even have to pay excess luggage on the flight.

I have been waiting several years for someone to ask me about importing a fridge from Australia.

The fridge was great.

[kas_1611]

If you already own it and can prove it plus you are bringing it in to install in your own vessel which I presume will be Australian flagged and you will be taking said vessel out of the country within 90 days then you may find there will be no taxes to pay.

But, and it's a Jennifer Lopez, Kim Kardashian sized butt, speak to HMRC first and explain the situation to them. HMRC have the power to impound and even confiscate your vessel if they have reason to believe you are smuggling items into the country. Don't risk it.

[sailormed]

Find an expat moving back to the UK or another close by EU country.
“Sell” it to them and they will include it in their household.