Top Quality Used Recreational Vehicles

Hi UK'ers,

Mo Man welcomes you to the motorhome site for RV’ers by an RV’er. I have had such good success shipping and selling to the UK that I find it in order to have a special place where we could get more acquainted. Due to great currency conversion rates from the UK Pound to the US Dollar, now is a great time for you to purchase an American Motorhome and save big. No doubt, there have been many changes since I began selling to the UK in 1990, so I would like to bring you up the present day regulations. I am going to take you step by step through the typical process of shipping a motorhome to the UK and hopefully in the process answer several of your questions.

Tommy Howard aka “Mo Man”

First things first, you will need to select the motorhome that is right for you. As of recently, there have been new regulations put in place by the UK that limit the dimensions of motorhomes that are allowed on their roads. Mo Man will assist you in making sure all of the requirements are met. Here is a list of the rules that will be taken into account when you go to register your motorhome in the UK :

1) Length - No more than 12 meters long (39.37 feet)

2) Width - No more than 2.55 meters wide (100.39 inches or 8.366 feet)

3) The mirrors are NOT taken into account unless they are vastly out of line construction wise, but all awnings, grab handles, steps, exhausts, ect., that stick out from the coach are included in the measurements.

There is a list published by SMMT (www.smmt.co.uk/motorhomes/) in a PDF file that is updated every month with the Approved and not-approved Motorhomes. The American RVs are towards the bottom of the list. The problem is, that some that were on the approved list are now NOT on the approved list, and very few on the approved list have definitely been checked. Those that have are marked checked. Providing you are within those measurements, there shouldn't be a problem. Again, Mo Man will work with you to make sure that everything meets the required standards.

Now that you have picked out your motorhome and have verified with Mo Man that it meets the regulations, you are now ready to ship your motorhome.

Most motorhomes are shipped from Jacksonville , Florida to Southampton , England . You may use your own shipping agent, or you can take advantage of Mo Man’s discounted rate. On average, you can figure it will cost about $125 per linear foot. For example, if you are shipping a 30 foot motorhome at $125 per foot, the cost of shipping would be approximately $3,750. There are also a couple of other fees on top of that number. They are a $300 port delivery fee and a $200 fee for Marine Insurance (which covers any damages done to the motorhome while on the ship). You may pay in advance for shipping or by freight collect when the ship arrives.

Usually, it takes about one month from the time of order to the time your motorhome arrives at port. A ship leaves Jacksonville every two weeks (around the 1^st and 15^th of each month). The sailing time from Jacksonville to Southampton is about two weeks. The motorhome has to be in port one week prior to sailing, and may take as much as one week to clear customs once it arrives in England . You will be notified by port authorities as to when you may come and retrieve you motorhome.

Once you have gotten your motorhome, you will need to go register your vehicle. There will be extra taxes due to international shipping. First, there is a 10% Duty that is paid on the purchase price plus the shipping cost. Once that is figured, there is then a 17.5% VAT (Value Added Tax) that is paid on the total of purchase price plus shipping cost plus Duty. For instance:

Purchase = £10,000 + Shipping £2,000 = £12,000 + £1,200 Duty = £13,200

VAT of 17.5% on £13,200 = £2,310 =Total cost in the UK of £15,510

There are several ways that you can save in your travels in a motorhome. Mo Man has written an article titled Almost Free RVing. Please read this article to find out how you can get the most out of your RV experience.