Back in 2007 I needed to get a carnet de passages, and was faced with a simple decision.

I was a British national with a British registered car.

Based on a vehicle value of £2500, I could either:

Give the RAC a £20000 deposit

Or

Give the ADAC (German national motoring organisation) a €5000 deposit.

So, a no-brainer.

I returned in late 2011, and after discharging my carnet (involving HM Customs visiting my house twice (nice people, and no charge) after interminable enquiries with various brainless clerks, since there were no appropriate facilities at Dover - how efficient!) and enquired with the ADAC about getting another carnet at some undertermined point in the future.

They then said that they have been told by the RAC not to issue carnets to UK registered cars.

I have since become a German national, and asked again if this changes anything. My family are members of the ADAC by the way.

The ADAC then said that I would either need to register my car in Germany, or to have a note from the RAC saying that they 'agree' for the ADAC to issue me a carnet!

Now, lets just think about this....

- The RAC does not regulate the international carnet de passage agreement, that is done by the FIA. They ar basically just the salesmen.

- The RAC is not responsible in any way for the registration of cars in the UK, that is done by the DVLA.

- The RAC are providing exactly the same thing as the ADAC but for many time the 'price' (OK, the actual cost of the carnet is similar, but the difference in deposits is huge).

- The UK and Germany are part of a free-trade area.


Now, I am no legal expert, but I cannot think of any possible legitimacy the RAC has to stop the ADAC issuing carnets to anyone they please.

I am thinking of bringing this issue up with their legal department, because this seems to be nothing but shameless racketeering, and another instance of rip-off Britain.

I was just wondering if anyone had looked into this, or knows more than me?

Cheers

Daniel

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You need to sue them both for price fixing.

Not sure why ADAC would be complicit in this.

RAC will be making a lot of money from the deposit interest (likely putting the money in the markets) for the duration of your trip.

Could try bringing to the attention of the monopolies and mergers commission.

Hi Daniel, did you get anywhere with this? The RAC have now withdrawn the cash deposit too. Very expensive insurance is the only option now. They refused me permission to go to the ADAC.

any news yet?
i recently got a ridiculous quote off of the RAC of £23700 for my 04 f650gs that they valued at £1500 so i can get to NZ from UK. Ant the RAC being as good as ever i only get 50% returned to me WTF

so i after picking myself up off the floor i signed in as a ADAC German member (friends account ) and it was only £4554 (5500 euro's) and 100% returned to me on my return.

how the hell can the RAC get away with this, surely its illegal???

I have recently returned from a motorcycle adventure from London to Dubai and have also realised the rip-off by the RAC.
This was the first time I encountered needing a carnet so just accepted what the RAC told me, that I will only receive 50% of the premium deposit back.
I was traveling with German registered bikes and my fellow riders were bemused as to why I will only get back 50% of my £6400 deposit whereas they will receive 100% of theirs back.
This is clearly a monoploy situation and when I confronted the RAC with this they told me that it was their right as a company to set their own pricing for their services. As you will be aware, a carnet is not an optional luxury but a necessary travel document. There is no choice.

There is a petition on change.org to try to bring this to the attention of the government so please sign it if this issue affects you or is likely to in future?

Thanks a lot

https://www.change.org/p/european-co...ter-rac-carnet