Anyone bought in France?

[SailorSam]

Am considering a purchase in France (Targa 31) - any pitfalls, or advise gratefully received

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[Bandit]

I bought a Fairline 36 privately and imported into Guernsey, The Guernsey end is simple but probably not very relevant to you, on the french end it revolves around a "Certificat de Radiation" which was procured by the french vendor I assume it is a removal from the french registration system , i would have thought your best bet is to ask the RYA and UK Customs and Excise for advice. I did have a sale certificate drawn up in english and french that was sighned by Vendor and myself.

From your point of view it is important to ensure proper title passes to you, that no liabilities or unpaid bills or financing pass to you and that you proof of RCD compliance and proof that VAT has been paid.

Best of luck i think there are some good buys in France dont let it put you off.


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[foxgoose]

Bought a Beneteau Ombrine 960 in Brittany in June and shipped it to Malta.

The boat and price were excellent, and transport as far as Marseilles no problem. The stevedores at Marseilles were a different matter however - they appear to be a mafia operation and held us to ransom for transferring the load from truck to ferry. Cost us more - EUR 3500 - for one lift and lashing than road transport by a major international carrier from Brittany to Marseilles.

The French broker seemed a bit casual about the contract paperwork from a strictly legal point of view and there were a couple of delays while the boat was deregistered from the French flag and the previous owners finance was cleared but we managed the whole deal from trial to arrival in Malta in around three weeks.

My advice would be - trust the French broker if they're an established business even if they are a bit sloppy contractually - but research very carefully all the transport charges such as lifting onto transport, cradle (if neccessary), road freight (obviously) , Insurance (and limitations), any transhipment charges at docks including lifting, lashing, customs clearance, documentation charges at both port of loading and discharge. Get firm quotes where possible since these sort of unanticipated charges can add up to thousands.

If coming back to UK the best solution might be to hire one of the small UK specialist transporters who advertise in the back of MBM etc, to send a vehicle and experienced driver who can smooth the whole deal and minimise port charges using roro ferry with no lifting etc.

PM me if you have any specific questions.

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[SailorSam]

Coming back by water from Brest via Guernsey so transport OK - How did you check ther was no outstanding finance and prove ownership etc

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[foxgoose]

This seems to be perhaps better regulated in France than here.

In our case proof of ownership was by the original VAT (TVA) invoice which you must have to prove VAT status throughout Europe - and in our case this also named the finance company.

We signed a normal sale contract with the owners after the sea trial (in this case the French broker wanted to use an American US coastguard form but we insisted on a UK MCA form which we provided), then later we completed by email and courier a separate sale contract with the finance company.

Both contracts wer then presented to the local customs registration dept (Quimper in this case) by the broker and they issue the "Certificat de Radiation" which deleted the French flag registration and allowed the export of the vessel.

My understanding is that the finance liability is registered with the registration authority and they will not issue the certificate without evidence of discharge - but I have to say I'm not a lawyer (regrettably).

Before we paid the sale price to the broker I insisted he gave us a written undertaking that he would settle the finance which seemed to piss him off somewhat although he complied in the end.

In all I got the impression the system was fairly safe and the broker thought we were a bit paranoid for not trusting him more.

Hope this helps.

FG



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