Hi All, just to clarify, application/procedure wise,anything that went before (I think) 15th April 2013,can be disregarded. The procedures since then have been totally overhauled and you can forget anything about the "good old days" (or is it the bad old days??!!) It`s all been completely swept away and replaced with NOVA:"Notification Of Vehicle Arrival"-a bulletproof, rigorous accounting/verification scheme that was developed with the expertise of staff at the Federation Of British Historic Vehicle Clubs, working with HMRC and DVLA to stamp out fraud/tax evasion relating to import and registration of vehicles (It applies to all used vehicle imports, not just classics).
Due to the ever growing Classic Vehicle Scene, the rocketing values of old vehicles and the fact that they are now sought and traded from all over the globe, it all means BIG BUSINESS and BIG MONEY. HMRC have woken up to the fact that there are large amounts of Import Duty revenue to be secured on the value of vehicles coming in from abroad be it cars, bikes or tractors etc etc, and probably, having discovered that many valuable vehicles have "gone under the radar" by being imported as "old parts", "basket cases" or just plain smuggled in, they have likely missed out on revenue in the past.
Such vehicles, would eventually come to the notice of DVLA when the owner applied to register them, and usually excuses like "its been in the canal/shed for years/ I bought it at an autojumble/ I built it from bits etc. would perhaps have been OK with DVLA then, until the levels of fraud and mis- described vehicles ("its a Rocket Goldie, honest Guv")got to a point where questions began to be asked, and audit trails of engine frame numbers went back to factory despatch records, perhaps showing vehicles had been exported when new, and yet were now back in the UK being registered and HMRC had no idea or record.......
Thus NOVA is with us, no getting round it, and its no bad thing really. DVLA are scrutinising every application in minute detail, and require high levels of proof of a vehicles provenance, right back to the factory -I kid you not-they want documentation from the Manufacturer- bit hard when factories were bulldozed decades ago!, - this is where the various Owners Clubs,with expert knowledge and access to factory records etc come to play their part in verifying exactly what a vehicle is, type/model/year of manufacture and so on. There is no "nod and wink" stuff , forget it!, It`s dead serious.......
My bike, a basket case imported in "summer 1978" and lying in a garage until 2006, was described as "import duty paid"by the vendor at sale, and he "would dig out the customs paperwork" when he found it. He never did, and during the restoration, what had seemed not very important became so when the restoration finished last year, and registration beckoned, but NOVA, meantime had arrived..... Oh Bugger.....
Thus I had to write to HMRC with details of the bike, and everything i Knew about its history in order for them to dig in their records and verify that the seller had indeed stumped up the Duty at Tilbury Docks in 1978.Fortunately, HMRC came good, and issued me with a NOVA number to take to DVLA, as they were satisfied that the duty had been paid back in the day....Phew!
Armed with my NOVA, i could approach DVLA, and start the V55/5 registration process for age related number(DVLA staff verify your Nova reference with HMRC,-no, you can`t make one up!!) The V55/5 Form requires quality, detailed photo`s of the vehicle from all sides,with clear pics. of engine frame numbers, copies of Factory Despatch Records, actual current insurance certificate (no copies, and insured on frame number) and copies of my birth certificate/current council Tax bill to verify ME, and my address!!!!, a signed form V112 "Declaration of exemption from MOT" if pre 1960, and also that physical inspection by the relevant Club Machine Researcher. Oh, and 55 Quid too....
Fortunately for me, the Machine Researcher lived not too far away (10miles) so I arranged to pick him up and ran him to my house to examine the bike with his clip board. He/she could of course have lived at the other end of the country, and the logistics of arranging the inspection would have been much harder.....Anyway, Fee £10 paid, and he pronounced he was happy with the bike, and susequently informed the Club Machine Registrar who issued the all important Dating Certificate for me to submit to DVLA. Both of the above Club Officers are registered and cleared by DVLA to do this work, no one else in a club can liaise with Swansea in this respect.
My application went through OK this second time- it had failed the first time, as my Club Dating Certificate, obtained soon after i got the bike in 2006 was rejected as the then issuing officer was not currently on DVLA`s books. So, there it is, my journey through the whole process, boy is my bike well documented now!!
If you have a bike of unknown provenance that you wish to register, you may not need a NOVA reference if if is clear that your machine has never been exported, either when new or during its life. But in any case the V55/5 requires that copy of the Factory Despatch record though, and this will show whether it went to a dealer in this country, or one abroad- and if it shows that it was exported....... Its straight to HMRC and apply for your NOVA.
Sorry about the long winded description, but its a complex process now....Have fun! Bob C.
