Iva "ten year exemption" ??

[mattsteadz]

Hi, I'm aware that there is an exemption from iva if a light goods vehicle is 10 years old, presumably for people importing modern classics? Anyways, what if you had a barn find of an uncompleted kit that was over 10 years old? Could it possibly be exempt?

[Bronco_jr]

I looked into this a few years ago, the answer is no it isn't exempt if it wasn't registered at the time. Pre IVA/SVA I believe there had to be an inspection of the complete car as part of the registration process.

I am by no means an expert, I had an 1989 westfield that had been registered under the pre IVA/SVA rules, I sold it some years ago and regretted it. I found another ex-track car (a 1988 chassis) that had never been registered and was as cheap as chips so I looked into registering it. My research lead me to believe it would have to go through the current legislation and that was too much work for a "purchase on a whim"

[spyder dryver]

A good friend of mine went through a very similar scenario. A "barn find", complete but unregistered car that had been stored since the mid nineties. The builder had sadly died and his widow kept the car until a few years ago.
My friend had a letter from the widow together with build photos and dated receipts etc but the DVLA refused to apply the ten year rule. They said the only proof they would accept would be a ten year old MOT cert. My friend went through Independent Arbitration, the Parliamentary Ombudsman and involved his MP. In the end they all sided with the DVLA.
He is now preparing the car for IVA testing.

[mattsteadz]

Thankyou both for your replies, it seems a pointless exemption then, as any vehicle that can provide a previous mot etc is already registered.

I shall keep it all in mind, the IVA doesn't overly worry me, but its just a hassle and expense .

[AndrewT1275]

I'm fairly sure that the exemption is ten years 'since first registration' as it is intended to exempt older imports from needing an iva. So if it has never been registered (anywhere in the world) it won't qualify for the exemption.