Secure Vehicle Storage

Once a car is bought, it does not have to go straight to the port. It can wait with us in a secure compound until its sailing, so there is no rush to move it the day it is bought, and it is not left at the departure port running up storage charges. When the sailing is booked, we deliver it to the port, make the export declaration and hand it over for loading. Storage is quoted separately from the shipping price, and while the car is in our care in the UK it is covered by our motor trade insurance.

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What You Get

A secure compound for the car between purchase and sailing, so it can leave the seller, the dealer or the auction centre without waiting for a ship
Time to finish the paperwork or wait for the next sailing to your port, without the car standing at the departure port running up storage charges
Covered by our motor trade insurance while it is in our care in the UK, from collection until we hand it to the port or carrier for loading
Delivery from the compound to the departure port timed to meet the booked sailing, then the UK export declaration and loading by RoRo or container
Work you want done before it sails, such as paintwork reconditioning or a pre-export inspection your country requires, arranged while the car is with us
Storage, collection and each extra quoted separately from the shipping price, so every cost is clear before you commit

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How It Works

1
Ask for it with your quote
Tell us the car, where it is and what it is waiting for: the next sailing to your port, your paperwork, or a second car to share a container. We quote storage separately, alongside collection and shipping.
2
We collect it
We collect the car from the seller, the auction centre or any UK address and bring it to our compound. From collection onwards it is in our care and covered by our motor trade insurance.
3
It waits with us
The car stays in the compound until its sailing. Any work you have asked for before it ships, such as paintwork reconditioning or a pre-export inspection, can be done in the meantime.
4
Delivered for loading
Once the sailing is booked, we deliver the car to the departure port in time to meet it, make the UK export declaration and hand it to the port or carrier for loading.

Storing a Car Before It Sails

How storage with us fits between buying a car and loading it, what it covers and what it costs. It is storage in the UK, before the car sails, not storage at the destination port.

When Storage Helps

Storage is for a car that has been bought but cannot sail straight away. The usual reasons are:

The car is bought before its sailing. Our sailing schedule lists upcoming departures, but the dates come from the carriers and can move, so the car waits with us rather than at the port.
The car is bought at auction. Auctions charge for every day a car stays after a short free period, so we collect it promptly and it waits with us instead. Our auction page sets out the deadlines.
The paperwork is not finished. The car can wait while it is completed, or while a pre-export inspection your country requires is arranged.
Two cars are sharing a container. A 40ft container takes two cars, so the first can wait with us until the second has been bought.

While the Car Is With Us

Insurance

While a vehicle is in our care in the UK, from collection until we hand it to the port or carrier for loading, it is covered by our motor trade insurance. That includes the time it spends in our compound. Once the car is in the carrier’s custody, it travels under the carrier’s terms and the Bill of Lading. Marine insurance on a container shipment can be added, quoted separately.

Work Before It Sails

Paintwork reconditioning, and a pre-export inspection where your country requires one, can be arranged while the car is with us. Each is quoted separately.

Cars Bought Free of VAT

Storage does not pause HMRC’s time limits. A car a dealer has sold to you free of VAT for us to export must still leave the UK within 3 months of the time of supply, and one bought under the Personal Export Scheme by the final date for export on its papers, so we plan its sailing around that date from the start. Our VAT-free car export and Personal Export Scheme pages explain the rules.

Getting the Car to the Ship

When the sailing is booked, we deliver the car from the compound to the departure port in time to meet it, so it is not stored at the port longer than needed. We make the UK export declaration and hand the car to the port or carrier for loading. Loading and lashing are part of the shipping price.

By RoRo, the car is driven aboard, so it must be driveable and empty of personal belongings.
By container, it is loaded, lashed and sealed in its container at the terminal.

What It Costs and How You Pay

Storage is quoted separately from the shipping price, and we confirm the charge in your quotation. Collection to the compound and any other extras are quoted separately too. We are not VAT registered, so there is no VAT on our charges.

Where we source or buy the car for you, a £1,000 deposit secures it. It is part of the price, not an extra fee. Payment, storage included, is due in cleared funds before the car is loaded, unless your quotation sets out different terms. We accept bank transfer, which we prefer, and card payments up to £5,000, with no fee on personal debit or credit cards. We do not accept letters of credit, cheques, money orders or cash.

If you cancel before the car is loaded, storage the car has already had is one of the costs you remain responsible for. Our terms and conditions explain what is refunded.

Storage at the Destination Is Separate

Our storage ends when the car is handed over for loading in the UK. Port storage and demurrage at the destination are always paid by the importer, whoever clears the car, so check them before you commit. We can arrange customs clearance, registration and delivery to your door through a local agent, quoted separately, or work with an agent of your choice.